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4.5 Forest Certification
Authors: C MaunderPublication: NZIF Forestry Handbook, Volume Section 4 – Forests and the environment, pp 5, Dec 2023
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry
Abstract: The 1990s and early 2000s have seen increased emphasis on environmental management in the form of certification within the New Zealand forest industry. The systems approach certification of ISO 14001 was taken up by many companies in the early to mid 1990s, but has been overshadowed by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification – which is based more on performance than process – in recent years. The current dominance of FSC certification has not developed without difficulty. There was initially considerable opposition to FSC certification. Much of the industry elected for the relative ease of ISO 14001 certification, but also commenced development of the industry's own standard, Verifiable Environmental Performance (VEP). The belief that Environmental Non Government Organisations (ENGOs) had too much leverage under schemes such as FSC certification led to this.