AF&PA-AWC Statement on DC Circuit Court Boiler MACT Decision

Evergreen Packaging Partners with The Rainforest Alliance, Forest Stewardship Council, and a Consortium of Forward-minded Forestry Corporations to Launch the Smallholder Access Program. Project is designed to protect forests and increase forest certification for smaller woodlands. Evergreen Packaging® is proud to be a founding participant in the Smallholder Access Program (SAP) led by The Rainforest Alliance and the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®-C016043). FSC, supports ecologically responsible, socially conscious forest management, and has worked to transform forestry practices globally for nearly 30 years through rigorous, science-based standards and a third-party certification system. Building off this experience, the Smallholder Access Program (SAP) is a two-year FSC pilot project designed to increase access to forest certification for woodland owners under 250 acres (100 hectares). The SAP will be available to landowners across Southern and Central Appalachia, encompassing parts of Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Nearly 60 percent of the forestland in this region is privately owned, representing a critical resource for the forest products industry.

Scandinavia celebrated its first building awarded with PEFC project certification as Mäihä, a wooden apartment block, was unveiled at the Seinäjoki Housing Fair in Finland this July. Lakea Oy, the company responsible for the construction of the building, received their PEFC certificate at a special ceremony before the start of the Housing Fair. The certificate was issued by DNV GL, an independent certification body responsible for verifying the origin of the materials throughout the construction project, from the start to the finish. “With it being the first PEFC-certified property in the Nordic countries, this building project has been both interesting and challenging,” said Pia Tilli, DNV GL's Sales and Marketing Manager, during the certificate giving ceremony at Seinäjoki. click Read More below for the rest of the story

At the heart of PEFC is our ambition to enable smallholders to access forest certification, independent of region and socioeconomic condition. But there is more than can be done. This was highlighted last week at the first meeting of Standards Revision Working Group 2, responsible for the revision of PEFC's Group Certification Standard and the development of a set of requirements for certification bodies operating audits in forest management. The importance of strengthening the management system approach and of clearly describing the interaction between group members and group management was emphasized by representatives from the accreditation community. While the current standard already responds to these issues, their further development will support the use and expand the application of the standard.