Claire Blenkinsop, who joins from environmental organisation World Wildlife Fund (WWF), took the newly created role of head of development in mid July.

She said that pushing the PEFC’s brand would be a key area of focus.

We’re trying to increase market access and what we’re talking about there is development of the PEFC brand and increasing the value of it with stakeholders and institutions.

Forestry certification is a global issue and it’s one a number of organisations are focused on. Only 10% of the world’s forests are certified, so we’re focusing on the other 90%.

However, Blenkinsop said PEFC was not in competition with other certification schemes, but shared a common interest with them.

The position of head of development was a recommendation of PEFC’s new strategy and governance reports, both developed in the past couple of years and available on the organisation’s website.

The job’s two main areas of focus include dealing with stakeholders – such as partners in the corporate sector, non-government organisations and United Nations agencies – and developing funding streams for PEFC.

Blenkinsop joins from WWF International’s partnerships team, where she developed global corporate partnerships with companies such as American Express, Canon, IKEA and Nokia and provided marketing support for WWF’s network.

The PEFC will no doubt welcome Blenkinsop's connections to the WWF, which only recognises the FSC accreditation and has previously described PEFC as "inferior".

In March of this year, the WWF highlighted FSC as "the only one that meets the environmental and social standards that we think are necessary to certify a forest.

Before joining WWF in 2003, Blenkinsop worked in marketing roles in the corporate sector, mainly focused on banking.