PEFC seeks input by Aug. 7 on proposed re-endorsement of Denmark's national forest certification system; more than 40% of Denmark's forests are PEFC-certified

Audrey Dixon

GENEVA , June 12, 2012 (press release) – Stakeholders globally are invited to comment on the Danish PEFC Certification Scheme for sustainable forest management and its compliance with PEFC International's globally recognized Sustainability Benchmarks during the 60 day consultation period, which ends on 7th August 2012.

With PEFC International limiting the validity of endorsements to five years, national schemes must be revised in multi-stakeholder processes and apply for re-endorsement to continue benefitting from PEFC recognition. In line with these requirements, the Danish forest management system was revised for the third time during 2010-2012. Stakeholders from a wide range of interest groups, ranging from forest owners to NGOs to woodworking organizations, participated in the revision process and included, among others, the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, the Danish Nature Agency, the Danish Forest Owners Association, and Copenhagen University.

"One of the major challenges that the revision working groups dealt with was a general feeling that the Danish forest management standard was too bureaucratic, narrowly focussed, and not sufficiently adapted to the various types of forest management units," reported Tanja Olsen, Secretary General of PEFC Denmark.

"The quite differing interest among the various stakeholders led to a really good dialogue in the working groups and a revised standard that we are all proud of. We believe that we have been able to better balance between the environmental, social and economic pillar of sustainable development while providing forest owners with a standard that is better adapted to their local conditions."

Denmark was one of the first countries to achieve PEFC endorsement in 2002. More than 40% of Danish forests - public, private as well family-owned – are certified to PEFC.

The Danish forest management system is now being independently assessed for compliance with PEFC International's Sustainability Benchmarks. The global public consultation is part of the assessment process, providing interested parties with the opportunity to comment on the standard.

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