The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) (1) has announced that it has appointed Bellenden Public Affairs (BPA) to conduct a programme of high level strategic political engagement aimed at highlighting the role recognised certification schemes can play in reducing the amount of unsustainable wood products entering the UK market.

The outreach programme will see Bellenden calling for wider promotion and implementation of the government's Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement, CPET (2) procurement process, which recognises both the PEFC and FSC certification schemes as providing equivalent assurances of legal and sustainable sourcing.

Bellenden Public Affairs is a political, planning and corporate communications agency whose twenty-four consultants combine political understanding, communications professionalism and business acumen to deliver high impact campaigns to its clients.  It has been running the "Wood for Gold" campaign, which is a collaborative initiative by the UK timber industry designed to maximise the use of wood in the 2010 London Olympics.

The company's Managing Director Mark Glover who recently featured in the Government Affairs/Total Politics list of the top 100 Public Affairs professionals commented, "I am delighted that Bellenden is working with PEFC. It is vital that we raise recognition of certification with political audiences in order to increase use of CPET by Government bodies."
Welcoming the appointment, PEFC UK Chairman Peter Latham commented "we are pleased that Bellenden have agreed to take on this project for PEFC.  Since April this year, - the UK government has required only legal and sustainable timber or FLEGT-licensed timber to be used on the government estate and from 2015 it will only accept sustainable timber.

As the world's largest forest certification scheme, accounting for two thirds of global certified forests – 223 million hectares – we consider it crucial to engage with all areas of government to promote the key role that PEFC has to play in enabling UK firms to meet its procurement criteria."

Editors' Notes

(1) PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes)

PEFC is a framework for the mutual recognition of credible national or regional forest certification schemes that have been developed based on internationally recognised requirements for sustainable forest management. Since its launch in 1999, PEFC has become the largest forest certification umbrella organisation covering national schemes from all over the world, delivering hundreds of millions of tonnes of wood to the processing industry and then on to the market place from over 220 million hectares of certified forests.

(2) Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET)

CPET (Central Point of Expertise on Timber) In 2004, the UK Government established the Central Point of Expertise on Timber to assess certification schemes and provide guidelines for central government departments on legal and sustainable timber procurement (see www.proforest.net/cpet

(3) Bellenden Public Affairs

For further information on Bellenden see: http://www.bellendenpublicaffairs.co.uk