PEFC UK Ltd claims the WWF‘s position on the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) system is outdated and inaccurate.
PEFC UK Ltd chairman Len Yull spoke out after receiving a reply from the WWF 95+ Group to his letter updating NGOs about the progress of the UK scheme and inviting their participation at board level.
He says the view, and that of other NGO responses, appears to be based on the WWF’s position statement on PEFC from 2001.
It says PEFC does not require verification of legal compliance of forest management certified under its national schemes or demand identification and protection of high conservation value forests.
Mr Yull has penned a lengthy rebuttal to the points made in a bid to set the record straight, with copies sent to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the BRE, BM TRADA and others.
Mr Yull said: “Ben Gunneberg [PEFC secretary-general] is continually having to answer the same questions to all sorts of people. It does not appear that WWF has changed its position from 2001.”
Duncan Pollard, head of WWF International’s European forest programme, said the group’s original 2001 position statement on PEFC had been reviewed regularly. He acknowledged changes to PEFC documentation at a higher level but argued similar revisions were needed at national levels and with auditors.
“On this basis we do not feel that there is sufficient substantive change to warrant a change in our formal position with respect to PEFC.”
He said PEFC UK suffered from being connected to much poorer national schemes elsewhere.
