Latvia, one of the most heavily forested countries in Europe, has successfully achieved PEFC re-endorsement of its national forest certification system, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.

Since Latvia was first endorsed by PEFC in 2001, half of the country’s forests - more than 1.6 million hectares - have achieved PEFC certification. With about half of the Latvian forests owned by the state, there are about 150,000 private forest owners in Latvia, who, together with their families, form a remarkable part of society in country with a population of just over 2 million people.

"The re-endorsement of the Latvian systems shows their clear commitment to PEFC and underlines our leadership in the continuous improvement of forest certification," said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International.

PEFC International remains 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, which is only granted after a comprehensive, third-party assessment of compliance with PEFC’s Sustainability Benchmarks.