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PEFC history |
PEFC was launched on the 30th June 1999 in Paris by representatives of eleven officially constituted national PEFC governing bodies with the support of associations representing some 15 million woodland owners in Europe and of many international forest industry and trade organizations.
Since its launch, its membership has increased - currently 34 member countries- and broadening; it has become the largest forest certification umbrella organisation covering national schemes from all over the world - Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Oceania- delivering hundreds of millions of tonnes of wood to the processing industry.
Some milestones:
30 June 1999: PEFC is launched by representatives from 11 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
24 May 2000: first schemes endorsed by PEFC: The Finnish Forest Certification scheme, the Living Standards and Norwegian Forest Certification Scheme, and the Swedish PEFC certification scheme.
31 July 2000: German Forest Scheme endorsed.
6 September 2000: the Austrian Scheme is endorsed. This takes the number of PEFC certified hectares of forests to 23.5 million.
13 October 2000: First PEFC logo licences issued.
26 January 2001: General Assembly in Luxembourg welcomes UK membership.
July 2001: General Assembly in Santiago de Compostella (Spain) welcomes Italy and its first two non-European members: Canada and USA.
French and Latvian schemes endorsed.
August 2001: Czech scheme is endorsed.
October 2001: Swiss Q Label Holz Scheme is endorsed.
February 2002: World's first Interactive Database on Forest Certification is launched on the web which allows customers to gain valuable information on the origins of the timber they are buying and which carries a PEFC logo.
Belgian Forest certification scheme endorsed.
UK certification scheme for sustainable forest management endorsed.
May or June 2002: Spanish scheme endorsed.
August 2002: Danish scheme endorsed. This brings the number of independant national forest schemes to 13.
22 November 2002: General Assembly in Luxembourg welcomes the following new members: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Luxembourg, Malaysia,Slovak Republic.
September 2003: 48.6 million hectares are now PEFC certified.
October 2003: Assessment process on Italian and Chilean forest certification schemes commences.
November 2003: PEFC opens new PEFC Asia Promotions Office in Japan
October 2004: Russia becomes a member of the PEFC Council. Australian, Italian and Chilean schemes are endorsed.
December 2004: Gabon becomes the first African member of the PEFC Council. Portuguese forest certification system endorsed. 55 million hectares certified by PEFC endorsed certification systems worldwide.
March 2005: Canadian certification system endorsed. PEFC now has more than 100 million hectares of certified forests from endorsed certification schemes worldwide and is the first international system ever to reach this milestone. Slovenia becomes the 30th member of PEFC Council.
August 2005: Luxembourg and the Slovak Republic gain PEFC endorsement.
October 2005: Brazil gains PEFC endorsement. Belarus becomes a member of the PEFC Council.
December 2005: North American SFI system endorsed. More than 187 million hectares of forests are certified by PEFC endorsed certification systems globally.
March 2006: Increased PEFC activities in Asia. First PEFC Chain of Custody certificate awarded in China.
September 2006: First PEFC Chain of Custody certificate in Africa (Morocco).
October 2006: Russian national forest certification initiatives merge under PEFC. First PEFC Chain of Custody certificate awarded in Malaysia.
November 2006: PEFC launches its new mandatory guide for the Avoidance of Timber from Controversial Sources.
December 2006: More than 193 million hectares of forest around the world are certified under PEFC.
April 2007: PEFC opens new PEFC China Office in Beijing.
July 2007: 200 million hectares of production forests under independently certified sustainable management. PEFC is the first-ever organisation to achieve this milestone for the protection and sustainable management of the world's forests.
August 2007: Slovenia achieves PEFC endorsement.
October 2007: PEFC Council adopts its new 5 year strategic plan. Uruguay becomes a member of the PEFC Council. |
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