The report, On the Ground 2011, is a joint project between NGOs in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Greenpeace says it uses case studies to show PEFC certified products are being sourced from areas where high value forests are being destroyed and human and community rights are being abused.

The PEFC stamp and its Australian affiliate AFS is displayed on a wide range of forest products sold in Australia.

An Australian supplement to the report by Victorian conservation group My Environment also details “problems with the ongoing certification of Australian Paper”, under the local PEFC standard the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS).

Reece Turner, Forests Campaigner for Greenpeace Australia Pacific says, “Forest certification is supposed to provide assurance to consumers that the products they are buying are sourced from responsibly managed forests.

“But as this report shows, behind the green-looking label, the PEFC in many cases signs-off on the destruction of tropical rainforests in places like Chile, Borneo and Indonesia and ignores the concerns and complaints of indigenous and environment organisations.”

Responding to the report, Richard Stanton, national secretary of Australian Forestry Standard Limited/PEFC Australia (AFSL) told Australian Printer that AFSL stands by its certification process and the independence and rigour of its Australian Standards for forest management (AS4708) and Chain of Custody (AS4707).

He says, “With about 30 endorsed national certification systems and more than 220 million hectares of certified forests, PEFC is the world’s largest forest certification system.

“The certification bodies who conduct certification audits against these Australian Standards are accredited by JAS-ANZ, the government-appointed accreditation body for Australia and New Zealand responsible for providing accreditation of conformity assessment bodies (CABs) in the fields of
certification and inspection.

“Accreditation by JAS-ANZ demonstrates the competence and independence of these CABs.”

Stanton adds that some of the content in the report and accompanying documents appears to be restating claims that have been made previously and some of these are subject to ongoing investigations.

He says, “AFS Ltd will review this material and any formal complaints and take the appropriate action in accordance with our procedures.”

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