Speaker: Sarah Price, Head of Projects and Development, PEFC International

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Abstract: Forest certification systems emerged in the 1990’s in large part to address the issue of deforestation in the tropics. To date however, less than 10% of certified area is in tropical forests and timber production from these forests makes up less than 1% of the global supply in certified wood. Within this context, what are the prospects for making significant advancements in certifying the sustainable management of tropical forests?

While the Programme for the Endorsement of Certification Systems (PEFC) advances a range of initiatives to support the development of certification systems globally and in tropical countries, it has also recently completed a number of revisions to its International Standards. PEFC’s revised Standards include new requirements and address a number of the issues raised by stakeholders in consumer countries during the revision process. At the same time, PEFC has an imperative and motivation to provide an accessible mechanism to promote certification globally. Striking the balance between demand-side requirements and supply-side feasibility is clearly the certification challenge that PEFC strives to meet.

This presentation will provide an update on PEFC, featuring the major changes in the new standards and highlight current approaches and challenges for advancing certification in the tropics.

Biography: Sarah Price is currently the Head of Projects & Development at PEFC International in Geneva. Prior to working at PEFC, Sarah held positions with The Forest Trust and The Forests Dialogue. She also has over 10 years of field experience working in the forests of North America, South America and Southeast Asia.

Sarah possesses a Masters of Forest Science from Yale University and a Bachelors of Science in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of British Columbia.