On the path to EUDR alignment: watch the webinar recording

As part of the revision process of the FSC forest management standard for continental France, FSC France has published its first public consultation, open to all until 18 July 2022. After a first phase of consultation with stakeholders in the regions and at national level in 2021, FSC France has set up a working group composed of environmental, social and economic organizations in order to improve its forest standard. The process includes two public consultations before validation by FSC International. The first consultation was published on 17 May 2022, and will be open to all until 18 July 2022 on the Consultation Platform, with the aim of collecting the opinions of all stakeholders interested in forest management on the proposals for the evolution of the FSC forest management standard.

American Forest & Paper Association President (AF&PA) President and CEO Donna Harman issued the following statement in support of the District of Columbia (D.C.) Circuit Court’s December 23rd decision to remand the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule: “With this ruling, the court has provided an opening for the EPA to quickly address concerns and finalize a rule that supports our industry’s capability to generate essential power from its boilers. We’re pleased that the court has listened to our support of a remand, and we urge the agency to work as quickly as possible to bring this rule to closure after 20 years and three tries. “Our industry has been subject to a roller coaster of regulatory uncertainty that needs to stop. We need and deserve affordable and achievable standards that are not constantly in flux.”

UPM’s new biodiversity target is one of the company’s responsibility targets for 2030. The aim is to preserve biodiversity alongside modern forestry. “We want to preserve and improve the biodiversity in UPM’s own forests in Finland. With this target and through our actions, we seek to open up new opportunities for different land use practises that promote the preservation of natural resources or habitats”, says Timo Lehesvirta, Sustainable Forestry Lead, Forest Global, UPM. UPM has carried out its biodiversity protection programme in the company’s forests for over 20 years. Thanks to the programme, the ratios of tree species have diversified and the amount of deadwood, which is valuable to many forest species, is increasing. Natural variation in forests has been improved through thickets for game, by protecting valuable habitats and buffer zones next to water, and by leaving retention trees and tree groups on harvesting sites. Some species are specialised to grow in conditions that differ from the surrounding forest environment. There are 45,000 protected habitats in UPM forests, and the programme protects all of them. Click Read More below for additional detail.