Greenpeace made the claims in a report, Certifying extinction? An assessment of the revised standards of the Finnish Forest Certification System (FFCS).

FFCC secretary general, Auvo Kaivola said ENGOs (environmental non-governmental organisations) would have had a better chance to raise relevant issues and justify their points of view if they had taken part in the working group that discussed the revision of the standards in 2002-2003. "Massive criticism after the standard development has closed is therefore a bit odd," he said.

Despite invitations, the ENGO's did not want to be part of the working group. Some 95% of the forests in Finland are FFCS certified, with nearly all of the pulp and paper mills in Finland getting its raw material (timber) from forests that have the certification. These include UPM, Stora Enso and Metslitto.

Greenpeace forest campaigner Andy Tait said the international market was rejecting the destructive forestry practices certified under FFCS. He said: "It is time for the Finnish forest industry to move towards a more sustainable system."

Story by Andy Scott