Pivi Salpakivi-Salomaa, director for environmental forestry affairs for UPM, said that, at present, only 5% of the world's forests are certified.

"What we would like to do is to raise the amount of certified fibre globally," said Salpakivi-Salomaa. UPM had noticed differences between the various schemes, but, she said: "no one seems to know what this means in practice. We would like to know more about each scheme and promote the benefits of each to our stakeholders."

Testing will be conducted in three countries: the UK, Finland and Canada, and carried out on company-owned and managed land. The tests will involve national Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes. WWF International will act as an observer.

Salpakivi-Salomaa said testing would enable the firm to see if its forest practices needed improving. "What we want to do is provide more information on certification schemes for our stakeholders and promote certification," she said.

The testing is to be carried out during the summer and the first results should be known by May 2005. UPM's Caledonian Paper mill in Scotland attained a dual environmental chain of custody standards in February (PrintWeek, 4 March).

The mill is certified to FSC and PEFC standards, and was instrumental in helping BBC Magazines move Radio Times to FSC production last month (PrintWeek, 10 June).

Story by Andy Scott