About 0.3% of Russia’s forests will have been certified by the end of 2004, according to the country’s federal forest agency.
The agency says 2.2 million ha have already been certified and another two million will be added soon.
The biggest concentration of certification activity has been in the Arkhangelsk region, the Komi republic, Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk.
Russia has operated voluntary forest certification since 2003, under the national council for forest certification. But 2005 will see adjustments and document registration, which will be extended in 2006.
