PEFC Continues to Grow

In today's marketplace, certification can play a key role in the success of an organization's marketing and promotional campaigns.

When most people in the Canadian forest industry think of forest certification, the three major players that come to mind are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA). However, there is another player in town - Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

Recently, Canadian Forest Industries met with Paul Wooding, the director and secretary of PEFC Canada, and he quickly put to rest the common misconception that his organization competes head to head with the other certification organizations. He says PEFC at the international level, and PEFC Canada, are not forest certification programs. Their role is to endorse forest certification programs. As such, PEFC Canada represents organizations in Canada that have certified their forestry operations to the PEFCendorsed CSA Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Standards, both the original standard first developed in 1996, and the newly endorsed CSA standard for small woodlots, as well as organizations and businesses that are certified to the PEFC International Chain of Custody Standard.

Wooding, who was a forester with Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (Canfor Corporation) for over 20 years before taking on his new role with PEFC Canada, is well versed in all of the available forest certification programs in Canada, and in particular, the CSA program, as many of Canfor's operations were, and still are, CSA certified.

As for the other major players in the certification business, Wooding says PEFC does not work with FSC, but he says they have "a friendly working relationship" with SFI, the other PEFC-endorsed organization that operates in Canada. "Products from forests certified to both the CSA and SFI program qualify for certified credits within the PEFC Chain of Custody standard," he explains, while adding that PEFC is an umbrella organization that endorses national forest certification systems developed collaboratively by all interested stakeholders and tailored to local priorities and conditions.

PEFC Background

PEFC is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1999, and today has recognized certification systems in about 30 countries, including Canada. In total, just over 220 million hectares of forestland worldwide is certified to PEFC-endorsed standards, making the organization the world's largest forest certification system.

In a report released by PEFC in April 2010, they noted that more than 75% of all certified area in North America is to PEFC standards. That's 152 million hectares in total. Of that total, 64 million hectares is certified in Canada under the CSA program while 55 million hectares in Canada is certified under the SH program. The balance of the North American total is in the U.S. - 23 million hectares that is SFI certified, and 10 million hectares that is American Tree Farm System (ATFS) certified.

According to PEFC, the CSA, SFI and ATFS certification programs they endorse all meet basic requirements, such as ensuring harvested areas are reforested, laws are obeyed and there is no unauthorized or illegal logging. Program endorsement by PEFC also ensures biological diversity is conserved, wildlife habitat is protected, soil and water resources are maintained, and timber harvesting is sustainable.

Canada first joined PEFC in 2001, with the membership held by CSA International. PEFC Canada was created and registered as a not-for-profit corporation in 2008 and it took over the membership of PEFC at that time. PEFC Canada has four directors - Wooding, Mike Alexander, who was also a forester at Canfor and worked for KPMG on forest certification prior to taking on this role, and two other forestry professionals - PEFC Canada chairman John Dunford of Vernon, B.C. -based Tolko Industries Ltd. and Guy Tremblay of Montrealbased AbitibiBowater.

Benefits for Wood lots

Wooding says one group that can realize significant benefits from PEFC certification is small woodlot owners, who in the past may have wanted certification but found the demands and requirements difficult to meet due to limited resources. In mid-July, PEFC announced they have endorsed both the Canadian Sustainable Forest Management Standard (CAN/ CSA-Z809-08) and the Canadian Sustainable Forest Management for Woodlots and Other Small Area Forests (CAN/CSA-Z804-08). He says the needs of these small woodlot owners are far different from those of the major forest licensees. Peter de Marsh, president of the Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners, agrees.

"It is satisfying to see that it has been possible to deliver a workable standard that responds to the specific needs of Canadian woodlot owners and at the same time complies with PEFC International's sustainability benchmarks," says de Marsh, who adds that Canadian woodlots are on average less than 40 hectares in size and generally owned by rural families. "This standard gives woodlot owners across Canada, which together produce approximately 15% of the Canadian wood supply, access to the benefits of PEFC certification."

Private woodlots are the most prevalent in Atlantic Canada and in Nova Scotia alone, 53 woodlot owners have broken new ground with certification to the standard in a pilot program that was supported by the provincial government. The program, which has now grown to cover 92 woodlot owners and 107 woodlots, has received kudos from Peter Duinker, professor of resource and environmental studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax and chair of the CSA's Sustainable Forest Management Technical Committee. "This is a milestone achievement for sustainable forest management in Canada," Duinker says.

Wooding says that although they are making progress there is still work to do, as only 10% of the world's forests are certified at this time.

For more on PEFC Canada, visit: www.pefccanada.org.