Denmark plans to have two of its state forest districts certified to both Programme for the Endsorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards.
The decision to certify the districts, covering a total of 12,000ha, to both schemes has been welcomed by the Danish Forest Association, which hopes it will promote mutual recognition between the two systems and benefit private forest owners in Denmark.
The association has asked minister of the environment Connie Hedegaard not to use the certification to achieve a market advantage over privately-owned forests.
The government’s long-term aim is to see all state forests certified. They cover 113,000ha, or 23% of Denmark’s total forest area.
Dual certification of state forests has already taken place in Germany, according to FSC International.
