Guyana is to develop its own national forest certification scheme, a break from a decades-long relationship with the top-ranked Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
A release from the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) yesterday said that Guyana will now seek certification under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) Council which is an alternative to the FSC.
The switch to a national programme for blessing by the PEFC appears to have been fuelled by FSC standards in the past which have snagged greenheart exports and also tougher requirements to enter the European Union market under its Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programme.