Stora Enso has spelled out its position on forest certification and pledged to encourage mutual recognition amongst certifying bodies worldwide.
The company has been engaged in forest certification in different countries, participating in the development of systems and standards, certifying its own forests and in some areas helping small forest owners with group certificates.
To ensure that wood comes from sustainably managed forests, Stora Enso has also developed and implemented traceability systems.
Stora Enso said there is a need for more than one forest certification system in various regions and supports both the Pan European Forest Certification (PEFC) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) systems in Europe. It also encourages mutual recognition through, for example, double certification.
Stora Enso Wood Supply Sweden, whose own forests are certified to FSC, is to start up a PEFC certification process. It has also initiated discussions between FSC and the Finnish Forest Certification System (FFCS) to promote mutual recogntion between the two and said double certification should be studied as one option to accelerate mutual recognition processes.
In Canada, Stora Enso’s Port Hawkesbury wood supply operations hold double certifications to SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) and to the CSA Z809 National Standard of Canada, while in the US its wood supply operations and land holdings are certified to SFI.
Stora Enso has pledged to promote forest certification in all the areas it operates including Russia, South America and Asia.
