Hundreds of wishes drawn in sand wound their way through the forest in celebration of the International Day of Forests.
This spectacular art action marked the conclusion of the nationwide Wunschwald (or Forest of Wishes) campaign by PEFC Germany. People from around the country were invited to share their personal wishes for the forests of the future, and international action artist Gijs van Bon brought the most popular wishes into reality.
“It’s important that the wishes are written here so they can be read and they can be recognized by other people,” said Gijs van Bon. “If they recognize a wish, they might also join in and make that wish true.”
“My wish for the forest is that there is more forest around us and that the forests are more natural with more diversity of trees, so that people can enjoy the calm and the stillness more.”
50 well-chosen wishes also played an important role one day later when in PEFC Germany’s Forest Capital Brilon (North Rhine-Westphalia) children planted several new trees in a “Generationenwald” (“generation forest”). You can even take a walk through the wishes on Google Street View!
The campaign has since been nominated for the German Prize for Online Communication 2017!
Heinzel Group is a member of EPIS (European Pulp Industry Sector) and therefore supports the #GreenSource initiative to promote the role of forest-fibre industries in the effort to achieve the EU’s climate neutrality target by 2050. The forest-fibre industry wishes to play a central role in offering solutions that respond to the needs of the European citizens and contribute to a sustainable lifestyle while making sure that forests keep growing, absorbing CO2 and protecting biodiversity.
As boiler operations are crucial to paper and wood manufacturers' ability to generate energy, American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Donna Harman issued the following statement in response to the District of Columbia (D.C.) Circuit Court decision to vacate key parts of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule.
“We are disappointed that after years of back-and-forth the D.C. Circuit Court has ruled against reason in vacating certain key standards and remanding other portions of rules that, by most accounts, are reasonable and achievable despite the extensive technically sound information and test data provide to and relied upon by the EPA. We will continue to provide sound information and data to the EPA as it responds to the remanded and vacated portions of the rule.
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI) is pleased to announce the launch of a partnership to develop a new SFI Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard for application in North America and potentially globally. SFI will collaborate with five urban forestry leaders: American Forests, Arbor Day Foundation, the International Society of Arboriculture, the Society of Municipal Arborists, and Tree Canada. “The SFI network is looking forward to collaborating with our urban forestry partners to promote the establishment of sustainable urban and community forests that meet local needs, while meaningfully contributing to national, bi-national, and global initiatives such as the 2 Billion Tree initiative in Canada or through regional and global initiatives such as the World Economic Forum’s 1t.org,” says Kathy Abusow, SFI’s President and CEO. “Together, with these leaders, I’m confident SFI will positively contribute to urban forestry initiatives across North America and globally.”