Features Environment & Sustainability Forestry
Stora Enso partners with FSC to increase European forest certification

December 21, 2018 – Paper, packaging and biomaterials provider Stora Enso has partnered with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to increase FSC certification, especially among small- and medium-sized private forest owners in the Nordics, Baltics and across Europe.

The aim is to increase the FSC-certified wood supply. The work undertaken within the partnership will make FSC certification more accessible, simpler to implement and easier to promote across the value chains that Stora Enso operates in. The agreement covers a three-year period, commencing January 2019. The first year’s focus will be on the Nordics.

“We work actively with our stakeholders to promote sustainable forest management,” says Noel Morrin, EVP sustainability at Stora Enso. “As a customer-centric renewable materials company, Stora Enso also wants to respond to its customers’ needs for FSC-certified products.”

Stora Enso has been an FSC member since 1999 and through this has experience of working with FSC to advance the principles of responsible forest management. This new strategic partnership builds on that relationship to focus more on the key operational aspects of FSC in those countries where both organizations have an active presence. It will seek to develop and promote forest certification as a key tool to improve the well-being of forests whilst providing increased supply sources for companies that want to source FSC Certified material.

“Improving solutions for small- and medium-sized forest owners to access responsible markets through FSC certification is essential for the success of our mission. Working together with Stora Enso will enable us to increase our engagement with and provide better support to a larger number and more diverse group of private forest owners, enabling them to implement FSC certification appropriately in their forests,” says Kim Carstensen, director general of FSC.

Stora Enso actively promotes all main forest certification systems and is committed to responsible sourcing of wood and fibre only from sustainably managed forests and tree plantations. In 2017, Stora Enso mills received 37.5 million m3 of wood, a significant share of which came from private forest owners.