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| The PEFC Governance Review, published today, outlines 39 recommendations aimed at further improving the effectiveness of the world’s largest certification scheme. The review will support the restructuring of the organisations’ governance to ensure that PEFC International meets its objective as set out in the 2007 Strategic Plan.
The PEFC Board of Directors has carefully considered the recommendations in its last meeting and accepts them as a valuable contribution to and follow up on the PEFC strategy launched last October. PEFC is pleased to respond positively to the first recommendation, which advises PEFC to publish the governance review to validate its commitment to transparency.
Furthermore, the Board has instructed PEFC to prepare changes to its statues and other documents to enable the creation of a Stakeholder Forum. This Forum is being created to provide stakeholders with whom PEFC has until now not been able to engage with successfully with rights and responsibilities in the organisation. The General Assembly, which will take place in Canberra, Australia at the end of October 2008, will decide about the creation and exact set-up of this new body.
"We have now the mandate to implement some of the operational elements recommended in the Governance Review", said Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC International. "And we are currently consulting with our members on these and expect to be able to consider other elements in due course."
The review was facilitated by London-based Z/Yen Group, which convened the international governance review panel to undertake the review. The panel, chaired by Lord Jamie Lindsay of UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service), included Björn Andrén of Holmen Skog AB, John Dee of Planet Ark, Hans Drielsma of Forestry Tasmania, Dr. Maharaj Muthoo of the Hari Environment & Development Society, Frederick O'Regan of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and Dirk Teegelbekkers of PEFC Deutschland e.V.
"We are very pleased with the work of the panel. I'd like to use this opportunity to again thank them and all other participants in the review process for their excellent contribution", Mr. Gunneberg added. "We also welcome further feedback from interested partners while we are considering how best to follow up on the recommendations."
Contact
- Thorsten Arndt, Head of Communications, PEFC International, Tel: +41 (22) 799 4540, E-mail: t.arndt@pefc.org
Further information
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Editor Notes
PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes)
PEFC is a framework for the assessment and endorsement of national forest certification systems that have been developed based on internationally recognised requirements for sustainable forest management. Since its launch in 1999, PEFC has become the largest forest certification umbrella organisation covering national systems from all over the world, delivering hundreds of millions of tonnes of wood to the processing industry and then onto the market place from currently more than 200 million hectares of certified forests. This is an area which is larger than the combined forest area of all European Union member states. PEFC has strong grass roots support from many stakeholders including the forestry sector, governments, trade associations, trade unions and non-governmental organisations.
Forest Certification
Forest certification is a process which provides an assurance to purchasers of wood and paper products that the wood used in the products comes from sustainably managed forest. It involves the certification of forests (Sustainable Forest Management certification) and the certification of the wood flow via processing, manufacturing and trading enterprises (Chain of Custody certification) to the final consumer.
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