International Day of Forests celebrates wild foods

7 April 2015 News

Wild foods from sustainably managed forests took to the stage for this year’s International Day of Forests celebrations at the United Nations in Geneva, thanks to PEFC Spain.

Travelling up from Madrid, Ana Belén Noriega, General Secretary of PEFC Spain, and renowned chef Charo Val presented the Tastes of Sustainable Forests project, including their award-winning recipe book “Cuisine from the Forests”. This project, supported by the 2013 PEFC Collaboration Fund, promoted wild food products from well-managed forests as well as PEFC certification in the food sector.

“We need well-managed, certified forests," said Ms. Val, urging attendees and forest stakeholders to continue working on the protection of forests for future generations. “PEFC, as a brand of trust and sustainability, is a perfect tool to develop the concept of sustainable cuisine: concerning not only food but also furniture, paper, biomass, and any other materials from the forests used in restaurants and kitchens. It´s a concept in which I strongly believe.”

Ms. Noriega took the opportunity to underline the importance that professional chefs place in the sustainable production of the food they prepare. Presenting the findings of a market survey undertaken at the beginning of the project, she highlighted how over 80% of chefs felt that their customers value the presence of products from sustainable forests on their plates, and that forest certification would give prestige to these foods.

 “Chefs take care for the quality of the food presented to customers, and trust PEFC to ensure that the forests from which these foods come are sustainably managed,” concluded Ms. Val. “As such, chefs have confidence in PEFC.”

A Forest Gala brought the day’s celebrations to a close, with Ms. Noriega presenting ambassadors from Finland, Germany, Russia, Switzerland and the USA with a copy of the recipe book and a gift made from PEFC-certified wood.

This year’s celebration for the International Day of Forests was dedicated to the theme “Forests for Food – Food for Forests”, drawing attention to the forest’s environmental, cultural, social, economic and gastronomic benefits with a series of events.