PEFC International is taking forward targeted governance work to strengthen integrity safeguards related to scope-based forest management certification in Indonesia, as part of its ongoing integrity and system development work.

Recent public communications by environmental NGO Earthsight and others have raised questions about how scope-based certification operates in certain Indonesian concession cases. The governance work now underway addresses this topic within PEFC’s established oversight and standards processes.

Scope-based certification, where forest management certification applies to clearly defined and independently audited management units rather than entire concessions, is an established part of how forest certification systems operate. It enables forest areas that meet the sustainability requirements to be certified based on verified compliance and audit.

Certification confirms compliance within the audited scope. Areas that do not meet the requirements are excluded from certification. Only material from certified areas may be sold as certified, and this is subject to documented chain-of-custody controls and independent verification to prevent mixing with non-certified material.

PEFC Strengthens Integrity Safeguards for Scope-Based Certification in Indonesia – PEFC – Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification