Certification of a Community-based Forest Enterprise for Improving Institutional Management and Household Income: A Case from Southeast Sulawesi,Indonesia

Forest certification for community-based forest management was designed to strengthen an area’s forestry functions while simultaneously alleviating poverty by developing the existing community forest. It is fundamental for forest certification to maintain the economic benefits for certified local sellers and balance conservation goals with increasing local incomes. This study explores how FSC certification of a community-based forest enterprise in Southeast Sulawesi in Indonesia could improve effectively field situations of community forest management and strengthen local peoples’ financial benefits and social perceptions towards conserving forests. FSC group certification was introduced in the area of teak community forest of several villages in 2005. Because of local strong interest in group certification, the size of certified forests, the number of group certification members and the amount of certified wood harvested gradually increased. The support of a local NGO and an international NGO contributed towards successful establishment of group certification and establishment of a small-scale forestry enterprise producing certified wood in a sustainable manner. These NGOs played important roles in establishing strong relationships between producers and consumers, strengthening local forest management institutions, and promising social and economic benefits to the local people.     

中国FSC森林经营认证不符合项分析

作为提高森林经营管理水平、促进森林可持续经营的一种制度创新,森林认证对森林生态保护和建设以及世界林产品贸易均具有影响。森林管理委员会(Forest Stewardship Council,FSC)认证是目前全球最具影响力的森林认证体系,不符合项是针对FSC认证标准层面开具的企业在开展森林经营过程中违反认证标准所包含的原则总和,通过对不符合项进行分析,可以总结出我国已通过认证的森林经营企业经营状况与FSC标准的差距。文中从FSC网站收集中国开展FSC森林经营认证的80家企业的191份审核报告,对FSC认证的发展现状和认证机构开展审核时提出的不符合项进行分析。结果发现,企业在环境影响、森林监测、当地社区、劳动者权利、森林经营方案编制方面与FSC认证标准存在差距。应从加强企业森林认证动力、企业森林认证能力和技术建设以及国家政策支持等方面进一步提升,进而提高森林认证对我国森林经营管理的作用。     

Does forest certification enhance livelihood conditions? Empirical evidence from forest management in Kilwa District,Tanzania

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forest management certification standards have been promoted to contribute to community livelihood conditions. However, little has been done to evaluate it quantitatively. Employing theory of change, this study assesses and compares empirical evidence of the influence of the FSC forest management certification approach to enhance livelihood conditions in Kilwa, Tanzania, by using economic valuation methods and governance indicators. This is achieved through a comparative study of villages with certified community forests (FSC) under community based forest management and those without (non-FSC). Results show that annual average household forest income from FSC-certified forests is significantly higher than that of households in non-FSC-certified forests. With reference to rule compliance as an indicator of good governance, implementation of forest bylaws in villages managing FSC-certified forests is significantly more effective than villages in non-FSC-certified forests. These findings provide an insight into the influence of forest certification in enhancing livelihood conditions and that the incorporation of FSC standards into forest policies may lead to more enhancement of livelihood conditions. These findings serve as a baseline for further research on the effects of forest certification at both spatial and temporal scales.     

Assessing the sustainability in community based forestry: A case from Nepal

Community based forestry is seen as a promising instrument for sustainable forest management (SFM) through the purposeful involvement of local communities. Globally, forest area managed by local communities is on the rise. However, transferring management responsibilities to forest users alone cannot guarantee the sustainability of forest management. A monitoring tool, that allows the local communities to track the progress of forest management towards the goal of sustainability, is essential. A case study, including six forest user groups (FUGs), two from each three community based forestry models—community forestry (CF), buffer zone community forestry (BZCF), and collaborative forest management (CFM) representing three different physiographic regions, was conducted in Nepal. The study explores which community based forest management model (CF, BZCF or CFM) is doing well in terms of sustainable forest management. The study assesses the overall performance of the three models towards SFM using locally developed criteria (four), indicators (26) and verifiers (60). This paper attempts to quantify the sustainability of the models using sustainability index for individual criteria (SIIC), and overall sustainability index (OSI). In addition, rating to the criteria and scoring of the verifiers by the FUGs were done. Among the four criteria, the FUGs ascribed the highest weightage to institutional framework and governance criterion; followed by economic and social benefits, forest management practices, and extent of forest resources. Similarly, the SIIC was found to be the highest for the institutional framework and governance criterion. The average values of OSI for CFM, CF, and BZCF were 0.48, 0.51 and 0.60 respectively; suggesting that buffer zone community forestry is the more sustainable model among the three. The study also suggested that the SIIC and OSI help local communities to quantify the overall progress of their forestry practices towards sustainability. The indices provided a clear picture of forest management practices to indicate the direction where they are heading in terms of sustainability; and informed the users on issues to pay attention to enhance sustainability of their forests.     

瑞典林业与森林认证

面对全球森林资源匮乏,生态环境日益恶化的问题,保护环境、保护森林已成为人类的共识。国际社会、各国政府及非政府组织为实现森林可持续经营提出了一些倡议,并采取了一系列的行动。森林认证正是在这种背景下,由非政府组织作为一种促进森林可持续经营的市场机制提出来的。文中从介绍瑞典林业经营和森林认证现状入手,分析了瑞典现行森林认证体系产生的背景、服务的群体及其特点,提出了我国目前开展森林认证工作需要解决的问题及相关的建议,论述了开展森林认证对我国实施天然林保护及可持续经营的意义。     

中国开展人工林FSC认证面临的潜在障碍

人工林在中国林业发展中占据了重要地位, 但由于其带来的各种问题迫切要求实现可持续经营。FSC森林可持续经营认证充分考虑了经济效益、生态效益和社会效益的协调, 有助于人工林经营向着可持续的方向发展, 对于解决人工林经营中存在的问题有积极意义。但中国的人工林经营在遵守FSC认证的要求时可能存在一些障碍。针对FSC森林经营认证的具体标准或指标, 列出了中国人工林经营存在的一些潜在的不符合项, 并提出了建议。     

Obstacles for Plantation to Get FSC Certification in China

The development of plantation plays a very important role in forestry industry development in China because of its unique advantages. However, the ecological and environmental issues urgently require sustainable plantation development. FSC certification for sustainable forest management balances the economic, environmental and social benefits and contributes to sustainable development of plantation. FSC certification for plantation is significantly important to China with the most plantation area in the wor...     

美国林产工业发展战略转变及启示

文中分析了在美国进行可持续森林管理背景下林产工业企业在环保认证、应对经济危机和适应社会思想转变等方面所遇到的战略环境限制,以及对此做出的在企业形象、投融资模式、产品研发方向以及企业管理思考框架等方面的战略转变;在此基础上,结合我国林产工业发展现状,建议通过完善森林认证体系、借鉴美国的林地投资管理模式和统一可持续管理思考框架等措施,加大对林产工业技术研发的支持力度,加强对我国林产工业的管理,从而增强其国际竞争力。     

森林的认证与黑龙江林业的发展概述

论述了森林认证的概念、目的及我国森林认证工作开展的现状。分析了黑龙江省林业发展的近况。认为开展森林认证工作可以促进黑龙江省森林的可持续经营;有利于与国际接轨,开拓国际市场;有利于提高企业的经营技术水平和管理能力;保护生态环境和生物多样性。     

FSC标准与中国法规之间的冲突分析

森林管理委员会(FSC)认证体系是目前市场认可度最高的, 受到非政府环保组织和贸易组织支持的全球森林认证体系。近年来, 由于市场作用和政策支持等因素, FSC认证在中国迅速发展。然而各个认证机构在中国开展森林经营认证过程中, 发现FSC标准与中国的法规之间存在着几个方面的冲突。这些冲突是导致国内部分森林经营企业难以通过FSC认证的重要原因。作者通过参与和调查国内多个森林经营企业的FSC认证工作, 将具有普遍性的冲突进行了归纳和分析, 为中国森林企业获得FSC认证提供借鉴。     

中国森林认证探讨

通过研究森林认证与森林可持续经营、林产品国际贸易、保护生态环境和生物多样性以及中国林业同国际接轨等方面的关系 ,详细阐述了中国开展森林认证工作的意义和作用以及中国森林认证的进展情况 ,分析了森林认证对中国森林经营和林产品贸易的可能影响 ,认为森林认证是实现林业可持续发展和生态良好的文明发展道路的有效途径     

森林认证的影响分析

以美国林业机构2002年所做的邮件调查为数据来源,对通过FSC认证的北美地区土地经营者进行影响评估分析。结果表明,认证成本和效益对比表现出很大的不确定性。     

The shrinking profitability of small-scale forestry in Japan and some recent policy initiatives to reverse the trend

About 80% of annual wood fiber consumption in Japan is imported. Even though most of the land surface is covered by forests in Japan, the domestic forestry and forest industry are threatened by such imports flooding the local market. Fragmented land ownership, steep terrain, rapid growth of weeds, and high labor costs have all contributed to the decline of domestic forestry. Further, the purchasing power of the Japanese Yen has become very strong in recent years, and the decreasing prices of imported timber have depressed the prices of domestic timber, eroding profitability and discouraging small-scale forestry. In spite of these difficult circumstances, there are several interesting new developments in Japanese forestry. One is the revision of the Basic Forestry Law of 1964, through which the Japanese government is steering forest policy from timber production towards environmental services. Because of this change, new ways to assist rural forestry activities will become available in the near future. Another change is the certification movement, where recent examples of Japanese companies acquiring ISO 14001 and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forest certifications provide hope to depressed domestic forestry activities. In particular, FSC group certification is useful in motivating small-scale forest owners to implement and maintain sustainable forestry practices. This paper is based on the presentation at IUFRO Group 3.08.00 Symposium at Joensuu, Finland 2001. The original article, ‘The economic situation of small-scale forestry in Japan’, is in Niskanen and Vayrynen (2001).     

森林认证对生物多样性影响研究进展

维护森林生态系统的完整性,尤其是保护生物多样性是开展森林认证的重要目的之一。文中概述2大国际森林认证体系（FSC和PEFC）认证标准中有关生物多样性保护的要求,分析森林认证对生物多样性的影响,探讨现有认证标准与实现生物多样性保护之间的差距。分析表明,森林认证对生物多样性的保护具有积极作用,森林认证可作为促进生物多样性保护的有力工具;由于受到诸多因素的影响,在全球认证体系中生物多样性保护标准和指标的确立普遍缺乏科学数据支撑,不同区域差异较大,且生物多样性的监测和评估相对滞后。森林认证对全球森林资源的可持续发展具有重要的意义,生物多样性保护工作将成为推动森林认证持续发展的重要力量。     

集体林权制度改革后FSC森林认证对我国人工林可持续经营的借鉴意义

我国人工林面积居世界之首,但人工林的质量并不高,且大多林分结构简单,生物多样性低,针叶化现象较严重,不利于地力维持和林分生产力提高.基于FSC森林认证体系及其认证模式,分析林改后FSC森林认证体系对人工林可持续经营的借鉴作用,包括人工林的经营应在法制的框架内实施,人工林的发展要考虑生物多样性和社区利益,实现“近自然化经营”,制定规范的人工林经营方案等我国人工林可持续经营对策.     

Certification Mechanism for Sustainable Forest Management and Its Progress in China and Abroad

The paper elaborates in details certification mechanism for sustainableforest management, including the definition, contents, objectives, costs, benefits, characteristics, procedures and impacts of certification as well as main certification systems. It also introduces in details the latest progress and development perspectives of certification in China and around the world. Certification is a market-based mechanism, which aims at enhancing and strengthening the reasonable utilization offorests. It usually consists of certification for sustainable forest management and certification of COC. Certification costs, including direct costs and indirect costs, but also benefits, which depends on the level of certification outputs. Internationally recognized FSC certification has been widely developed around the world, and a number of international organizations such as the WB and WWF etc are also promoting the process of FSC certification. Certification has bright perspectives of development around the world,     

森林经营综合监测评价探讨

阐述了可持续森林经营与综合监测评价的关系,总结分析了目前国际可持续森林经营认证FSC标准及对开展森林经营综合监测评价的要求,探讨了构建森林经营综合监测评价体系的理论与方法,以期为进一步开展森林经营综合监测评价体系研究提供参考。     

国有林场森林经营认证标准体系探讨

在对国内外森林认证发展情况的认识基础上,探讨了国有林场森林认证的重要性,借鉴国际森林认证体系,结合我国国有林场的实际,建立适用于我国国有林场森林认证的原则及相关标准,总结形成8个原则、40个标准,并讨论了目前森林认证存在问题,提出相关建议,以期促进我国森林认证的发展,提高国有林场的可持续经营水平。     

The effect of expertise on the quality of forest standards implementation: The case of FSC forest certification in Russia

The central question of the paper is how differences in expertise affect the implementation of voluntary environmental standards in the forestry sector. Specifically we analyze the experience of two large forest companies in Russia that certified their forest management under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forest certification program. Drawing on the literature on financial auditing we show that specific outcomes of forest management standards implementation are shaped by the differences in forest management auditors' knowledge, skills and attitudes.     

FSC与ISO森林认证体系比较及在我国适应性研究

本文针对当前世界上使用最为广泛的两种森林认证体系—ISO14 0 0 0和FSC进行了多方面比较分析 ,并对这两种认证体系在我国适应性进行了研究。结果表明 ,就目前我国森林经营实际而言 ,进行大面积基于业绩标准的FSC森林认证的条件尚未成熟 ,建议进行基于进程标准的ISO14 0 0 0森林认证 ,这样能够更好地提高我国森林经营水平 ,从而实现森林的可持续经营