The organisation maintained that, despite the recession focusing people’s minds on economic issues, sustainability remained a key concern.

Ben Gunneberg, PEFC secretary general, said: “Issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and poverty are as relevant today as ever, and we can expect them to gain further prominence in the years to come.

“Given the important role that forests play in tackling such challenges, we’ve taken an in-depth look at our organisation during the past two years and streamlined its processes and activities to improve the potential contribution that forest certification can make to stakeholders and to society as a whole.”

The organisation (with the full title of Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes) has now revised its technical documentation around a core ‘Sustainability Benchmark’ that can be used to define whether or not a forest is sustainably managed.

It takes into account what the broader society’s expectations are of a sustainably-managed forest, alongside other multi-stakeholder inter-governmental criteria. The benchmark will be regularly reviewed to reflect changes in scientific and practical knowledge.

Structurally, the organisation will now include representatives from a broader set of stakeholder industries and will move its headquarters from Luxembourg to Geneva.

Read the original article at www.printweek.com.

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