Footprints in the forest - Fern

IV. PEFC Sweden
Author: Elisa Peter
This text was written based on information provided by WWF Sweden, SSNC and PEFC
Sweden (responses to the questionnaire). Literature review and an interview with the
National Accreditation Body provided additional information. The numbered criteria refer
to those included in the first edition of Behind the Logo.
Summary of the main changes in PEFC Sweden since 2001
When the first edition of Behind the Logo was published in 2001, PEFC Sweden had only
developed a forest certification standard. There were no Chain of Custody (CoC)
certification procedures and no accredited certifiers to carry out PEFC certification.
During the year 2001 certification bodies were accredited and umbrella organizations
(Forest Owners Associations and Independent Sawmills Associations) were certified.
Several CoC certificates were delivered.
As of 2002, all the Forest Owners Associations and the Independent Sawmills
Associations in Sweden were PEFC certified 52 .
The Swedish PEFC standard has been slightly modified in 2002 as a result of a
comparative study between the Swedish PEFC and FSC standards 53 , in which WWF
Sweden and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation participated. The study
showed that the Swedish PEFC standard had lower demands than the FSC standard on 17
points, while the FSC standard had lower demands on 4 points 54 .
The subsequent changes in the PEFC standard concern the logging moratorium for key
biotopes (in which forest owners must restrain from logging key biotopes on their
property until 2005, after which the key biotope protection will be conditional of State
compensation), environmental evaluation routines and requirement for set aside areas in
the Northern region (increased from 3% to 5%). The changes were endorsed by the PEFC
Council in April 2002 55 .
52
PEFC Sweden. http://www.pefc.se June 2003. Original with the author.
53
Aulén, G. and Bleckert, S. 2002. Skogsduvan – Förslag till överbyggnadsdokument mellan svenska
PEFC och FSC standarder.
54
Lena Dahl, WWF Sweden. Response to PEFC questionnaire. June 18, 2003.
55
Folke Stenström, Executive Director PEFC Sweden. Response to the PEFC questionnaire. June 23,
2003
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