PEFC: Opening doors for South African smallholders

South Africa has become the latest country to achieve PEFC endorsement of its national forest certification system, which is great news for the country’s many small-forest owners.

“We are excited and energized to receive PEFC endorsement of our national system,” said Craig Norris, Chairman of the South African Forestry Assurance Scheme (SAFAS).

“We have been working for five years to find solutions that will make forest certification accessible to the many smaller scale forestry operations within our country.”

While there are alternative forest certification systems in South Africa, large organizations own or manage most of the certified area. This led to a growing concern that small- and family forest owners were being left behind.

“The complexity and cost of the certification options that previously existed prevented many smaller operations from achieving certification, so there was an urgent need to develop a standard that is more relevant to our plantation forestry.”

“We believe that our newly endorsed national SAFAS standard will allow us to achieve this objective, without compromising on good forestry practice,” Mr. Norris highlighted.

The South African Forestry Assurance Scheme (SAFAS), established to develop and manage the national forest certification system of South Africa, joined the PEFC alliance in 2017. It becomes the second national system in Africa to achieve PEFC endorsement, following Gabon.
more at: https://pefc.org/news-a-media/general-sfm-news/2627-pefc-opening-doors-for-south-african-smallholders

Related Posts

Our Carbon Footprint: How Do Paper Products Fit In?

A household carbon footprint refers to the overall amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by all the energy and materials consumed by those who live in a home as they go about their daily lives. It is a common measure of the contribution of a single household to climate change. Understanding your carbon footprint can show opportunities for decreasing your consumption of energy and materials, and in turn, reducing your production of carbon emissions. By far the largest source of human-induced carbon emissions, is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline, diesel and natural gas. In GHG inventory and carbon footprint studies, the use of fossil fuels is usually the cause of elevated GHG emissions.

Retailers Join Forces to Tackle Climate Change in the Race to Zero

Leading retailers H&M Group, Ingka Group (IKEA), Kingfisher plc and Walmart today launched a new climate change initiative – the Race to Zero Breakthroughs: Retail Campaign – in partnership with the COP26 High Level Climate Action Champions and supported by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Retailers have pledged their support to accelerate a movement in the retail industry to drive climate action and encourage other retailers to set out their plans to achieve 1.5 degree aligned carbon reduction targets. The retail sector faces unprecedented challenges due to climate change, which have only been accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The imperative to take action to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius has never been higher. Despite bold actions from some leading retail brands, a decarbonization pathway for the sector is notably absent, with only 5% of retail businesses – by total global industry revenues – having committed to taking action to limit global warming in accordance with the Paris Agreement goals.

EcoVadis confirms Mondi’s Platinum status as one of the top 1% companies globally

Mondi, a global packaging and paper manufacturer, has maintained its Platinum status in EcoVadis’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ratings. The Group’s overall score of 87% places Mondi among the top 1% of global companies assessed for the eighth consecutive year. We are delighted to have secured our position among the top 1% of companies globally in the EcoVadis ratings once again this year. This achievement underscores our continued dedication to realising our ambitious MAP2030 sustainability commitments and to transparent reporting on our progress. As a widely recognised global platform for sustainability and corporate social responsibility ratings, EcoVadis supports us in engaging with customers and suppliers - Gladys Naylor, Mondi Group Head of Sustainable Development.
Back To Top
×Close search
Search