Resolute Forest Products, a Canadian pulp and wood product manufacturer with a production capacity of 2.5 billion board feet of lumber per year, said it will not seek new Forest Stewardship Council certifications for its forests in Canada.
Resolute is the largest FSC certificate holder in Canada and the second-largest in the United States.
The company is concerned about a proposal under FSC consideration from the environmentalist group Greenpeace that would protect intact forests undisturbed by roads or settlements from logging.
Canadian mills and the industry’s employees have struggled to operate as the annual allowable cut has been decreased 23 percent during the last decade. A rule was also established that restricts loggers from accessing 42 percent of the boreal forest and 85 percent of intact forest landscapes.
Greenpeace’s proposal, called Motion 65, would only exacerbate these issues, according to an article from Timberbiz.
“If Motion 65 goes ahead as currently written … you are going to find very few if any companies in the Canadian context that are able to maintain FSC certification,” Resolute spokesperson Seth Kursman told Timberbiz.
