How does forest certification contribute to boreal biodiversity conservation? Standards and outcomes in Sweden and NW Russia

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is one of the leading forest certification schemes. While many studies concern political aspects and social outcomes of FSC, little is known about the contribution of certification to biodiversity conservation. In Europe, the Russian Federation and Sweden have the largest areas of FSC-certified forest. We assessed the potential of FSC certification for boreal biodiversity conservation in terms of standard content, and outcomes as habitat area set aside and habitat network functionality. First, we compared the biodiversity conservation indicators at different spatial scales in Swedish and Russian FSC standards. Second, focusing on one large state forest management unit in each country, we compared the areas of formally and voluntarily set aside forests for biodiversity conservation. Third, we evaluated the structural habitat connectivity by applying morphological spatial pattern analysis, and potential functional connectivity by using habitat suitability index modelling for virtual species. The Russian standard included indicators for all spatial scales of biodiversity conservation, from tree and stand to landscape and ecoregions. The Swedish standard focused mainly on stand and tree scales. The area of voluntary set-asides for FSC was similar in Sweden and Russia, while formal protection in the Russian case study was three times higher than in the Swedish one. Swedish set-aside core areas were two orders of magnitude smaller, had much lower structural and potential functional connectivity and were located in a fragmented forestland holding. We conclude that to understand the potential of FSC certification for biodiversity conservation both the standard content, and its implementation on the ground, need to be assessed. We discuss the potential of FSC certification for biodiversity conservation with different levels of ambition. We stress the need for developing rapid assessment tools to evaluate outcomes of FSC for biodiversity conservation on the ground, which could be used by forest managers and FSC-auditors toward adaptive governance and management.     

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。     

中国竹林可持续经营认证的必要性和可行性研究

通过文献研究、野外调查和专家研讨和咨询等研究方法,从中国竹林经营现状和世界森林可持续经营认证(简称森林认证)发展趋势入手,对中国开展竹林可持续经营认证的必要性和可行性进行了研究。结果表明,竹林快速生长和更新特性使竹林具有一定的可持续经营性,同时,中国现有的竹林经营技术实践在一定程度上满足了可持续经营的要求。但是,中国有较大面积的人工经营天然次生竹林,长期高强度集约经营对整个竹林生态系统的复杂性和完整性也造成了很大影响,由此引发了很多集约经营的生产性竹林水土流失、地力下降、生物多样性丧失、严重病虫害频发等生态问题,威胁着竹林可持续经营。根据我们的研究,按照目前森林认证发展趋势,竹林可持续经营认证作为促进竹林可持续经营的市场激励手段之一,是值得研究和尝试的。在中国开展绩效性的竹林可持续经营认证,不但有利于中国竹产品在国际贸易中克服绿色贸易壁垒,保持竞争优势,也有利于引导和促进中国竹林的可持续经营实践。总体上竹林认证是必要的。但在可行性方面面临一些问题和挑战。鉴于竹林本身的生物学和生态学特性、竹林经营的技术特点、竹林产品为非木质林产品的特殊性以及我国较为普遍的分户经营特点,可开展小范围试点研究,解决如何开展中小农户的联合认证问题和认证成本过高的问题,同时确保中小农户的利益和竹产品的公平贸易,为进一步的推广行动提供技术支持。在研究和推进竹林可持续经营认证的过程中,要充分考虑与中国现有竹林经营的行业标准和经营实践相衔接和适应。除了要充分利用国内外现有森林认证的理论、技术和经验,还必须充分与竹产业的生产、教学和研究人员进行磋商,充分利用现有竹业经营和开发的经验和技术。以期通过可持续经营认证,保护中国竹产品的国际贸易竞争力,同时积极引导和促进中国竹林可持续经营实践的发展和行业标准的制定。     

全球人工林环境管理策略研究

全球人工林为木材生产和缓解贫困做出了重要贡献, 在减缓和适应气候变化中起到了非常重要的作用。文中在介绍全球人工林资源的基础上, 分析了人工林对生物多样性、水分循环、养分循环和碳循环的影响和相互作用机制, 提出了人工林环境管理策略, 即建立人工林多功能经营制度、通过森林认证助推人工林可持续经营、充分利用REDD+机制提高人工林固碳效应的政策推动策略, 加强生物多样性保护、降低人工林对水循环负面影响、提高人工林的养分循环、促进人工林生态系统碳循环的生态系统完整性策略, 以及保育高保护价值区域策略和鼓励利益相关者参与人工林规划与管理策略。     

Nature vs. nurture: managing relationships between forests,agroforestry and wild biodiversity

Many agroforestry systems are found in places that otherwise would be appropriate for natural forests, and often have replaced them. Humans have had a profound influence on forests virtually everywhere they both are found. Thus ‘natural’ defined as ‘without human influence’ is a hypothetical construct, though one that has assumed mythological value among many conservationists. Biodiversity is a forest value that does not carry a market price. It is the foundation, however, upon which productive systems depend. The relationship between agroforestry and the wild biodiversity contained in more natural forests is a complicated one, depending on the composition of the agroforestry system itself and the way it is managed. Complex forest gardens are more supportive of biodiversity than monocrop systems, shade coffee more than sun coffee, and systems using native plants tend to be more biologically diverse. Nonnative plants, especially potentially invasive alien species, threaten biodiversity and need to be avoided. The relationship between forests, agroforestry and wild biodiversity can be made most productive through applying adaptive management approaches that incorporate ongoing research and monitoring in order to feed information back into the management system. Maintaining diversity in approaches to management of agroforestry systems will provide humanity with the widest range of options for adapting to changing conditions. Clear government policy frameworks are needed that support alliances among the many interest groups involved in forest biodiversity.

     

森林认证助推世界私有林及我国非公有制林业的发展

世界上绝大部分森林是私有林, 而随着我国集体林权改革的深入和国家政策的支持, 我国非公有制林业发展迅速。森林认证对促进世界私有林和我国非公有制林业的发展和可持续经营发挥了重要作用。在分析世界私有林和我国非公有制林业认证发展现状、模式和作用的基础上, 对如何推动我国非公有制林业认证提出了意见与建议。     

Why Brazilian companies are certifying their forests?

The paper examines the two forest certification schemes in Brazil, the Brazilian Program of Forest Certification (Cerflor) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), from the private sector perspective. The main focus is to test the relevance of three mechanisms—market, learning, and signaling—suggested by Overdevest and Rickenbach (2006), to explain forest certification adoption by Brazilian companies. Furthermore, companies' familiarity with certification systems, external influences on pursuing forest certification, and companies' intention to recertify their forests are investigated. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) suggests that signaling and learning mechanisms lead to better and more transparent forest management, explaining the movement towards certification, but market incentives do not play an important role in the adoption of forest certification. An importance and performance analysis (IPA) demonstrates that companies do not see any return in terms of a better price for certified products; however, certificate holders indicated overall high satisfaction with market access. Interestingly, a high performance was found for non-economic benefits such as public confidence, improvement of forest management and practices, improvement of management systems and performance, self-discovery of non-conformance, and better public, landowner, and supplier communication. International consumers and shareholders were considered the most important groups influencing companies to seek certification and FSC was reported to be the most familiar scheme. Generally, companies were pleased with certification and indicated their intention to recertify.     

Trends in Evaluations of Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC) Certified Forests in Japan

The number of Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC) certified forests in Japan has increased in recent years. As such it is important to understand forest management certification within the context of corrective action requests (CARs) to assess sustainable forest management. This study analyzes trends in CARs issued through evaluations of SGEC certified forests in Japan as a function of certification body, forest zone, size of forest holdings, and forest ownership type. This study examined 86 certified forests in Japan using data from summary evaluations published by SGEC certification bodies in 2014. Forests in the northern zone tend to have more CARs assigned, as did larger forests and communally owned forests. For managers interested in maintaining sustainable forests, the findings suggest that they should focus on improving the following indicators: “training and instruction, such as the safety for forestry workers” (indicator 5.3), “to evaluate forest practices against the original plan and to assess their impacts, with proper monitoring” (indicator 7.1), “explicit and management policy of the important elements in the conservation of biological diversity”(indicator 2.2) and “protection of threatened species” (indicator 2.3). The results from this study suggest that certification bodies have different priorities in their certification assessments, as indicated by the varying number and types of CARs assigned. However, the findings also indicate that the factors affecting the assessment results may not be only the certification body issuing the assessments but also the forest zone, forest ownership type, and size of forest holdings.     

全球竹林认证现状与发展趋势

竹子作为一种低碳、易再生、气候智能型、可降解的生物质材料，为人类解决生态危机提供了基于自然的解决方案，在应对全球气候变化、减少贫困、促进可持续发展和实现碳中和目标等方面发挥着重要作用。在全球“双碳”目标下，随着人们环保意识的增强，开展竹林认证成为确保世界竹产品贸易可持续的必然趋势。文章概述了全球竹林经营认证和产销监管链认证的最新进展，分析了国际竹林认证发展面临的主要挑战，涉及认证标准、市场需求、不同认证体系间的互认、认证成本等方面，在此基础上结合全球竹资源分布和竹产业发展情况提出了中国开展竹林认证的政策建议。     

森林认证实施现状与趋势分析

森林认证自提出以来便在全球获得了快速发展, 其中以森林管理委员会的FSC体系和森林认证认可计划(PEFC)影响最大。文中在分析主要森林认证体系的基础上, 通过研究FSC和PEFC的实施情况, 指出目前森林认证在全球范围内的发展趋势:森林认证的实施集中在发达国家, 之后在向发展中国家转移过程中出现了减缓甚至停滞的趋势。     

Certification of sustainable forest management practices: a global perspective on why countries certify

In this paper, we examine national conditions that encourage the growth of a private regulatory environmental system to govern forests. Economic, institutional and social capital variables for 117 countries are used to examine factors determining forest certification under the Forest Stewardship Council and domestic competitor schemes. Although economic factors, such as forest exports and GDP, are important in explaining the likelihood that a country's forest management practices are certified, the regression results support the idea that economic institutions and the social context under which firms and forest landowners seek certification matters. The ability of citizens to influence the political process is also significant; in particular, the likelihood that firms and forest owners will seek to certify their forest practices is significantly reduced if women have little or no effective voice in civil society.     

Certification of community forestry enterprises: experiences with incorporating community forestry in a global system for forest governance

This paper discusses the history and present status of community forest certification as an illustration of the growing interactions between global and local processes in forest governance. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification system is analyzed as an illustrative case of the trend towards increased incorporation of community-based forest enterprises (CFEs) into international initiatives for sustainable forest management and global markets. First the paper reviews the development of community-based forest management and the evolution in certification of community-based forest enterprises. Next it discusses the main challenges and opportunities for making CFE certification accessible and beneficial for communities. Finally it illustrates the importance of multi-level and multi-actor partnerships for creating effective interfaces between global standards and community forestry practices. The experiences with FSC certification of community-based forest enterprises demonstrate that community forestry is enlarging its scope from autonomous decision-making on local practice to incorporation in international forest governance systems. This experience also demonstrates that the application of global standards for sustainable forest management requires adaptation to local realities. These lessons are of relevance for further incorporation of community forestry in the newly evolving global programs for forest management and conservation.     

Contribution of large-scale forest inventories to biodiversity assessment and monitoring

Statistically-designed inventories and biodiversity monitoring programs are gaining relevance for biological conservation and natural resources management. Mandated periodic surveys provide unique opportunities to identify and satisfy natural resources management information needs. However, this is not an end in itself but rather is the beginning of a process that should lead to sound decision-making in biodiversity conservation. Forest inventories are currently evolving towards multipurpose resource surveys and are broadening their scope in several directions: (i) expansion of the target population to include non-traditional attributes such as trees outside the forest and urban forests; (ii) forest carbon pools and carbon sequestration estimation; (iii) assessment of forest health; and (iv) inclusion of additional variables such as biodiversity attributes that are not directly related to timber assessment and wood harvesting.There is an on-going debate regarding the role of forest inventories in biodiversity assessment and monitoring. This paper presents a review on the topic that aims at providing updated knowledge on the current contribution of forest inventories to the assessment and monitoring of forest biodiversity conditions on a large scale. Specific objectives are fourfold: (i) to highlight the types of forest biodiversity indicators that can be estimated from data collected in the framework of standard forest inventories and the implications of different sampling methods on the estimation of the indicators; (ii) to outline current possibilities for harmonized estimation of biodiversity indicators in Europe from National Forest Inventory data; (iii) to show the added value for forest biodiversity monitoring of framing biodiversity indicators into ecologically meaningful forest type units; and (iv) to examine the potential of forest inventory sample data for estimating landscape biodiversity metrics.     

The role of biodiversity in Asian forests

Biodiversity in Asia is reviewed here from both scientific and socio-economic perspectives. Biodiversity in Asia has been very high, for historical and climatic reasons; however, this situation has been changing rapidly, due to population growth and economic development. The forest biodiversity in this region has both global and local value, yet it is seriously threatened. As natural capital, biodiversity functions in a variety of ways: production and regulation functions have global value, while habitat and information functions have social and cultural value, as well as local importance. Sustainable forest management is dependent on the regulatory functions of the ecosystem and biodiversity. Sometimes the functions of forests or biodiversity make conflict. Moreover, biodiversity has an information function related to sustainability via local knowledge and culture. Levin’s (1999) proposals are helpful as a conceptual framework for developing sustainable management for Asian forests.     

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.     

我国小规模联合森林认证效果调查与分析

联合认证是森林认证中一种常见的认证模式。文中根据对7家开展FSC小规模联合认证的营林组织进行调查的结果,总结出小规模组织在成立联合体、体系文件、内审、传统权利、环境影响、生态系统保护、化学农药使用、森林经营规划以及森林经营中的产销监管链9个方面普遍存在潜在不符合项;通过对调查结果的分析找出我国发展小规模联合森林认证存在的问题,并提出促进我国集体林小规模组织森林认证工作的建议。     

全球森林管理的趋势及对碳储量的影响

全球森林日益受到土地利用变化、分散化、管理目标变化和退化的影响。运用管理强度描述全球森林动态变化趋势,并概述了与森林管理相关的全球碳库变化。讨论了对“管理”的不同解释,并强调了一些重要的核算和分析问题。全球森林面积自1990 年以来下降了3％,但全球各地人工林面积都有所增加,截止2010 年已占全球森林面积的近7％。由于人为因素造成的栖息地破碎和退化,使得占所有林地34％的原始森林面积正在下降,尤其是南美洲和非洲。同时,自然再生林面积也有所下降。由于管理强度的增加,1990 年以来,非施业林面积（通常被定义为缺乏人类管理计划或保护状态的土地）大幅度下降,截止2010 年仅占全球森林的21％,而用于水土保持、生物多样性保护和提供生态系统服务等非木质林产品用地面积大幅增加。从全球来看,木材生产自1990 年以来一直相对稳定,但非木质林产品用地面积越来越多,表明林业采伐面积占森林总面积的比例较小。根据管理森林和区域研究领域的发展趋势可知,历史上和现在的森林管理是当前碳储量的一个非常重要的决定因素。目前,已建成的森林抵消了来自使用化石燃料释放二氧化碳的约30％,而减少森林的砍伐可能会将陆地碳地面总吸收量从大约4.0 t 升至每年6.2 t。然而,研究结果表明,多样化使用森林土地可能对维持或提高目前的陆地碳汇有重大影响。未来,诸如大气二氧化碳的增加和气候变化等间接的人类影响,以及土地管理的直接影响和木材生物燃料的日益增长的需求,都将成为影响土地管理战略规划和森林生态系统全球碳循环的重要因素。     

Certification of sustainable forest management practices: a global perspective on why countries certify

In this paper, we examine national conditions that encourage the growth of a private regulatory environmental system to govern forests. Economic, institutional and social capital variables for 117 countries are used to examine factors determining forest certification under the Forest Stewardship Council and domestic competitor schemes. Although economic factors, such as forest exports and GDP, are important in explaining the likelihood that a country's forest management practices are certified, the regression results support the idea that economic institutions and the social context under which firms and forest landowners seek certification matters. The ability of citizens to influence the political process is also significant; in particular, the likelihood that firms and forest owners will seek to certify their forest practices is significantly reduced if women have little or no effective voice in civil society.     

Relationships between avian richness and landscape structure at multiple scales using multiple landscapes

Little is known about factors that structure biodiversity on landscape scales, yet current land management protocols, such as forest certification programs, place an increasing emphasis on managing for sustainable biodiversity at landscape scales. We used a replicated landscape study to evaluate relationships between forest structure and avian diversity at both stand and landscape-levels. We used data on bird communities collected under comparable sampling protocols on four managed forests located across the Southeastern US to develop logistic regression models describing relationships between habitat factors and the distribution of overall richness and richness of selected guilds. Landscape models generated for eight of nine guilds showed a strong relationship between richness and both availability and configuration of landscape features. Diversity of topographic features and heterogeneity of forest structure were primary determinants of avian species richness. Forest heterogeneity, in both age and forest type, were strongly and positively associated with overall avian richness and richness for most guilds. Road density was associated positively but weakly with avian richness. Landscape variables dominated all models generated, but no consistent patterns in metrics or scale were evident. Model fit was strong for neotropical migrants and relatively weak for short-distance migrants and resident species. Our models provide a tool that will allow managers to evaluate and demonstrate quantitatively how management practices affect avian diversity on landscapes.     

关于发展人工林与建立人工林业问题探讨

全世界森林面积为 34 5 4× 1 0 8hm2 ,其中 3%是人工林。人工林是重要的森林生态系统 ,在木材生产、环境保护和景观建设中具有重要功能和作用。人工林在生产功能方面的补偿作用 ,使天然林可以更好地发挥生态环境价值、森林娱乐和生物多样性保护功能。人工林可持续经营的前提是遗传材料的正确选择与营林实践艺术的结合以及保证这种结合的林业政策。愈来愈多地使用外来树种营建人工林是全球趋势。人工林对于环境和生物多样性的影响 ,可以通过合理的规划和经营措施得到解决。林木育种与遗传改良和经营制度的技术创新是不断提高人工林生态系统生产力的动力。人工林的可持续经营是一个十分复杂的问题 ,中国人工林实现可持续经营面临技术和体制两方面的挑战 ,但是 ,根本出路在于林业经济体制的改革 ,象农业那样 ,在市场经济环境中实行人工林产业化经营 ,建立人工林业 (Forestplantationindustry)。