pefc newsletter 07 july 2001

8/9/2019 PEFC Newsletter 07 July 2001

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The PEFCC Newsletter is produced by the PEFC Council Registered as an asbl in Luxembourg No. 1999-61-02192

17 Rue des Girondins, L-1626 Hollerich, LuxembourgTel: +352 26 25 90 59 E-Mail: [email protected] Web Page: www.pefc .org

Summary of Certified Hectares

of PEFCC Endorsed Forest

Certification Schemes Hectares

Schemes Endorsed by PEFCC Certified

(millions)

Austrian Forest Certification Scheme 0.55

Czech Forest Certification Scheme 0

Finnish Forest Certification Scheme 21.90

German Forest Certification Scheme 4.24

Norwegian living Forest Standardsand Certification Scheme 8.40

Swedish Forest Certification Scheme 1.33

TOTAL 36.42

Schemes currently undergoing

assessment process•

Belgian Forest Certification Scheme• French Forest Certification Scheme• Latvian Forest Certification Scheme• Portuguese Forest Certification Scheme• Spanish Certification System for SFM• Swiss Q Label Holz Scheme• UK Certification Scheme for SFM

Schemes awaiting result of

Vote by Members§ French Forest Certification Scheme§ Latvian Forest Certification Scheme

Statistics on Main Forest

Certification SchemesScheme Hectares (Millions)

PEFC 36.42

FSC 22.38

SFI* 11.36

American Tree Farm System* 10.53

CSA* 5.03

Total 85.72* Recently joined the PEFC Council as full members

Mike Virga (SFI)(second left) and Bob Simpson

(American Tree Farm System) (far right) from USA

attending the General Assembly.

Canada, USA and Italy join PEFC Council

The members unanimously agreed to acceptthe following organisations as full members of the PEFC Council:§ Canadian Standards Association CSA

(Canada)§ PEFC Italia (Italy)§ American Tree Farm System (ATFS) and

Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), USA

PEFC video film award A video film about the SwedishPEFC won second prize in thecategory Public Relations at the "U.S.International Film And Video Festival" inChicago. There were a total of 1.500 filmsfrom 33 countries competing. The filmwas made by the Swedish PEFC and

produced by Heurgren Film & Television.

PEFCC N

ewsletter PEFC/01-00-01

No. 7 - July 2001



PEFC - Promoting Sustainable Forest Management For more info: www.pefc.org

PEFC/01-00-01

PEFCC General AssemblyDelegates, observers and invited gueststravelled to the magnificent town of Santiago de Compostella in the Galiciaregion of Spain for the 5th GeneralAssembly of the PEFC Council in June

Below is a short summaryof the main highlights:

New PEFC Council Board of

Directors Elected.

left to right: Juan Botey Serra, Sébastien Genest, Christian Brawenz (2nd Vice Chairman), Lars Wilhelm Grøholt, Hans Köpp,

Marian Freiherr Von Gravenreuth (behind), Fernando Manuel deSousa Carvalho, Henri Plauche Gillon (Chairman), seated.

Chairman and Vice ChairmenAt the recent PEFC Council GeneralAssembly the members votedunanimously to re-elect Mr Henri PlaucheGillon as Chairman of the Council andMr Hannu Valtanen as Vice Chairman.

Dr Christian Brawenz joins them as2nd Vice Chairman.

Board of Directors The following people were elected toserve on the PEFCC Board of Directorsfor the two-year period until June 2003.They join Mr Kjell Dahlström, who waselected at the General Assembly inJanuary 2001. (see January Newsletter)

Mr Henri Plauche-Gillon (Chairman)Mr Hannu Valtanen (1st Vice Chairman)Dr Christian Brawenz (2nd Vice Chairman)Mr Juan Botey SerraMr Fernando CarvalhoMr Sébastien GenestMr Lars Wilhelm Grøholt

Prof. Hans KöppMr Marion Freiherr von Gravenreuth

It was agreed to keep one seat open forretailer / consumer interests.

In addition Mr Al Fry, a consultant inEnvironmental and SustainableDevelopment Issues working with theWorld Business Council for SustainableDevelopment (Geneva) has accepted to actas an advisor to the Board on businessissues. He joins Dr Alan Knight of B&Qwho is already advisor on retail issues.

Some new faces on the

PEFC Council Board Sébastien Genest, a memberof the Board of Directors of France Nature Environnement and Vice Chairman of PEFCFrance, has been elected to theBoard of the PEFC Council.

France Nature Environnement is the national Federation of Environmental Organisationsrepresenting some 3000 local,regional and national Environmental NGOs. Professor Hans Köpp served with the newNorthern Germany Academy for NatureConservation and became its first Director.As Professor for Nature Conservation, Forest

Policy and ForestHistory, he served at the

University for AppliedSciences at Göttingenfor 20 years. Editor anda member of the Boardof Nature and NationalParcs, he is also activewith Boards of various

environmental organisations in Germany.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) sent aletter of support for the candidature of Prof.Köpp. Hans is a member of the German

Forestry Council, and Vice Chairman of PEFCGermany




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Marian Freiherr von Gravenreuthis Chairman of the

Bavarian Forest OwnersAssociation and on aEuropean level herepresents the GermanGroup of Forest OwnersAssociations (AGDW) at

the Confederation of European Forest Owners(CEPF) and he is amember of the Permanent Forestry Council of theEuropean Commission. Since the foundation of PEFC Germany, Mr von Gravenreuth has beenChairman of PEFC Germany e.V.

Fernando Manuel de Sousa Carvalho is a member of the Sonae Industria SGPSBoard, a Board member of European PanelFederation, CEI-Bois and Vice President of AIMMP (Association of Wood based ProductsIndustries). He is also a Director of theConselho da Fileira Florestal Portugesa (PEFCPortugal). Other organisations that he isinvolved in include, COGEN Portugal, Centro

PINUS, LEPAE, ECDG AgricultureAdvisory Board of Forests and Cork,FAO Advisorycommittee on Paper

and Wood Productsand WBCSD.

New Extraordinary MemberThe Union of Foresters of Southern Europe(USSE) wasunanimouslyaccepted as an

extraordinarymember of thePEFC Council.

Miguel Pérez Turrado, Executive Director, USSE

General AssemblySantiago de Compostella, Spain 19 June 2001

Guests from Andorra, Australia, Belarussia,Estonia, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, RussianFederation, Uruguay and the USA, joined

with representatives of the InternationalForest Industries Roundtable Mutual

Recognition Working Group (IFIR MRWG)to attend the General Assembly

Clifford Schneider (IFIR MRWG Co-Chairman -USA),Sheam Satkuru-Granzella (Malaysian Timber Council),

Al Fry (World Business Council for Sustainable Development),Carlos Roxo (IFIR MRWG Co-Chairman Brazil)

Participants from Estonia, Andorra and Belarussia

Delegates from Austria, Belgium, Canada,Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany,

Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Portugal, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland, UK also attended.

Katie Altoft (CSA), Paul Wooding (Forest Products Association

Canada) and Peter de Marsh(Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners) (CSA is now a member of the PEFC Council)

PEFC Banner at the entrance of the hotel




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Participants and Guests attending General Assembly Delegates voting

Czech Scheme endorsed

The Czech forest certification scheme hasrecently undergone an independentassessment by Indufor Oy consultants,following public consultation, inaccordance with the procedures laid out in

the PEFC Technical Document.

Following a recommendation by theBoard of Directors, based on anindependent assessment, the GeneralAssembly has unanimously agreed toendorse the Czech scheme ascomplying with the requirements of thePEFC Council.

The Czech forest certification schemenow joins the five other schemes

endorsed by the PEFC Council.

The Czech Republic Delegate, Jaroslav Tymrák (right) and

Charles Colhurst (left) of Ireland attending the GA.

Consultants appointed to assess Swiss Q Label and

Belgian Forest CertificationSchemes

Two further schemes are now undergoingassessment against the requirements ofthe PEFC Council and are available onthe PEFC Web Page: http://www.pefc.org

The following consultants have beenappointed to carry out the assessment:

§ Belgian forest certification scheme – Canopy Consulting in conjunctionwith Trada Technology Ltd.

§ Swiss Q Label Scheme - FORMEcological Consultants

Details of the consultants undertaking the

assessments are also available on thePEFC Web Page.

The French and Latvian forestcertification schemes are currentlyundergoing a postal ballot of theGeneral Assembly and it is expectedthat the results will be available soon.

Three new schemes submitted for independent assessment

In a presentation ceremony carried outin the presence of His Excellency thePresident of Galicia, the Spanish,Portuguese and UK forest certificationschemes were all three submitted forassessment against the requirementsof the PEFC Council.

All three schemes will be available forconsultation on our website shortly:http://www.pefc.org

Left to right: Herman Ilaender (Former Vice Chairman), PauloCastro (Portugal), Len Yull (UK), Ben Gunneberg (Secretary

General PEFCC), Juan Botey-Serra (Spain), Henri PlaucheGillon (PEFCC Chairman)



Page 5 PEFC - Promoting Sustainable Forest Management For more info: www.pefc.org

PEFC/01-00-01

Reports From The NationalPEFC Governing Bodies

In this section, each of the PEFC members hasthe opportunity to present a brief report on the

current state of play in their country.The views expressed here are the views of the

members and do not necessarily reflect theviews of the PEFC Council

Some of the National Secretaries of PEFCCleft to right: Auvo Kaivola (Finland), Jaroslav Tymrák (Czech

Rep.), Bertrand Auguiere (Belgium), Katie Altoft (Canada), Dirk Teegelbekkers(Germany), Skaidrite Albertina (Latvia),

Ben Gunneberg (PEFCC Secretary General), Eva Martín Orejudo (Spain), Elisabeth Gill (Norway),Gabriele Herzog (Austria), Folke Stenstrom (Sweden),

Stéphane Marchesi (France), Len Yull (UK).

PEFC AUSTRIA is on the road to

success– WWF Accusations “Substantially Wrong” Over and over again the PEFC successes leadto false accusations from WWF, who supportsthe Forest Stewardship Council.

Accusations of no ecological minimumstandards and unsatisfactory controls havebeen proven to be incorrect many times. Asrecently, for example when an “independentstudy”, on behalf of WWF and written by aformer employee of WWF was published. Thefacts are that the Austrian Scheme does limitthe size of clear cuttings, protects sensitiveecosystems, and favours the enhanced usageof biological oils. Compliance with PEFCguidelines and continuous improvement areguaranteed through periodic, independenttesting.

Accusations by WWF that environmentalorganisations would have no influence on thePEFC Council are wrong too. Theseorganisations can participate in decisive

national institutions, and are eligible to vote inthem.

Previous attempts to shame the successfulPEFC Initiative have been ineffective. PEFCis a solid and independently assessed systemof labelling sustainably managed timber.Wood-Owners voluntarily attend and committhemselves with their signature to keep thestrict criteria of PEFC. They agree to regularand steady improvement of forest treatment

and management. The “new” accusationsmade in a commissioned study again seem tobe insubstantial, but of course will bethoroughly and carefully examined to see if any ameliorative actions are required.

PEFC Austria facts:- 1 region certified (550.000 ha)- over the summer months 3 more regions

are expected to receive their certification- by the end of 2001 the major part of

Austrian forests will be certified

- Interest for the Chain of Custody certificatehas been expressed by sawmill, paper & pulp,particle & fibreboard companies and traders.

- Within the next weeks the first Austriancompanies are expected to receive theirChain of Custody certificate

Gabriele Herzog

Email: [email protected]

ENGOs invited to

witness the auditing

process inGERMANY

4,328,537 hectares have been certifiedaccording to PEFC in Germany (as of June 7,2001). 863 community forests, 684 privateforests and 262 forestry associations withmore than 100,000 members are participatingin PEFC.

The regional forest report of Brandenburg hasbeen successfully audited by the certification

body TÜV Nord. The certificate for the stateforest of Brandenburg (249,000 hectares) waspresented to the minister, Wolfgang Birthleron the 16th of May.

Birthler said: “Sustainable forest management

will be measured by our efforts to create forests with better health and higher yield in

an ecological way. Through the PEFC logothis SFM will become visible. It is now

important that timber industry recognises theopportunities of such a brand and increases its

demand for wood from a certified production.”




PEFC/01-00-01

In two more regions, namely North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony, the forest reportshave been prepared and are being audited atthe moment. Although the state forests inNorth Rhine-Westphalia will become FSCcertified, representatives of the state forestadministration actively participated in thePEFC process in this region. Under certain

conditions defined by the ministry a fewweeks ago the state forest will also apply for acertification according to PEFC.

Another Independent PEFC / FSCComparative Study AnnouncedIn Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – one of the lastregions where no PEFC process has beenstarted so far – the ministry for agricultureplans to initiate another model project tocompare FSC and PEFC under the specificconditions of this region. The project shall

focus on the economical consequences for theforest enterprises deriving from a certification.

Field audits have been carried out in morethan 100,000 hectares of certified forests bynow. The first round of these yearly controlshas been finished in the regions Thuringia,Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate.At the next general assembly of PEFCGermany on 9th of July in Stuttgart thecertification bodies will present thesummarised results and will draw the first

conclusions.Invitation to critics to witness auditsBecause the control system of PEFC Germanywas the object of unjustified criticism recently,ENGOs have been invited to witness theauditing process in a forest department inRhineland-Palatinate. So far, not a singleENGO has accepted this invitation. Thisattitude clearly demonstrates that they do notseem to be interested in a constructivedialogue and an open discussion about facts,

which is regretable.Invitation to PEFC Seminar in July 2001A seminar with the title: “PEFC – thecertificate for our forests. Background –Experiences – Perspectives.” will be held inStuttgart on 10th of July. The topics will be theRio-process; ecological and socialsustainability; the viewpoint of forest owners;the experiences of PEFC-certifiers and theChain-of-Custody-Certification. Everybody isinvited to join this event, for application formssee www.pefc.de.

Dirk Teegelbekkers

E-mail: [email protected]

PEFC ITALIA

to establish forumThe association known as"PEFC Italia" was founded

in Trento on the 4th of April 2001 byFederforeste (forest owners' and managers'

association);, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Veneto,Lombardia, and Valle d'Aosta regions, theautonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzanoand the national association of Agronomistsand Foresters.

Other national members joined the PEFC Italylater on, as the association named "ConsultaNazionale per le foreste ed il legno" (nationalconsulting board for forests and wood), whichrepresents the Wood Craftsmanship Assoc.,several agricultural associations, the National

Fedn for Wood Resources and Agroforestry,and Federlegno-Arredo (the wood processingand furnishing industries association).

On the 19th of June 2001, in Santiago deCompostela, Spain, the PEFC GeneralAssembly welcomed Italy as a new member of the PEFC Council.

The first goal of PEFC-Italy is to enlarge itsmembership, through national and localmeetings focused on the promotion of PEFC-Italy before the general meeting fixed for nextSeptember.

A working group, for the revision of theStatutes of the Association, has been set upand is working to constitute a Forum to whichall stakeholders of sustainable management of forests can participate, coordinated by ascientific committee.

Fillipo Brun

Email: [email protected]

First TrainingSessions for LATVIA

Following the report fromthe independent consultants and the decisionby the PEFC Board of Directors torecommend acceptance of the Latvian ForestCertification Scheme, KSMAA of Latvia hasbegun the certification process. In connectionwith PEFC Latvia scheme first of all KSMAA- Umbrella organisation with 3 Branchorganisations will be certified. The Branchorganisations will be responsible for the SFM




PEFC/01-00-01

of certified forests (documentation, forestmanagement actions, agreements, Green cardand Green licences for different woodprocessing works, etc.). At the moment PEFCLatvia has received applications for 2200 ha of forests to be certified.Most of forests are privately owned, one forest- 1000 ha is Ventspils City forest. All forest

owners are KSMAA members and the forestswill be certified under an umbrellacertification scheme.The Next step will start at the end of July -training of Green card and Green Licencesowners.

Skaidrite AlbertinaE-Mail: [email protected]

First C-o-C certificateissued in NORWAY

On the 21st of June the firstNorwegian PEFC Chain-of-

Custody certificate was issued to Begna BrukAS. Begna Bruk is an independent sawmilland a wholesale supplier for the woodworkingindustry. You can visit Begna Bruk at:www.begnabruk.no. A licence to use thePEFC-logo has been issued to the certificateholder and PEFC-Norway is pleased that thePEFC-logo now will be operational in themarket, confirming that Norwegian forestrycomplies with the requirements of the Living

Forests Standards and PEFC.

The number of certified forest owners’ districtassociations is also increasing. In June theHavass district association received theirforest management certificate, and two moredistrict associations in the western part of Norway will soon be receiving theirs. As of June 2001, 8.4 million hectares (total forestarea) are certified based on the Living Forests / ISO 14001 EMS scheme. This constitutes 85% of the 7 million cubic metres harvested in

Norway every year.

At their annual meeting, the Norwegian ForestOwners Federation - one of the foundingmembers of PEFC-Norway – agreed aresolution, which strongly supports the furtherdevelopment of PEFC. The great importancefor family forestry to have a certificationsystem that represents an alternative to systemsdeveloped for plantations and large-scaleforestry is underlined in the resolution. Readthe resolution at: www.skog.no/certific4.htm.

In the last year, a working group made up of representatives from 14 different

organisations, ministries, ENGO’s etc. hasbeen engaged in practical interpretations of the 23 Living Forests Standards forsustainable forest management in Norway.Recently three ENGO’s withdrew from theworking group due to disagreement on one of the 23 interpretations. In a press release fromthe Norwegian Forest Owners Federation 15th

June, the remaining members of the groupregret this. (www.skog.no/pressrel.htm)The 23 Living Forests Standards stand firmand will be practised as usual, and theregistration of biodiversity will continue.

Elisabeth GillE-mail: [email protected]

First General Assembly of PEFC

PORTUGAL

The first General Assemblyof Conselho da Fileira Florestal Portuguesa(PEFC Portugal) was held on the 31st of May2001. In this meeting the Board of Directors of this organisation were agreed.

The Presidency of the Board was assumed byPaulo Castro, from the Federação dosProdutores Florestais de Portugal, beingaimmp, Celpa and Forestis the other boardmembers.

At the same time the Portuguese Standard forSustainable Forest Management was approvedand was sent by the National StandizationOrganisation for public discussion.

Cláudia Viliotis

E-mail: [email protected]

First sawmill in

SWEDEN audited for Chain-of-custody

certification

All clear for accreditationThe National Swedish AccreditationOrganisation, Swedac, has in a Guidancedocument dated the 29th of May 2001,formulated directions for those certificationorganisations that wish to be accredited forPEFC-certifying activities. The documentincludes directions concerning competencerequirement for certification organisations andthe tasks of the certifier that are connectedwith the certification. The document can bestudied at the homepage of PEFC Sweden,www.pefc.se, see Certification.




PEFC/01-00-01

1,5 million hectares PEFC certified forest inSweden. According to the latest summary of PEFC certified area in Sweden dated 31st of March, the certified area was 1 534 333hectares. This means an increase of more than200 000 hectares since the 31st of December2000. More than 14 000 forest owners havesigned a certification agreement.

All clear for the Swedish PEFC logo licenceagreement Swedish PEFC has signed a logolicence agreement with PEFC Europe. Thelogo licence number of Swedish PEFC isPEFC/05-1-1. The agreement means that theSwedish PEFC from now can use the logowhen marketing the PEFC-scheme and issuesub-licences to the organisations that fulfil therequirements. After application, and when thelogo licence contract is signed the sub-licencecan be issued to:

- Forestry organisations, forest owners orentrepreneurs that have a valid PEFC forest-or entrepreneur certificate.- Forest industries, timber tradingorganisations with a valid Chain-of-custodycertificate.- Other organisations that wish to support ormarket PEFC of educational reasons. Materialconcerning the logo licence will soon bepublished at the Swedish PEFC homepage,www.pefc.se.

The Swedish PEFC Research CouncilThe Swedish PEFC Research Council is nowestablished. In the group there arerepresentatives from the environmental-,social- and economic sector. The tasks of thecouncil are to study the PEFC-standard and tosupport the development of the scheme basedon the results of the accomplished and newscience.

The first meeting of the group takes place inAugust.

First sawmill in Sweden has been auditedfor Chain-of-custody certificationRödins Trävaror has as the first sawmill inSweden been audited for the PEFC Chain-of-custody certification. The audit wasaccomplished by Det Norske Veritas inFebuary. The audit is approved, but acertificate is not yet achieved.

Folke Stenstrom

E-Mail: [email protected]

Presentation of UK Certification Scheme

for SFM The major event of the last

few months for us, was the presentation of ourUK Scheme for Sustainable ForestManagement to the PEFCC, on the occasion

of the 5th General Assembly.

To get to this stage has really been a matter of blood sweat and tears, and our thanks must berecorded to all those who have givenencouragement and assistance, along what hassometimes seemed to be a long and lonelyroad.

The Scheme may be used only in connectionwith the UK Woodland Assurance Standard,which itself is I believe a tribute to the wide

range of “stakeholders”, who over a number of years, worked hard and objectively to producethe standard with which all involved partiesfelt comfortable.

On 15th August we will be holding a forummeeting in London, and on 16th October ourfirst AGM, in Edinburgh, at which the firsttruly representative board will be elected. Welook forward with eager anticipation to theappearance of the first PEFC logos and labelsto be issued in the UK.

Len YullE-Mail: [email protected]

PEFCC Member Contact Details

Member Country E-Mail Address

PEFC Austria [email protected]

PEFC Belgium [email protected]

PEFC Czech Republic [email protected]

Canada [email protected]

PEFC Denmark [email protected]

PEFC Finland [email protected]

PEFC France [email protected] Germany [email protected]

PEFC Italia [email protected]

PEFC Ireland [email protected]

PEFC Latvia [email protected]

PEFC Norway [email protected]

PEFC Portugal [email protected]

PEFC Spain [email protected]

PEFC Sweden [email protected]

PEFC Switzerland [email protected]

PEFC UK Ltd [email protected]

USA [email protected]

pefc newsletter 07 july 2001

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