Metsähallitus – previously Finland’s Forest and Park Service – and other Finnish forestry groups have joined the attack on the environmentalist report criticising the country’s certification programme.
In the report – Anything Goes? – the Finnish Nature League and Greenpeace Nordic say the Finnish Forest Certification Council (FFCC) scheme, which has Pan-European Forest Certification Council (PEFCC) backing, does not protect old growth forest.
But, following a rebuttal by the PEFCC itself (TTJ February 10), Metsähallitus refutes the green report point by point. It says that the area of protected old growth forest in Finland has increased ‘remarkably’ and that it is monitored closely by a ‘national commission’.
The green claims have also been rejected by the FFCC – which says they are ‘extremely unjust and without relevancy’ – and other bodies, including the Association of Reindeer Co-operatives, which says it is ‘stunned’ by the criticism.
