Asian members top growth in PEFC certified hectares

17 November 2020 News

Every year, we award our PEFC members that have achieved the biggest increases in PEFC-certified forest area and PEFC chain of custody certificates. In 2020, the awards for highest growth in certified hectares all went to Asia!

The Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) took gold, thanks to an increase of over 950,000 hectares, following the certification of 10 forest management units in Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. This is an increase of over 20%, taking the PEFC-certified forest area in Malaysia to over 5.2 million hectares.

“We dedicate this award to everyone who has been working tirelessly behind the scenes,” said Kamaruzaman Mohamad, MTCC Chairman, following the very first virtual PEFC Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 11 November.

“Thanks to the forest managers in particular, and all our stakeholders – civil society and governmental organisations, industry, unions and academicians - who have been supporting our efforts to ensure sustainable forest management is implemented, independently assessed to the highest standards and continuously monitored for improvement.”

“Without this shared vision and commitment to sustain our forests for the future, this achievement would not have been possible,” he concluded.

High growth for some of our newer members

Second place went to the Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests (NCCF), our member for India. This award was particularly special, as their increase of 450,000 hectares represented the first PEFC-certified forest area in the country – this time last year, there were no certified hectares.

In bronze position was the Korea Forest Certificate Council (KFCC), who also saw an extremely impressive increase, growing their certified forest area by more than 150%, up to 706,000 hectares. The Republic of Korea achieved their first PEFC-certified forest area in 2019.

“In Korea, 65% of the national area is made up of forests. Accordingly, the sustainably managed forests in Korea are essential and have a very important meaning,” said Ahn Kyu Hwan, Head of Project and Development at KFCC/KOFPI.

“In the future, KOFPI will continue to cooperate with PEFC to contribute further to the sustainability of domestic forests. Lastly, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the PEFC officials for this award.”

Chain of custody grows too

We also award the top three members to grow their chain of custody certificates.

This year, first place was awarded to PEFC Spain, while second and third went to PEFC Czech Republic and the China Forest Certification Council, respectively.

“We are very proud of the determination and good work in favour of sustainability by Spanish companies. This global recognition belongs to you,” said Ana Belén Noriega, National Secretary of PEFC Spain.

“Spanish forests are a reference in biodiversity and Spanish companies are a benchmark for the diversity of certified forest products - from the biggest to the small family company. Congratulations!”

PEFC Awards Ceremony goes virtual

With our 25^th General Assembly held virtually for the very first time, we took our awards ceremony online too. We were delighted to be joined by more than 100 representatives of our members, calling in from all over the world. 

Alongside the awards for growth, we also presented certificates of membership and endorsement, as well as certificates of appreciation for our outgoing Board members.