Norway, one of the 11 original national members of PEFC, was among the first to achieve PEFC endorsement of their forest certification system back in 2000. Since then, more than 9.1 million hectares of forest have become PEFC certified, equaling more than three quarters of the country’s forest area.
In Slovakia, almost two-thirds of the country’s forest area, more than 1.2 million hectares, has become PEFC certified in the ten years since the system was first endorsed by PEFC. This is the second successful re-endorsement of the Slovakian certification system, with the country achieving their first re-endorsement back in 2010.
"The re-endorsement of these national forest certification systems shows both the commitment of our members to PEFC and underlines PEFC's leadership in the continuous improvement of forest certification," said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International.
PEFC International is the only global forest certification system to limit endorsements of national systems to five years, requiring standards revisions before a system can re-apply for endorsement.
