COP 16: Over 25% of all production forests globally are PEFC certified, demonstrating sustainable management

PEFC Portugal is the third member to achieve PEFC endorsement for their Trees outside Forests (TOF) requirements, opening the way to the first PEFC-certified trees growing outside of forests in the country. Incorporated into the Sustainable Forest Management benchmark standard since 2018, Trees outside Forests requirements have widened the scope of PEFC certification. The endorsements of the first national TOF systems made certification accessible to millions of farmers managing trees on their land, and municipalities managing urban trees.

What are the most common causes of global deforestation? The answers might surprise you. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defines deforestation as the conversion of forests to another land use or a permanent loss of forest cover. Deforestation is not a major issue in North America. In fact, in the United States, net total forest area has actually increased in the past 60 years, while in Canada, forest cover remains stable. However, this is not the case in other regions of the world, where the rapid loss of tree cover has reached alarming rates. Despite the fact that the pulp and paper industry is not a major contributor to deforestation in many regions, myths continue to persist about the role our industry plays in this growing problem worldwide. That said, consumers who purchase pulp and paper products without considering the source drive demand in regions where less sustainable practices are common. Click Read More below for additional information.

There is urgent need for government, donors and industry to support the newly established Vietnamese Forestry Certification System in order to meet the government’s ambitious forest certification targets, especially given the vast amount of smallholders in the country. It is therefore essential to ensure that certification is an affordable, accessible and realistic option for uptake throughout Vietnam’s forest sector, including smallholders. This is one of the outcomes of the ‘Furthering PEFC: Challenges and Opportunities for Smallholders Using a Cooperative Model’ workshop in Hue, Vietnam at the end of May, which brought together more than sixty stakeholders from across the forestry sector.