PEFC 2025 annual audit: A look at the sustainable management of private forests

In Wallonia, many private forest owners have voluntarily chosen to join the PEFC certification scheme. This approach certifies that their forests are managed according to rigorous environmental, economic and social sustainability criteria.

PEFC-certified owners undertake to :

• preserving biodiversity and water resources ;
• ensure the natural regeneration or sustainable reforestation of stands ;
• maintain a balance between forests and game ;
• guarantee the traceability of wood throughout the production chain.

Today, almost 27,500 hectares of private forest are PEFC certified in the Walloon Region. For these owners, certification is a guarantee of credibility, recognition of their good practices and a means of increasing the economic value of the wood from their forests.

At the beginning of July 2025, the PEFC unit of the Société Royale Forestière de Belgique (SRFB) underwent its annual external audit. Entrusted to the independent certification body Ecocert, this audit is an essential step in monitoring PEFC certification. It includes both an administrative and documentary check, as well as field visits to a representative sample of twelve certified forest owners, selected at random.

The auditors examined the compliance of management practices with the requirements of the new PEFC scheme, which came into force in July 2024 and aims to guarantee sustainable management.

The findings highlighted a number of recurring minor non-conformities:

• a forest-game imbalance compromising the natural regeneration of hardwood species; ;
• the absence or inadequacy of specifications for the sale of firewood and timber; ;
• the presence of conifers in the immediate vicinity of watercourses (less than 12 m).

These minor non-conformities are easily remedied by a simple action plan drawn up in collaboration with the owner. Despite these points of attention, the owners audited were generally satisfied with the process. The audit was not seen as a constraint but as an opportunity to showcase their efforts in terms of sustainable management. This annual audit also encouraged constructive exchanges between Ecocert auditors, owners and SRFB foresters present in the field.

These external audits help to maintain the credibility of the label and encourage forest owners to continually improve their management practices.