A report that claims Finnish timber certification is failing to protect the nation’s forests has been labelled sensationalist by the Finnish timber industry.
The Greenpeace and the Finnish Nature League probe, entitled Anything Goes?, says that the Finnish Forest Certification System – adopted as part of the Pan-European Forestry Certification (PEFC) scheme – does not provide a credible guarantee of sustainability, is not delivering improved standards of forestry and is permitting the continued destruction of old-growth forests.
The criticisms, which have won widespread media coverage across Europe, are being rebutted by the Finnish Forest Certification Council (FFCC) and the PEFC Council which claim the report’s findings are flawed. The FFCC says that the 55 cases cited by the report were absurd and selected only to highlight the environmentalists’ agenda.
The report’s central claim that old-growth forests continue to be logged is, according to the FFCC, the result of the report authors’ much more generous definition of ‘old-growth’.
Secretary-general of the FFCC Auvo Kaivola said: ‘The one that decides the definitions at the same time decides what the results will be. If you use different definitions from those that are generally recognised you can conclude anything.’
Mr Kaivola added that he feared the attack on Finnish forest certification was prompted by environmentalist opposition to non-FSC certification.
Ben Gunneberg, secretary-general of the PEFC, told TTJ that, contrary to the report’s findings, Finnish certification had led to improvements.
‘There are continual improvements to the forests certified because of the regular independent audits. To say that there have been no improvements is pretty crazy. From our point of view the door is open for Greenpeace and the FNL to work within the system, but this does not appear to be what they want,’ said Mr Gunneberg.
The first shipment of PEFC-labelled wood entered the Dutch market in November and will be marketed by the Finnish forest industry throughout Europe.
