New Zealand’s certification system is the most recent to achieve PEFC endorsement, according to IHB.
The newly endorsed system, the New Zealand Forest Certification Scheme, is based on the New Zealand Standard for Sustainable Forest Management.
The country is covered with 7.8 million hectares of natural forest and 1.7 million hectares of plantation forests. The forestry sector in New Zealand amounts to 3 percent of the country’s GDP and employs around 17,000 workers, according to IHB.
Total exports of forest products amount to 70 percent of the yield, so the PEFC certification will help domestic forest owners gain access to new markets that require certified sustainable management practices.
"We are very pleased to be able to provide New Zealand's forest owners and managers with a PEFC-endorsed certification system," Andrew McEwen, chair of the New Zealand Forest Certification Association, told IHB.
