Irish forestry software as a service (SaaS) provider, Treemetrics Ltd, has announced that it has begun developing a ‘green’ platform to make it easier for forest owners globally to adopt forest certification. The pioneering project is supported by the European Space Agency (ESA) and will leverage the latest satellite imagery from the Sentinel Satellite global constellation. The Forest Certification Platform set to promote and enable sustainable forest management (SFM).
An error occurred
On your profile you can see what subscriptions you have access to and more information.
Is some of the information wrong – please contact our customer service.
Please reload the page
Do you want to read the whole article?
- Six editions per year
- Full access to all digital content
- The E-magazine Bioenergy international
- And more ...
Amid rising global demand for wood and increasing pressure on forests, the challenge now is to rapidly deploy forest certification standards to meet the exponential growth in demand for sustainably sourced forest-based products.
The new forest management monitoring platform is being developed in response to strong consumer sentiment in support of sustainable forest management (SFM) practices and a greater demand for those products which are sourced from producers and suppliers that work in harmony with nature.
Treemetrics are a fantastic example of an innovative Irish company using digital space data, made available through Ireland’s membership of ESA, to ensure the sustainability of raw materials on earth, commented Damien English, TD, Ireland’s Minister of State for Business, Employment, and Retail.
Supported by forest and biomass bodies
The development will also be supported by major players in forest management. Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), which promotes sustainability in forest management through forest certification, will partner with Treemetrics to ensure that the system meets the needs of their certificate holders internationally.
There are currently 790 million acres (or 320 million hectares) of PEFC-certified forest across the globe, making it the world’s largest forest certification system. In addition, the Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) which is a global standard to ensure that wood biomass is sourced sustainably will also support the development phase.
Over the past 15 years Treemetrics, with the support of Enterprise Ireland, has worked in over 35 countries across the planet and we have observed the positive impact of responsible forest management. The global forest industry has a huge challenge to meet the growing demand for wood. We are delighted to be working with global leaders and look forward to delivering a system that makes forest certification easier to adopt and more transparent for auditing, said Enda Keane, Founder, and CEO of Treemetrics.
Other partners include F&W Forestry Services Inc., which manages over 1.5 million acres across the United States (US), South America, and Europe, and Tillhill Forestry Ltd, the largest private forest manager in the UK that will provide the support to ensure the platform meets the needs of private forest owners and managers globally.
Both companies are bringing a wealth of experience having pioneered the adoption and delivery of forest certification standards for the past two decades. In addition, a leading forest auditing body responsible for the certification of 18 million hectares annually, the Soil Association is also a partner.
Forest Carbon is a rapidly emerging product that forest owners are monetizing across the planet. The platform will also leverage the Treemetrics precision measurement, verification, and certification tools that help to reduce the potential associated risk and increase overall adoption of this important mechanism ended Enda Keane.
