Largest FSC® Certification Area in Germany in the Making

On 5 December, 2012, a first batch of twelve forest offices in Rhineland-Palatinate (RLP) has been granted a FSC (Forest Stewardship Council^®) Forest Management group certificate by. GFA’s Certification Department handed the certificate over to Forestry Minister Ulrike Höfken (Green Party) at the Forest Visitor Center in Soonwald (see TVnews ). By 2014, all the 45 forest offices in the German federal state will be audited by GFA. At about 230.000 ha, this will constitute the largest FSC certification area in Germany. 

A group certification allows for a staged and faster process that also private forest owners can join in. The forest offices had to accomplish the label’s more than 250 criteria which make the internationally renowned FSC standard an economic and marketing factor: Many sawmills and paper manufacturers will only process FSC certified wood. 

“FSC aims at forest management that sustains ecological diversity, integrates the local population and employees’ requirements, and is economically viable at the same time “ said Höfken. Therefore, the RLP government has stipulated FSC certification in its coalition agreement. 

“The more than 45 private and communal forest enterprises we have certified in Germany prove that more and more retailers and consumers actively demand products from sustainable forest management” stated Carsten Huljus, Director of GFA’s Certification Department. GFA Consulting Group was the first German company to be accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council in 2000.