The national forest certification systems of Luxembourg, Malaysia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland have all been re-endorsed by PEFC for continuing to meet its sustainability benchmarks.
In total, these five systems account for 6.5m hectares of sustainably managed forest, including 4m hectares of tropical forests located in Malaysia. For Slovenia and Malaysia, this is the first time their national systems have been re-endorsed, with Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland achieving re-endorsement for the second time.
PEFC International remains the only global forest certification system to limit endorsements of national systems to five years, requiring standards revisions before a system can re-apply for endorsement, which is only granted after a comprehensive, third-party assessment of compliance with PEFC’s Sustainability Benchmarks.
Revisions are required to ensure that latest scientific research, practical experiences and best practices from the field, but also evolving values, expectations, and aspirations of society towards sustainable forest management are systematically incorporated in these revisions and then implemented at national, regional and local level.