Media News Bulletin for June: World Environment Day & much more

Media News Bulletin from PEFC Asia Pacific

 Produced on 2 June and shared on LinkedIn on 7 June 2021

World Environment Day:

 Renewable, Recyclable and Responsibly-sourced Packaging

 When the Sustainability in Packaging Asia conference returns online on 7 to 9 June it will ignite important discussion around the challenges, opportunities and innovations making waves across the global packaging market. Ben Gunneberg, the CEO and Secretary General of Geneva-based PEFC International is a keynote speaker on the first day, Monday 7 June, when he will stress that sustainable packaging must be all about “Renewable, Recyclable and Responsibly-Sourced”. As demand for environmentally-friendly packaging grows, he sees a shift from single use plastic to paper products and notes that consumers are calling for brands to take greater responsibility for the environment. There's more.

Promoting a Sustainable & Resilient Future for Natural Rubber in India

 On the eve of World Environment Day, the Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests (NCCF), jointly with the Programme on Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), organised a webinar for the Rubber Board, Ministry of Commerce, and Industry, Government of India on “Promoting Certification of Forests and Rubber Plantations for Long Term Sustainability of the Resource and Rubber Industry in India” on Friday, 4 June 2021. The Indian Rubber Industry is growing at a fast pace, so it is necessary that natural rubber is produced from sustainable plantations. Certification is globally recognised as the evidence of sustainable management of rubber plantations, as well the entire supply chain.

Climate Adaptation & Mitigation: Farm to Trade for Rubber

Natural Rubber is in the news more than ever, so stay tuned for the launch of PEFC’s Supporting Sustainable Rubber Campaign. Coming soon. Meantime, the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Government of Cote d'Ivoire, is organising the virtual World Rubber Summit (WRS) 2021. The theme for the Summit is ‘’Facing the Future: Inclusiveness, Sustainability and Growth for the Next Normal’’. Richard Laity, PEFC Southeast Asia Manager, and other panellists will participate in a debate on 10 June on the topic: ‘Climate Adaption & Mitigation: Farm to Trade’. Read all about it and register here.

APP Timber: Protecting Forests & Promoting Certification

APP Timber is the only company in Southeast Asia that is both a PEFC international stakeholder member and has PEFC chain of custody certification for wood products sold from its Malaysian warehouse. "Being a stakeholder member means that we have the responsibility – together with all other members – to safeguard PEFC’s mission to protect the forests by promoting sustainable forest management through certification." This from the interview with Michael Hermens, Group Managing Director at APP Timber, who shares his thoughts about sustainability and global cooperation in the PEFC series "Meeting our Certified companies". Read More.

Webinar Update on Indonesia's Forest Certification Progress

As of 31 March 2021, more than 3.9 million hectares of forest in Indonesia have been IFCC or PEFC certified. That includes 74 forest management companies and 40 companies that have PEFC certified supply chain or chain of custody. That was the message from Regita Wirastri, Promotion, Marketing and Communication Manager for IFCC during the latest Indonesian webinar on Thursday 27 May. The participants included PEFC/IFCC CoC certified companies, IFCC SFM certified companies, PEFC accredited certification bodies, concession holders, brand owners, consultants, local government representatives and academics. Learn a lot more from the webinar recording.

Asia Pacific in the World of PEFC: Maps, Facts & Figures

How is the Asian region doing regards the area of PEFC-certified forests it has and the number of PEFC chain of custody certificates by country? The interactive map shows this, as well as the development over time. You can also check the PEFC statistics document collection in the quarterly reports. This report combines historical data of PEFC certification and global land cover statistics provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The national coverage represents the ratio of PEFC-certified forest area over the FAO area estimation by country.

SustainableTower Design Wins Responsible Wood Award

Two University of Queensland architectural students have been awarded the Responsible Wood Architectural Prize for Excellence in Timber Design in Australia for their research paper and model on the construction of Emu Creek Observation Tower in the Brisbane Valley region. The students, Dylan Francks and Simin Louei, assisted by Matthew Walton, Alec Hutchinson and Emile Hildebrandt, presented the research design and models for the tower, which uses culturally sustainable participatory principles and incorporates locally-sourced under-utilised grey ironbark (Eucalyptus drepanophylla). As a timber abundant in the region, it can be found in one of the many nearby timber plantations, with the tower acting as an “ode to the region’s colonial past”. Read all about it.

UPM's Space Mission to "Create a Future Beyond Fossils"

UPM, one of PEFC's International Stakeholder Members, is about to to go into space with a plywood satellite. “UPM’s mission as a company is to create a future beyond fossils. WISA Woodsat is made of plywood and it carries a profound message of replacing fossils with renewable wood-based materials, also in very demanding applications", says Ari Voutilainen, the space project manager for UPM Plywood. WISA Woodsat will be launched to polar orbit by Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle. The launch will take place from the Mahia Peninsula launch complex in New Zealand. Read all about it.

Experience "Harmony" in the Forest through Photography

There's still time to enter the 2021 PEFC Photographer of the Year contest. Our photo in the spotlight this month is ‘Harmony’, taken by Vlad Ionescu in Cheia, Romania, runner up in 2020. Trees, forest landscapes, children playing, people working or animals living in the forest – share your photo and help us to escape to the wonderful world of forests in our imaginations! To enter your photo is simple, check out www.pefc.photo to see if there is a national contest in your country. Then head to Instagram and post your forest photo using the contest hashtag of your country – and that’s it, you’re done! The deadline for entries is 5 June – World Environment Day. There's more here.

 Making PEFC Certified Furniture with "Lasting Qualities"

 The circular economy, sustainable e-commerce and emerging from the economic and health impacts of the pandemic. Where does forest certification fit in for the global furniture industry. Right at the heart, according to the latest article by Ken Hickson for PEFC, appearing in both World Furniture Online and Panels and Furniture Asia. "If we apply this - the circular economy - to the furniture industry and add in the new norms of e-commerce, we see that we cannot just rely on responsible sourcing or managing a sustainable supply chain right to the end. We have to look beyond the retailer to the consumer to make sure that our products have “lasting qualities”, and that they can be used, reused and/or recycled.

 If you need more information on any of the items above, or any other work by PEFC in Asia Pacific, feel free to contact:

 Wikkie Netten    [email protected]

Ken Hickson [email protected]

Or go to PEFC International: www.pefc.org