The PEFC UK Certification Scheme for Sustainable Forest Management and Trees Outside Forests has been submitted to PEFC for assessment. The public consultation, which is your chance to give your feedback on this revised system, will run from 8 August to 6 October 2022. PEFC UK revised the country’s national forest certification system following the entry into force of the revised 2018 PEFC Sustainable Forest Management standard. The revised system is among the first submitted to PEFC for endorsement to include a Trees Outside Forests (TOF) standard. TOF certification was one of the innovative developments of the 2018 PEFC Sustainable Forest Management standard.

“The European Commission (EC) recently released its proposal to integrate the land use and forestry sector (LULUCF) into the European Union’s 2030 Climate and Energy Framework. The EC’s proposal, released on July 20, reiterates its current accounting practice for bioenergy, with emissions related to biomass use reported and accounted for under LULUCF, i.e. biomass use in the energy sector is zero rated, to avoid double-counting. “This proposal reinforces the need for the U.S. to appropriately recognize the benefits of biomass energy. The uncertainty caused by EPA is putting the U.S. out of step with the rest of the world, and puts our American workers and job creators at a competitive disadvantage.

J.D. Irving Limited’s (JDI) partnership with Natural Resources Canada's Canadian Forest Service has led to the commercial development of advanced tree breeding, field testing and seedling production techniques. Maritime Innovation, JDI's new lab in Sussex, New Brunswick was designed to use advanced seedling production technologies based on selection from our native tree population for a range of high value traits such as fast growth rate, high wood quality, resistance to insects and disease and broad adaptation to climate change. A propagation method called Somatic Embryogenesis is used to produce large numbers of seedling from a broad range of genetically diverse trees which have been field tested across the region. Another aspect of the lab’s research involves fungi which live inside the needles and leaves of trees across our region which are called endophytes. A range of these fungi have been selected because they produce compounds which improve their host tree’s tolerance to insect and disease attack. Methods have been developed to inoculate small seedlings in the nursery with these special fungi which stay with the tree throughout its life. Investing in this technology will sustain diverse forests, contribute to a sustainable wood supply for the forest industry and improve tree tolerance to various insect and fungal pests leading to a reduction in pesticide usage.