PEFC Chile and Zero Deforestation: At the Forefront of Forest Sustainability

By André Laroze, CEO PEFC Chile

The global forest sector faces unprecedented pressure to demonstrate, with concrete evidence and traceability throughout the entire supply chain, that wood products do not come from deforestation or loss of native forests.

In this context, forest management in our country has taken a decisive step through PEFC Chile, by consolidating Zero Deforestation requirements as a central and distinctive pillar of its certification system.

The strength of this system lies in third-party auditing. This mechanism ensures that compliance with forest management and chain of custody standards is not merely a statement of intent, but the result of independent, technical, and rigorous verification. Impartial auditing is what grants Chilean forest producers the "license to operate" in the most demanding markets, such as the European one, under the new rules of the EUDR (European regulation on deforestation).

The implementation of the Zero Deforestation requirement in PEFC certification is not an isolated process. It is based on indicators defined in the Sustainable Forest Management standard that require no conversion of native forests and the protection of high-value ecosystems.

For the forest owner, certifying their management means integrating a due diligence tool that mitigates risks and ensures that every cubic meter of wood is the result of a responsible operation with natural heritage, and that it is also part of a regulated legal timber trade scheme.

Let us remember that in Chile and the world, forest certification is an instrument we could call self-regulation, as it is voluntarily applied by companies. Although the market demands proof of sustainable management and responsible origin in forest products, there is no legal obligation for companies to be certified. Thus, ultimately, guaranteeing Zero Deforestation is not just a response to a market regulatory requirement; it is the ethical and technical commitment that allows Chile to lead in providing nature-based solutions, through a verifiable method of the sustainable origin of forest products that are part of our daily lives.

Quote: Impartial auditing is what grants Chilean forest producers the "license to operate" in the most demanding markets.