PEFC-certified Christmas trees take center stage in European cities

18 December 2014 News

PEFC-certified Christmas trees can be found all around Europe this Christmas, but one of the best places to go is Italy - with several of its cities and towns choosing trees from the country’s certified forests.

In Rome, spruce trees from the PEFC-certified forests of Val di Fiemme in northeast Italy are decorating all the municipalities and suburbs of the nation’s capital. The two largest trees, both 25 meters tall, can be found in front of the Coliseum and in the Piazza Venezia, at the heart of the city. You can even see the arrival of the tree in Piazza Venezia here!

Further north in Milan, the traditional Christmas tree in the Piazza Duomo – the city’s central square – is from the forests of Commezzadura, in the Trentino region of northeast Italy. Once the Christmas role of this giant 30 meter tree (picture above) is over, the wood will be used to build 60 benches for the municipal parks of Milan.

In Florence, a 15 meter fir from the PEFC certified forest of Zoncolan, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy, is adorning the famous Piazza del Duomo (picture below). In addition, sixteen more Christmas trees from the same region can be found around many of the squares and neighborhoods of the city.

Remaining in Tuscany, where it has become tradition over the years, the Forest Consortium dell'Amiata has provided PEFC-certified firs to the municipalities of Grosseto, Arcidosso, Castel del Piano, Seggiano, Castell'Azzara, Santa Fiora, Montalcino, Roccalbegna, semproniano, Cinigiano and Siena. Each municipality also received a statement that was placed at the base of the firs, which you can see here (in Italian).

However it is not just Italy where you can find PEFC-certified Christmas trees this Christmas. In Strasbourg, France, the 30 meter tall Christmas tree adorning the Place Kléber, the city’s central square, is from the PEFC certified forests of Bresse in eastern France. In Denmark, a beautiful 22 meter tall PEFC-certified Christmas tree from the Gribskov forest, is on display in City Hall Square in Copenhagen.

In London, Norway’s annual gift of a Christmas tree (picture right) to the UK is once again from a PEFC-certified forest in the Ostmarka area just outside Oslo. The traditional annual gift will be the 68th in the series of trees donated by Oslo to London that symbolizes the good relations that exist between both nations.

In Germany, the Hessian federal state parliament received a gift of a PEFC certified tree from the Hessian forest owner association. This five meter nordmann fir came from one of the local PEFC-certified forests and is now on display to visitors in the parliament building entrance hall.

Being from a PEFC-certified area ensures that the forests from which the trees have been taken are all managed under strict controls and guidelines, to ensure that the forests and products leaving them are legal and sustainable. PEFC is a unique global certification system which works by endorsing national forest certification systems and with over 260 million hectares of certified forests across 35 countries, is the world’s largest forest certification system.