India has become the latest country to achieve the PEFC endorsement of its national forest certification system.
“PEFC endorsement is a landmark achievement for India, as we have long felt the need for such a country specific and internationally benchmarked forest certification system,” said Vijai Sharma, Chairman of The Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests (NCCF), PEFC’s national member for India.
NCCF joined the PEFC alliance in 2015 and submitted the national system to PEFC for endorsement in 2017. The system was developed through a multi-stakeholder group including forestry professionals, representatives from government, forest corporations, conservation organisations and industry bodies.
NCCF is committed to developing globally-aligned, country-specific certification systems and standards for enhancing sustainability and market access to goods and services from forests and trees outside forests.
“Forest certification has been accepted as an efficient tool for sustainable forest management around the world. Given that the forests of India serve important ecological, economic and social functions and provide livelihoods to over 275 million people, we should utilise certification for sustaining and enhancing these roles of forests,” said A.K. Srivastava, NCCF Executive Director.
PEFC is the world's largest forest certification system.
