PEFC Sustainability Profile

Caring for forests globally and locally

At PEFC, we work to protect our forests by promoting sustainable forest management through certification. This means we can all benefit from the many products that forests provide now, while ensuring these forests will be around for generations to come.

Responsible Wood is the National Governing Body for PEFC in Australia.

Forests are highly diverse; as is their management, local traditions, cultural and spiritual expectations, average property sizes and support structures. This diversity means one size does not fit all when it comes to forest certification.

This is why we do not set one international standard that all forest owners must follow in order to achieve certification. Instead, we work through national forest certification systems, enabling countries to tailor their sustainable forest management requirements to their specific forest ecosystems, the legal and administrative framework, the socio-cultural context and other relevant factors.

We require that all the relevant stakeholders are involved in the development of a national system. This means they participate in determining what sustainable forest management means within their country and how it can best be implemented locally. Having stakeholders from several different backgrounds also ensures that one interest cannot dominate the process, as all parties need to agree on the final requirements.

This is key to the success of PEFC, as it empowers those managing forests – small- and private forest owners, communities and companies – to do so in compliance with the standards that they themselves helped develop.