Ukraine celebrates the endorsement of its national system
“The date 19 June 2021 has become a holiday for our organisation, the day our system was endorsed by PEFC."
Ukraine celebrates the endorsement of its national system
19 July 2021 PEFC system news
The Association National Voluntary Forest Certification System, our member for Ukraine, is the latest national forest certification system to achieve PEFC endorsement.
“The date 19 June 2021 has become a holiday for our organisation, the day our system was endorsed by PEFC,” said Mariya Maha, the National Secretary for the Association National Voluntary Forest Certification System.
“It was a long, two-year path, with a lot of a challenges, but also with a lot of a small wins and the greatest thing is that we have made plenty of strong connections with all stakeholders.”
After developing the national system in line with PEFC requirements, the Association submitted the system to PEFC for endorsement in 2020. The national system then underwent the PEFC assessment process, carried out by an independent PEFC Registered Assessor, as well as a public consultation.
After passing this process it was approved by the PEFC General Assembly to achieve endorsement.
PEFC endorsement to support the country
“We believe this endorsement will help to transform the forestry industry in Ukraine from a source of raw materials to a seller of finished products to the world market,” Mariya continued.
“It will help us to increase the demand of Ukrainian products, leading to investment in this area and growth in our economy, as well as supporting our country in its sustainable development.”
“We also expect to see an increase in the level of confidence in forest workers in Ukraine, enabling us to build strong relationships with all stakeholders. This will have important implications for joint forest management to remedy the effects of man-made climate change.”
“Finally, the national forest management standard will allow us to harmonize previous legislation and international requirements for a sustainable forest management system,” Mariya explained.
A thank you to stakeholders and supporters
The Association would like to say thank you to all the Working Group members, the experts and consultants who made a big impact in the process.
“We would especially like to thank the Society of Foresters of Ukraine, which gave us the biggest support. The Head of Society Yuriy Marchuk was Head of Working Group on Standard Development.”
“Also, we would never have managed this without the support from State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine and, of course, from PEFC International. During the whole process, we always felt the contribution and we are deeply thankful for this,” Mariya concluded.