Help protect forests and prove it with PEFC

In 2018, FSC US began revising the US Forest Management Standard (v1.1), with an overall goal of maintaining continuity and consistency to the extent possible. The process is expected to continue into 2021. The objectives for the revision process include the following: •Align the US standard with the new FSC Principles & Criteria (Version 5), and International Generic Indicators (IGI). •Address a small number of high-priority issues identified by stakeholders. •Incorporate guidance that has been in use, but not formally adopted into the standard. •Complete editorial and grammatical clarifications.

PEFC Forest Certification Week not only provides an opportunity for PEFC members from around the world to gather together, but also welcomes representatives from countries actively developing national forest certification systems. This year, we welcomed representatives from Ghana, Guatemala, Nepal, Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam and to our 2015 PEFC Week. “PEFC is the best way to enable the one million small-forest owners in Viet Nam to access certification,” said Bach Le Van, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MARD. David Everard, from SAPPI South Africa, echoed this, highlighting how “PEFC offers an important solution to South African smallholders.” Other countries, including South Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam, all took the opportunity to express their desire to become part of the PEFC alliance, “We are ready to join PEFC,” said Seoggu Son, from the Korea Forestry Promotion Institute.

People of all ages and backgrounds from across the U.S. and Canada came together Wednesday 20 May to break the Guinness World Record for the most trees planted in one hour by small teams. Organized by PEFC’s North American member, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI), more than 200,000 trees were planted simultaneously in 28 different communities. The record attempt involved more than 1,100 participants, across four time zones, including industry representatives, community organizations, youth groups, conservation groups, and SFI Implementation Committees. Each team of 25 to 100 people planted trees simultaneously from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT, in locations ranging from New York City to Vancouver Island in British Columbia.