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| PEFC International is pleased to welcome PEFC Netherlands as its 34th member into its organisation. With only seven percent of its land surface covered by forests, the Netherlands are dependent on the import of wood, pulp and paper products to meet its needs.
"We are very pleased to be part of PEFC, which has promoted the sustainable management of forests since its inception in 1999 and has grown to become the world's largest forest certification scheme", said Kees Boon, Chairman of PEFC Netherlands. "While the Dutch society is well-known for its environmental consciousness, only a small percentage of timber products on the Dutch market are currently certified".
Mr. Boon expressed his commitment to promote Chain-of-Custody certification in the Netherlands, thereby increasing the number of wood-based products available to the Dutch consumer coming from sustainably managed forests. "Furthermore, we hope to soon start the forest management standard setting process, which, if endorsed by the PEFC, would allow us to better promote sustainable forest management practices nationally."
"Given the importance that forests play in tackling global issues such as climate change, PEFC Netherlands contribution to bringing forest certification and sustainable forest management closer to the mainstream is important not only to the Netherlands, but to society as a whole", added Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC International. "We would like to thank all involved parties for their efforts in setting up the organisation, and looking forward to working with PEFC Netherlands in the future."
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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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