Oct 02 2012
“PEFC with its bottom up approach to certification is an ideal solution to the unique situation of Irish forests,” said Ben Gunneberg at the ITGA/PEFC Field Day. “Ireland is a country with a very short – but proud – tradition of private forest ownership, and a forest ecosystem that has for the most part been established after the turn of the 20thcentury.”
The Field Day was jointly hosted by the Irish Timber Growers Association (ITGA) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the world’s largest forest certification system, to celebrate the launch of the PEFC Ireland Scheme for Sustainable Forest Management.
PEFC IRL Scheme Revised May2014.pdf
The endorsement of the PEFC Irish standard earlier this year coincides with private Irish forestry coming of age. Over the past 25 years 240,000 hectares of private woodland in the country has been established, and this considerable area of forest, planted in the 1980s and 1990s, is now reaching prime harvesting age. This will provide a huge increase in the private sector’s timber supply.
“With more than 19.000 small- and family forest owners in Ireland, the group certification concept that has been popularized by PEFC over the course of the last decade is a powerful and cost-effective mechanism for promoting sustainable forest managements among smallholders,” explained Mr. Gunneberg. “Group certification makes certification affordable when individual certification is too expensive, encourages information sharing, builds capacity on the ground, and mainstreams good practices in the forest.”
“Certification is becoming increasingly important in accessing markets demanding sustainable sourced products, with experience showing that it can significantly contribute to improving rural livelihoods,” added Mr. Gunneberg.
“Irish stakeholders have for years been engaged in the development of requirements and criteria for responsible forestry, yet it has been difficult to find consensus between the different interests,” emphasized William Merivale, Secretary General of PEFC Ireland. “This is why we are so proud to have been able to successfully establish a national standard, drafted in a multi-stakeholder, participatory process, with local foresters taking ownership for their contribution to the standard.”
The Field Day was attended by more than 120 participants and kindly hosted by private forest owner James Bennett, later joined by Collite, the Irish State Forestry Company.