Newsflash
First Malaysian PEFC wood in Belgium
The first Malaysian hardwood bearing a PEFC label will shortly arrive in the port of Antwerp, announces PEFC Belgium. The shipment is intended for the company Denderwood.
Denderwood has its headquarters in the province of East Flanders, not so far from Brussels. It will be the first European company to import Asian PEFC wood, “coming from legal logging and from sustainably managed forests”.
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Belgium is a big importer of Malaysian wood. PEFC, the biggest certification scheme in the world, has recently endorsed the Malaysian scheme MTCS for its forests as well as for the follow-up of the wood flows in the companies. This means that purchasing wood with a PEFC label brings along the guarantee that the wood comes from forests where the rules concerning the ecological, social and economic aspects of forest management are respected. These rules are strict and concern working conditions, the rights of the local population, the protection of flora and fauna as well as water and soil. Profit can be generated as long as this doesn’t occur to the detriment of the health of the forest.
The first shipment of Malaysian PEFC wood, more particularly meranti, is intended for Denderwood, a company in the province of East Flanders. “We consciously opted for the PEFC certificate of our company. Thanks to PEFC certification in Malaysia, we can increase our immediate supply of labelled wood at affordable prices”, explains Filip D’Haeseleer, in charge PEFC certification within the company.
PEFC in Malaysia
Malaysia is a country with a high deforestation rate. That is why forest certification is very important there. PEFC International endorsed the Malaysian forest certification scheme MTCS in 2009. With that endorsement the international NGO made its first steps on the Asian continent. “The big challenge is the certification of tropical forests in the Southern Hemisphere. They have a big influence on problems such as deforestation, climatic change and loss of biodiversity”, said the then secretary-general Ben Gunneberg at the time. A little later also the chain-of-custody, the follow-up of wood flows in the companies, received an endorsement from PEFC. It is therefore possible to follow the Malaysian wood from forest to consumer and to guarantee that it concerns ‘clean’ wood.
A few figures
In Malaysia, the forests cover 59.4% of the territory (primary forests and plantations). It concerns more than 19 million hectares, of which a little less than 4 million hectares are now PEFC certified. 128 companies have a PEFC certificate and can therefore trade their products under PEFC flag. One of them is the company Low Fatt Wood Industries which exported the first shipment of PEFC certified wood to Belgium.
The endorsement of MTCS by PEFC is also for the Belgian market an important fact. Belgium is, after the Netherlands and Great Britain, the biggest buyer of Malaysian wood with a MTCS label. Malaysia exports its certified wood mainly to Europe, but also to Australia, South Africa and since the end of 2009 also to the Philippines. In 2009 it concerned 501,084 m³ of wood products for the whole of Europe, of which 52,761 m³ for Belgium.
Meranti
Meranti is a commercial name for a series of botanical species of the Shorea genus. The wood is usually reddish and is perfectly suitable for interior applications such as doors, skirting-boards, stairs and furniture. It is also suitable for plywood and exterior applications such as windows, doors, frames, balconies, balustrades and boardings.
Denderwood and the PEFC certificate
Denderwood is a family business of the third generation, located in Erpe-Mere. It developed from a local timber yard and is now completely oriented towards the import of tropical hardwood. In the middle of the 60s the company commenced import from Asia.
The family business feels very strongly about quality. “We specialize in rather rare products and attach a particular importance to our customer service”, one says. The Malaysian products which arrive in the company are as far as possible processed in the country of origin. Denderwood imports sawn wood, laminated wood and parquetry. It especially concerns meranti, kembang semangkok, merbau and gerutu, which are used for a number of applications such as windows, doors, parquetry and verandas.
“Malaysia is a very important country for us. About half of our import comes from West and East Malaysia”, tells Filip D’Haeseleer. “We hope that within two years 80% of our import bears the PEFC flag”, he concludes.