First FSC Forest Management Certification in Latvia
Smartwood
December 29, 2000
Today, SmartWood’s Certification Evaluation Committee announced the first Forest Management Certification in Latvia. The Committee has decided to award the Forest Owner Consulting Center in Latvia the SmartWood certificate for Good Forest Management. The SmartWood programme is endorsed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a world leader within independent, third party forest management certification.The FSC certification of Forest Owner Consulting Center is the first certification in Latvia and the first group certification of small landowners in Eastern Europe.
Since 1996, Forest Owner Consulting Center has produced management plans for private forest owners, and the company prepares between 200 and 300 management plans per month. A new branch of the company has recently been established for handling group certificates for small landowners. This branch has established detailed procedures for evaluating the management of forest properties wanting to join the group as well as for approving logging operations and handling Chain-of-Custody issues.
Latvia has about 160,000 private forest properties with an average size of only 8 hectares. The Forest Owner Consulting Center will invite owners of small forest properties to join their group certification, and the company expects to provide this group of forest owners with easy access to FSC certification at acceptable cost.
SmartWood will continuously monitor the performance of the group members to ensure that the management is in accordance with the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council.
An independent team of forest experts carried out the assessment in the beginning of November 2000. Mr. Peter Feilberg from NEPCon, the SmartWood partner in Denmark and the Baltic Countries lead the assessment while Mrs. Sigita Freimane from the Latvian State Forest Service participated as a local expert. Furthermore, Mr. Mâris Strazds, Director of Latvian Ornithological Society assisted the team on ecological issues as well as ensuring a link to the Latvian Forest Certification Standard Development Group. The report was afterwards reviewed by two independent peer reviewers: Mr. Rolands Auziňđ, Head of the Environmental Protection Department of Latvian State Forest Service and Mrs. Sigita Pivina, Certification Project Manager in SSC “Latvijas valsts meţi” (Latvian State Forest). SmartWood’s certification evaluation committee based its decision on the assessment report and the comments of the peer reviewers.
SmartWood found that the management of the forests covered by the group was in line with the spirit and intent of the FSC Principles and Criteria for good forest management and the SmartWood forest management certification programme. Forests in the Forest Owner Consulting Center group certification are managed under a close-to-nature system with shelterwood regeneration and no use of pesticides, fertilizers, or exotic species. However, SmartWood found room for improvement concerning the contents of the management plans and the protection of important natural sites, including conservation areas. The owners are required to improve on these aspects of their management, and the improvements will be closely monitored by SmartWood at audit visits.
For more information on the assessment and for a summary of the assessment report, please contact Mr. Peter Feilberg, NEPCon/SmartWood, email: pf@nepcon.dk, phone: +45 49360866. For more information on the SmartWood programme, please look at http://www.smartwood.org/ or contact NEPCon, Odensegade 4B, Postbox 5102, DK8100 Denmark, phone: +45 86180866, fax: +45 86181012, email: info@nepcon.dk. For more information on Forest Owner Consulting Center, please contact
Sandijs Lukins, phone +371 7228835, mobile phone +371 9426524, Fax: +371 7228855, E-mail: sandijs77@excite.com
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is an independent international organization developing guidelines and accrediting certification bodies that certify forest management that fulfils FSC’s Principles and Criteria for environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management of forests. More than 20 million hectares are certified according to the FSC standards globally. Further information: http://www.fscoax.org/
Established in 1989, SmartWood is the oldest and largest certification body accredited by FSC to certify good forest management worldwide. SmartWood is organized as a global network of non-profit organizations and institutions. The SmartWood Headquarter is located in Vermount, USA. Further information: http://www.smartwood.org/
NEPCon is the SmartWood partner in Denmark and the Baltic Countries. NEPCon is a non-profit consultation company focused on the sustainable development of forests worldwide. NEPCon was founded in 1994 by members of the Danish NGO environment. Further information: http://www.nepcon.dk/