Trees outside Forests certification opens up markets for Dutch tree owners

12 April 2024 News

PEFC Netherlands was our first national member to achieve PEFC endorsement for their national Trees outside Forests requirements. Since late 2023, people and organisations in the Netherlands can achieve PEFC certification for their trees growing outside of forests.

Marten de Groot, National Secretary of PEFC Netherlands, shared his insights into the standard development process, the national definition of Trees outside Forests and the difference this new certification makes in his country.

“In the Netherlands, half of the trees are standing outside of forests. This means certification for trees outside forests can be really important, especially as governmental organisations and companies nearly always demand certified material,” he explained.

“If we did not include trees outside forests, half of the trees that are standing in the country could not be used by governmental organisations or companies demanding certified material. So through certification, we open up more markets for the owners of those trees.”

“The second point is that it is also a great communication tool for the owners of the trees outside forests, empowering them to demonstrate that they manage them in a sustainable way.”

A global concept tailored to national needs

While the definition of trees outside forests is similar around the world, their occurrence and function vary widely, calling for national requirements.

In line with our bottom-up approach, each country develops their own national standard based on PEFC’s international Trees outside Forests (TOF) requirements, part of the PEFC Sustainable Forest Management Benchmark standard.

“The concept of our Trees outside Forests standard is more or less based on the international standard. We take the requirements from forest certification, and we see if it is applicable to trees outside forests, and, if it is not, how it can be made applicable,” Marten explains.

“So what is the essence of the requirement? And does this essence of the requirement also make sense in the trees outside forests context?”

Once PEFC Netherlands had developed their TOF standard, they submitted it to PEFC International for endorsement. Following a rigorous assessment by a third-party assessor, which included a global public consultation, the standard achieved PEFC endorsement in August 2023.