Domtar Partners with Landowners for Group FSC Certification
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Domtar Corp., Montreal, Que., Canada, this week announced the culmination of a precedent-setting, two-year partnership process that saw 55 landowners in the Texarkana, Texas, USA, area achieve Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC) group certification. With support of the company's Ashdown, Ark., mill, the Four States Timberland Owners Association (FSTOA) was successful in receiving FSC Forest Management Certification on 70,000 acres of forestland.
Since Domtar's first FSC certification of forestland in upper New York State in 2000 and the subsequent formalizing of a collaboration with Rainforest Alliance in 2005, the company has maintained an industry-leading position that now sees it offer North America`s broadest range of FSC certified paper through the EarthChoice® line of papers. In addition, Domtar has set an ambitious goal of eventually procuring 100% of its fiber from sources that are certified to the FSC standard.
"Working together, we have achieved 'gold standard' certification from the 'gold standard' certifier, the Rainforest Alliance," said Bob Grygotis, GM of the Ashdown mill. "This is not the end but in fact the beginning for us in continuing to expand the availability of FSC wood for Ashdown and FSC certified paper for our customers."
Lewis Fix, Domtar's VP of pulp sales and until recently the company's VP of Sustainable Business and Brand Management, added that "we have raised the bar for private land certification in the south, and we look forward to seeing the model built in Ashdown being replicated and expanded on throughout our mill system. This is a perfect example of how our longstanding collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance continues to help us deliver on our promise of socially and environmentally responsible paper manufacturing."
Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance, said that "we applaud Domtar and the Four States Timberland Owners Association for their hard work over the past two years as they strove towards certification. This achievement reflects the Association's true commitment to responsible forest management and we look forward to helping them expand on their efforts.
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