"Having a PEFC endorsed national system in Macedonia makes the dreams about Macedonian forestry joining global initiatives for sustainable forest management come true. The same positive energy used in the process of creating our national forest certification system will be transferred to the next steps - having the first PEFC-certified forest in Macedonia,” said Vladimir Stojanovski, President of The Council for Sustainable Forest Management in the Republic of Macedonia.
Collaboration Fund supported a project in Macedonia to develop the country’s national forest
certification system (photo courtesy PEFC).
Switzerland-headed Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), an international non-profit, non-governmental umbrella organization dedicated to promoting Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) through independent third-party certification has announced that Macedonia has achieved PEFC endorsement of its national forest certification system for the first time.
PEFC Collaboration Fund
Macedonia follows in the footsteps of many other countries that have achieved PEFC endorsement thanks in part to the support of the PEFC Collaboration Fund.
It is fantastic to see the Macedonian forest certification system endorsed. Our Collaboration Fund provided financial and technical support for the development of the Macedonian system, so this is a wonderful end to the project and brilliant news for the country’s forest owners who can now demonstrate their sustainable forestry practices through PEFC certification, said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International, following the announcement.
The project in Macedonia grew out of an earlier project to develop awareness and capacity on sustainable forest management and PEFC certification within the forestry community of Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo, with the goal to lay the groundwork for the development of national forest certification systems.
On behalf of The Council for SFM in the Republic of Macedonia, I would like to thank all stakeholders who participated in the process. I would also like to thank TJConsulting for providing constructive comments to improve the national system, CNVP for their unwavering support during the process and finally, to PEFC for their valuable assistance during the process, said Vladimir Stojanovski.
