Metsäliitto Podporozhye in Russia earns PEFC certification

   Moscow. Mar 24, 2010. /Lesprom Network/. National Forest Certification Council of Russia granted the country’s first PEFC certificate to Metsäliitto Group subsidiary OOO Metsäliitto Podporozhye in March. The certificate is for a 200,000-hectare forest holding, which the company is leasing in the Leningrad region. This is the first national certificate issued in Russia, Finnish Forest Industries Federation said in a statement received by Lesprom Network.

Russia started by establishing two forest certification councils. The actual development work got fully underway only in 2004 after these two councils set up a shared umbrella organisation to which Russia’s membership in the international PEFC was transferred. The standard issued by the National Forest Certification Council of Russia was accredited by the international PEFC one year ago. This signalled to the markets that PEFC certification was now possible for other actors in Russia as well.

The PEFC promotes economically, ecologically and socially sustainable forestry practices. Finland’s PEFC system has been in use for ten years already and about 95% of Finnish commercial forests are PEFC certified. The Finnish PEFC cooperates with the forest certification organisations of other countries. The schemes of different countries reciprocally endorse forest certification systems that pass the evaluation and approval process of the PEFC.

Additional information: FFIF