Tembec announced September 30, 2008 that it has received Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for its forestry practices over a 711,020-hectare public forest in Senneterre, in Abitibi-East, Quebec.
“Achieving FSC certification is the culmination of months of hard work and represents a well-deserved recognition of the efforts of our Senneterre team,” said Dennis Rounsville, Executive Vice President and President of Tembec’s Forest Products Group. “In addition to this significant certification achievement, the Company has invested more than $4.5 million since 2003 for the development and improvement of our Senneterre operations. Faced with a profound risk of a 50% cut in fibre supply for that mill, Tembec intends to stand firm to correct this inequity, to protect our investment and maintain jobs in the region.”
The Forest Stewardship Council is recognized worldwide as the Gold standard for well-managed forests for its unique regional, multi-stakeholder approach to the development of standards. Founded in 1993, the Forest Stewardship Council is an international, non-governmental organization that has developed the only forest certification system recognized worldwide by native peoples, environmental groups, labour organizations and industry. The certification system requires consultations with all forest users and stakeholders, and guarantees the independent evaluation of forest management practices used by companies.
“This certification demonstrates our desire to expand Tembec’s 2001 commitment to seek third-party FSC certification for all its forest operations. After the Senneterre acquisition was made in 2003, we embarked on the stringent FSC certification process as a further demonstration of our continuous improvement of forest management and partnership development, including with local First Nations,” said James Lopez, President and CEO of Tembec. “With 11.1 million hectares of FSC-certified forestland under our management, Tembec offers the largest range of FSC-certified products in the marketplace to support our clients in meeting market demand for environmentally friendly solutions.”
Tembec received its certification from the Rainforest Alliance SmartWood™ Program, a Forest Stewardship Council accredited certifier, following an in-depth audit process that found that the Company’s forest management practices comply with FSC’s rigorous standards for environmentally and socially responsible forestry practices.
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