Key elements of certification of good forest management

12/12/02

Presentation prepared by Pierre Hauselmann

For the WB/WWF Alliance

Links and keywords

• Links with other instruments– System/performance, Hierarchical framework, Certification - how

it works, Survival guide, Standards in the FSC system, Standard setting instrument, Structure filter,

• Keywords– Indicator, ISO & ISO 14001, norm, participation, performance

approach, principle, sustainable development, system approach, trade rules (WTO), verifier

• Copyrights– Key elements of certification: © 2001 WB / WWF Alliance

– The PathFinder background picture:

© WWF-Canon / Michèle Dépraz

Objective

• to review key concepts and definitions related to certification of good forest management

How did certification of good forest management start?

• 1980s Alarming rate of tropical forest destruction lead to the promotion of tropical timber boycotts

• 1989 Smartwood started the 1st programme of good forest management in USA

Why and when did FSC appear?

• Early 90s The proliferation of unverified claims on sustainable forest management was evident– made necessary the creation of an accreditation

organisation to ensure• the quality and the credibility of good forest

management certificates

• 1993 The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was established

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

• Is an international accreditation and

standardisation organisation

– Provides mutual recognition of certificates

within its accreditation system

– Its performance approach, linked with the

Chain of Custody certification, allows the use

of a label on the product

Accreditation is defined by ISO as:

• Procedure by which an authoritative body gives formal recognition that a body or person is competent to carry out specific tasks– (ISO/IEC Guide 2: 13.7, 1991)

Chain of Custody is defined by FSC as:

• The channel through which products are

distributed from their origin in the forest to

their end-use

– (FSC Principles and Criteria - Glossary)

See CoC manual for more on CoC

Other schemes or systems

• FSC success has stimulated the development of other schemes/systems– the main are:

• PEFC in Europe

• SFI in USA

• CSA in Canada

• LEI in Indonesia

• FSC is currently the only global system

Views on schemes/systems

• FSC– Opponents see FSC as dominated by NGOs– Generally little support from forest owners

associations

• Others– Opponents see them as dominated by interested

parties, e.g, forest owners associations– Almost no support from NGOs

What is forest certification?

• An policy instrument to achieve environmental, social and economic objectives

• A voluntary measure that acts as an incentive to improve forest management in a holistic manner

Vallejo N & Hauselmann P 2000. Institutional requirements for forest certification, working paper 2, GTZ, Echborn

Certification is defined by ISO as:

• Procedure by which a third party gives written assurance that a product, process or service conforms to specified requirements – (ISO/IEC Guide 2: 13.5.2, 1991)

Which are the objectives?

• Two main objectives of forest certification are:

– to improve environmental, social and economic

quality of forest management, – to ensure market access for certified products

What is forest certification about?

• Sharing power between stakeholders in the decision making about what is good forest management– Opening spaces for participation of local

communities, NGOs and others in policy making

– Disclosure of information about forest management

How does certification work?

• Certification of forest management is a process by which:– an independent third party – assesses the forest management practices – to verify the fulfilment of a set of requirements

(standard)– within an specific management unit

See Certification, how it works for more on the certification process

What are the outcomes?

• If the assessment is positive, a certificate is issued

• If there is a system for tracking the chain of custody,– A label can be applied informing consumers

that the timber in the product comes from a certified forest

The elements of certification

• Certification is an assemblage of different types of operations: accreditation, standardisation and certification per se, + Chain of custody (CoC) certification– Avoiding this distinction often leads to

attempts to compare institutions that are not comparable

• forest certification falls within the framework of environmental declarations– Particularly true in case of CoC certification

Standard is defined by ISO as:

• Document, established by consensus and

approved by a recognised body, that

provides rules, guidelines or characteristics

for activities or their results, aimed at the

achievement of the optimum degree of

order in a given context – (ISO/IEC Guide 2: 3.2, 1991)

What are some of the main characteristics of forest

• They should be

– locally accepted by all main stakeholders

– compatible with globally agreed principles

certification standards?

Sources

• Accreditation, standardisation and certification are distinct operations– Standards and guides have been drawn up by

the International Organization for Standardization - ISO

• Standardisation and conformity assessment can have impact on trade– World Trade Organization - WTO has also set

rules on standardisation and conformity assessment

Sources

• Environmental declarations– ISO standards and rules apply

• International environmental policy in the form of soft/hard Laws – Sustainable development– International Conventions (CBD)

• Expectations of public interest groups– NGOs, consumers org.

Conclusion

• For an in depth analysis of sources and

their impact on forest certification, please

refer to GTZ’s institutional requirements

for forest certification