AF&PA Commends EPA on New Source Review Project Emissions Accounting Proposed Rule

Russia has successfully achieve PEFC re-endorsement of its national forest certification system, confirming that it meets PEFC’s globally recognized Sustainability Benchmarks and ensuring that Russian certified forest owners and companies can benefit from the global acceptance of PEFC. With the Russian Federation containing an estimated 800 million hectares of forest, the equivalent to over 20% of the world's forest area and more than Canada and Brazil combined, the continued development and increase of sustainable forest management in the country will have considerable environmental, social and economic benefits.

Biodiversity is not only a question of nature’s wellbeing, but also of economics – especially for the bioeconomy business. But how can it be measured, and what might bracket fungi and ospreys tell us about the condition of our forests? Last autumn, researchers with paper bags in their hands, bent over, intently examining samples of bracket fungi could be spotted by various creatures in the forests of Southern Finland and Kainuu. Some human berry-pickers may have spotted them, too. Occasionally the researchers were joined by Reijo Penttilä of the Natural Resources Institute Finland. Penttilä leads a bracket fungus transplantation project and has been researching bracket fungi for over 30 years. Researchers from the University of Helsinki and Luke completed a transplantation feasibility study using ten species over a period of nearly ten years. Click "read more" below for additional information.

Sappi North America, Inc. announced that it has extended its current SmartWay® Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry. The SmartWay Transport Partnership provides a framework to assess the environmental and energy efficiency of goods movement supply chains and benchmark overall performance. This is Sappi's 12th consecutive year as a SmartWay Transport Partner, and the company will continue to contribute to the Partnership's savings of 279.7 million barrels of oil, $37.5 billion in fuel costs and 134 million tons of air pollutants. This collective effort is the equivalent of the annual electricity use in 18.2 million homes. By being a part of the SmartWay Transport Partnership, Sappi demonstrates its strong environmental leadership and corporate responsibility. As a certified shipper partner, Sappi utilizes carriers that leverage technology and design to minimize their collective carbon footprint. Sappi works toward increasing the amount of freight moved on intermodal and rail as well as increasing the amount of freight moved on certified carriers.