WWF and AssiDomän awarded environmental prize

WWF and AssiDomän awarded prize for best industrial environmental work At the European Environmental Awards (EEA) in Sweden last month, AssiDomän and WWF, the conservation organisation, were appointed winners in the class "collaboration for a sustainable development". AssiDomän and WWF have been working in partnership for the past year aiming to achieve significant advances in environmentally sustainable forestry. The prize is an acknowledgement of the fact that strategic alliances with companies that have a great impact on nature is a successful way to do business. "Sweden is a forerunner when it comes to FSC-certification of the forestry", says Lars Kristoferson, Secretary-General of WWF-Sweden. Forests provide wood and other vital resources, which from the basis for a vast array of timber, paper and pulp products we use in everyday life. The principle of sustainable development, - only taking from the forests what it can then regenerate - is the only way to match conservation and economic objectives. "I feel proud that together with WWF we can show how the industry and the environmental movement are able to walk hand in hand and work constructively", says Roger Asserståhl, Vice President of AssiDomän. WWF and AssiDomän will continue to work together to promote the dialogues between all networks of environmentally responsible buyers and producers in order to inform the consumer and broaden the market for certified products across national boundaries. For further information please contact: Alison Lucas, Director of Communications WWF Forests for Life Campaign, Tel: +44 1483 419 266 Katarina Sivander, Manager Press Relations AssiDomän AB, Tel: +46 8 655 91 02 document continues. Notes to editors: The European Environmental Awards were instituted during the European environmental year 1987. The EU Council and the UN's environmental agency, UNEP, took the initiative to stimulate the development of successful industrial environmental work. In Sweden, the award is distributed in co- operation between the Federation of Swedish Industries, the Swedish Environmental Management Council, and the Ministry of the Environment. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent international organisation, which has worked out a system designed to certificate the use of the world's forests. Certification according to FSC provides a guarantee for a responsible and ecologically adapted forestry. The rules provide among other things a protection for valuable key biotopes, the preservation of primeval forests and a respect for primitive peoples. WWF is the world's largest and most experienced independent conservation organisation. It has 4.7 million regular supporters and a global network active in 96 countries. For more information on the partnership between WWF and AssiDomän visit WWF's Forests for Life Campaign web site: www.panda.org/forests4life. WWF has been working to set up "Forest and Trade Networks", partnerships between environmental groups and industry whose members are committed to purchasing forest products from well-managed forests and to supporting independent certification and the Forest Stewardship Council. Currently there are 11 Forest and Trade Networks in 15 countries world-wide involving over 550 companies. AssiDomän is one of Europe's leading forest products companies. Production is concentrated on sawn timber, packaging paper and packaging. The Group is one of Europe's largest listed forest owners with 2.4 million hectares of productive forestland, of which all FSC-certified. The turnover in 1998 was approximately Euro 2.5 billion, and the number of employees 17,000. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/23/19991223BIT00070/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/23/19991223BIT00070/bit0002.pdf