Forest certification and the PEFC system

Certification PEFC (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes) is a certification system aimed to certify that the woodland management, origin of product raw materials, complies with the environmental, social and economical "sustainability".

"Forest management certification" means a check procedure recognized and tested leading to the issue of a certificate by an independent body, stating that: "the management and use of forests and forest land able to maintain their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and potential, allowing to ensure important ecological, economical and social functions at local, national and global levels nowadays and in the future and that does not damage other ecosystems".

Therefore the process of issuing national standards must be based on the following six criteria:

• maintenance and appropriate development of forest resources and their contribution to the global cycle of carbon;
• maintaining health and vitality of the forest ecosystem;
• maintenance and promotion of productive functions of forests (wood and non-wood products);
• maintenance, preservation and appropriate development of biological diversity in forest ecosystems;
• maintenance and appropriate development of protective functions in forest management (in particular soil and water);
• maintenance of other functions and socio-economical conditions.