PEFC Members Endorse SFI Forest Standard

PEFC Secretary General Ben Gunneberg (left) and Chair Bill Street present the PEFC Certificate of Endorsement to SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow

The SFI forest standard has once again met the rigorous third-party assessment of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

"PEFC International's endorsement reinforces our position as an internationally respected program with tough requirements to strengthen forest practices and support communities across North America," said SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow. "We are proud to be recognized by PEFC, and to be part of a global network with national members in 34 countries who share our commitment to sustainable forest management."

"The SFI program is an important certification program in addressing the unique needs of North America's forests and communities, and it is an important contributor to working with PEFC to address the challenges facing forests globally," says PEFC Secretary General Ben Gunneberg. "Only forest certification schemes like SFI that meet our rigorous meta-standard and are developed in an open, transparent manner through a multi-stakeholder process are endorsed by PEFC."

The PEFC endorsement means fiber from SFI-certified forests – which accounts for one third of PEFC's 602 million acres/244 million hectares of certified forests – will continue to be accepted as certified content for both PEFC and SFI chain-of-custody labels. Three-quarters of all certified forests in Canada and the United States are to PEFC-endorsed standards and are eligible for SFI and PEFC chain-of-custody labels.