European Forest Certification Extends Branches
9/13/99
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Title: European Forest Certification Extends Branches
Source: Environment News Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: September 13, 1999
LONDON, UK, September 13, 1999 (ENS) - Further progress is being made
in certifying European forests that are being managed in a
sustainable way, with each of the two main schemes claiming major
advances last week.
The Finnish national certification scheme, which is affiliated to the
Pan-European Forest Certification scheme (PEFC) announced that half
of Finland's 20 million hectares of forests would be certified under
its rules by the end of 1999.
The organisation, inspired by largely industry interests, says this
represents an "important step" towards its goal of capturing support
among private owners of smaller forests. These make up almost two-
thirds of Finnish forests.
The German state of Schleswig-Holstein, on the other hand, announced
that the 50,000 hectares of forest under its ownership would be
officially certified by the global Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
in October. An official said this would double the area of Germany's
forest certified by the FSC, which is the first choice of many non-
governmental organisations who want a single international scheme.
Meanwhile, the FSC claimed another breakthrough last week when a
local authority in London's outer suburbs became the first
municipality in the world to receive certification that its street
trees are being managed in a sustainable way. Waste from the trees is
being used to make charcoal for sale for local barbecues, as part of
a national scheme run by local sustainability action organisation
BioRegional.
The group points out that trees make up eight percent of land area in
the borough of Croydon, which is one percentage point higher than the
average across the whole of England.
Contacts: FSC is online at: http://www.fscoax.org PEFC is online at:
http://www.pefc.org
{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's
choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd,
London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk; Website: http://www.ends.co.uk}