From the innovative to the fashionable: the 2016 Collaboration Fund projects

19 July 2016 Collaboration Fund

We are delighted to announce that the 2016 Collaboration Fund will support projects in Italy, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Thailand and the US.

“Through the selected projects, we will be helping the development and implementation of national systems in Africa and Asia, supporting small- and family forest owners gain access to certification through innovative new tools, integrating the rubber sector into forest certification, advancing certification at the landscape level, and working to inspire the fashion world to utilize forest products,” said Sarah Price, Head of Projects and Development at PEFC International.

“This year we had a fantastic range of projects submitted to the Collaboration Fund. It was extremely exciting for us dive into such well-developed proposals, and to see the breadth of solutions and innovations that our members and forest partners are putting forward and willing to deliver.”

The projects

This year we are supporting a wide range of very different projects, from working with the Federation of Thai Industries (TFI) to bring Thailand’s rubber sector into forest certification, to supporting KoFPI as they increase market awareness of forest certification and PEFC in the Republic of Korea.

In South Africa we are assisting NCT Forestry as they create an innovative new approach to ensure the country’s smallholders can achieve certification, while in the Southern US we are supporting the American Forest Foundation (AFF) roll out a landscape management plan to enable the small-forest owners within the Red Hills of Florida gain certification.

With a long history of supporting the development of national forest certification systems, this year is no different, as we are also supporting the Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development as they begin to lead the national system development process.

In a move away from the more traditional Collaboration Fund projects, 2016 will also see us enter into the world of fashion, as we support PEFC Italy’s innovative ‘Forests for Fashion’ project.

The Fund

The PEFC Collaboration Fund was developed to encourage locally relevant advancements in the sustainable management of forests and foster collaboration and dialogue amongst different actors. It is part of PEFC’s work to stimulate the uptake of sustainable forest management, innovate new approaches for forest certification and promote certified products in the marketplace.

This year PEFC awarded roughly 125,000 CHF to the six projects, which leverages a further 430,000 CHF from partner’s co-funding. Since its conception in 2011, the Fund has awarded over 600,000 Swiss Francs to 30 projects with impacts realized in forests and communities all over the world.

Looking ahead to 2017, we plan to scale up the Collaboration Fund by enabling other organizations to invest in the Fund. With more capital, we aspire to support the delivery of even more impact-oriented forest solutions projects. If you’d like to partner with us in supporting the Collaboration Fund, please get in touch.