UPM and the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) announce a global strategic partnership to develop solutions for advancing the uptake of FSC in the market. The partnership aims at delivering benefits to forest owners through FSC certification and to increase the FSC-certified wood supply.
UPM has actively cooperated with FSC both on international and national level for several years. The company has been involved in developing the FSC certification in order to enhance its applicability to the fragmented private forest ownership in Finland. This work will be strengthened through the newly agreed partnership.
"We are delighted to formalize our collaboration with UPM. It is vitally important that FSC has a strong relationship with sustainability leaders of the paper and forest products industry to expand the FSC footprint globally. We agree on the importance of FSC for all parties in the value chain from forest owners to consumers. UPM and FSC also share a common understanding of the importance of responsible forestry and the sustainable use of wood in the bioeconomy," says Kim Carstensen, Director General, Forest Stewardship Council.
To promote the certification of privately owned forests in Finland, UPM established an FSC group certification scheme in 2012. In 2016, the scheme (FSC C 109750) grew to cover about 300,000 hectares of private forest.
