Europe: First FM certification in Estonia
Estonian Fund for Nature
September 12, 2000
PRESS RELEASE
Tallinn, Estonia, 13th September 2000 13 pm
First FSC-certification of forest management between Poland and the Ural Mountains.
The first eastern European FSC-certificate for good forest management was today announced by SmartWood at the "FSC Forest Certification Seminar" in Tallinn, Estonia organised by the Estonian Fund for Nature (ELF).
"I'm very proud to be able to hand over the first Forest Management Certificate in this part of the world", said Mr. Peter Feilberg, SmartWood representative for the Baltic Countries at the seminar. "And I'm very happy to present the first certificate to Mr Lembit Laks, who has demonstrated a clear and outstanding forest management practice, which is a model for integrating long-term economic profitable forestry without compromising considerations to ecological and sociological aspects."
"This is the beginning of a new era for Forest Management Certification in the eastern European countries" continued Mr. Feilberg. "Private forest owners and state forest in several Eastern European countries are now preparing for FSC certification - in the front you find Russia and Latvia and Estonia with millions of hectares forest in the certification process", said Peter Feilberg. He expects a tremendous increase in the certification activities all over Eastern Europe within the coming year.
The certification pioneer Mr Laks said, that he hopes that FSC certification will be a market demand and in thus be a means to stop or limit many of the cases of illegal logging activities and examples of highly unsustainable forest management practice that currently takes place in the region. A team of Estonian and international experts have during the last month carefully evaluated all aspects of forest management carried out by Mr Laks.
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is an international organisation developing guidelines and accrediting certification bodies that certify forest management that fulfils FSC's Principles and Criteria for environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management of forests. Globally, close to 20 million hectares are certified according to the FSC-standards.
SmartWood is the largest certification body accredited by FSC to certify good forest management worldwide. SmartWood is organised as a global network of non-profit organisations and institutions.
The conference was attended by more than 100 people from several European countries.
For further information contact Peter Feilberg (pf@nepcon.dk or phone 0045 40360866) or Toomas Trapido (Director, Estonian Fund for Nature) (toomas@elfond.ee or 00372 5055540).
Toomas Trapido
tel + 372 (0) 50-55540
ELF (Estonian Fund for Nature)