UPM is the first Finnish company to be awarded a certificate for complying with the new FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) standard. The FSC certificate covers around half of UPM's forests in Finland. UPM's forests have previously been awarded a PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) certificate.

"FSC certification of Finnish forests further expands UPM's portfolio of eco-labelled products. We already have the markets' most extensive selection of paper products with the EU Ecolabel. Forest certificates, such as FSC and PEFC are a guarantee to our customers that our wood fibre comes from sustainably managed forests," says Thomas Ehrnrooth, Vice President, Marketing, Paper.

The first UPM products manufactured from FSC-certified Finnish fibre will be available on the market in autumn 2011.

An agreement on the new Finnish FSC standard and its requirements was concluded during negotiations between environmental organisations and the forest industry in autumn 2010 and a certificate of compliance with the new standard has been available for Finnish forests as of May 2011. UPM started certification preparations at the beginning of this year. The FSC certificate was granted by Soil Association Woodmark. 

"WWF and UPM have been working closely for a long time and I am pleased to see that UPM is setting an example in FSC certification for other Finnish companies. We hope that more forest owners will start to adhere to the more ecologically stringent FSC standard," says Liisa Rohweder, President of WWF Finland.

"FSC certification is a natural continuation for the development of UPM's forestry. We want to develop sustainable forest management and make our business more transparent," stresses Timo Lehesvirta, Director, Environment.

UPM monitors the origin of all the fibre it sources and strives to maximise the use of certified fibre. In 2010, 79% of the fibre used by UPM was certified. All forests owned by UPM have a PEFC, FSC or SFI certificate.