Forest Certification Struggles, only 3% of World's Forests Certified
7/31/98
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Forest Certification Struggles, only 3% of World's Forests
Certified
Source: Environmental News Network
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 7/31/98
More than 25 million acres of the world's forests have been certified by
the Forest Stewardship Council as sustainably managed.
While environmental organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund for
Nature announced this news with much pomp and circumstance at the end of
June, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization says there are
nearly 8.5 billion acres of forested lands in the world, meaning that the
Forest Stewardship Council has only certified 0.3 percent of the world's
forests.
While this may be a small amount, it is substantial, said Bruce Cabarle,
WWF staff member in Washington, D.C. "The FSC has been able to achieve in
four years what it took the organic food movement 15 years to achieve," he
said and added that the FSC expects a 100 percent growth rate over the
next five years.
The Forest Stewardship Council was founded in 1993 to provide a credible
system of labeling products as coming from sustainably managed forests.
The non-profit, non-governmental organization consists of representatives
from the timber industry, environmental groups, indigenous peoples and
forest product certification organizations from 25 countries.
It is funded by charitable foundations, government donors, membership
subscriptions and accreditation fees. The FSC does not accept funding from
industry to ensure its independence. Until now, funding has been received
from the Austrian, Dutch and Mexican governments, the European Commission,
Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, WWF-Netherlands, IUCN-Netherlands
and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
"Without credible certification, no one would know who is telling the
truth," said Matt Freeman-Gleason, the owner of the Environmental Home
Center in Seattle, Wash. "The FSC is the only reputable, credible process
out there," he said.
Like many businesses in the United States and Europe, the Environmental
Home Center is trying to meet the growing demands of consumers for forest
products whose harvest is not detrimental to the environment.
Freeman-Gleason first became interested in certification as a boat
builder. "When I was in the boat building business, I couldn't find a way
to determine where it (the wood) came from," he said. The Environmental
Home Center grew out of the need to provide the consuming public with
products from non-destructive forestry.
While members of the environmental community as a whole would like to see
certified forests spread around the world, the vast majority of the
forests currently certified by the FSC are in Sweden, Poland and the
United States, said Stacy Brown from the FSC Marketing Department in the
United States.
It also turns out that the greatest number of consumers of certified
products reside in Europe and the United States, said Carbarle. "In the UK
there are now 70 different retailers who sell certified products," he
said.
The WWF has a forest campaign dedicated to preserving forests around the
world and bringing them under the certification criteria of the FSC. As a
part of this campaign, the Brazilian government has pledged to set aside
62 million acres of new forest protected areas. However, the protected
areas will not be certified by the FSC.
"Brazil never made an announcement in regards to certification," said
Cabarle. There is a working group, however, that is developing a
certification standard under the guidance of the FSC and the government is
acting as an observer in that process, Cabarle said.
The WWF admits that it has run into problems with the FSC, especially in
Sweden and Poland where the vast majority of the world's certified forests
exist. Representatives from the forest-products industry, said Cabarle,
are concerned about the added costs of certification and what the added
costs will bring.
"An overwhelming number of companies have adopted a let's wait and see
attitude. Is it a passing fad? Many in industry believe that the jury is
still out" in regards to the effectiveness of the FSC, said Cabarle.
Forest certification has been particularly hotly debated in Poland
and Sweden, said Carbarle. "It wasn't the yellow brick road, but we were
able to negotiate something workable and were able to uphold the integrity
of the system," he said.
Ultimately, sustainable management of the world's forests is the goal of
conservationists. While independent certification under the FSC is "one
tool. It is not a panacea," said Cabarle. "If one wants to use a
certification tool, the Forest Stewardship Council is the best program out
there."
Cabarle also admits that there are incidents where certification won't
work -- like where there is a breakdown of law and order. "Certification
cannot be used as an end around the law," he said.
Brown acknowledged that the FSC is a young, but a growing organization,
"with a lot of experience and perspective," coming from the cooperative
panel of experts involved with the organization.
While the scope and reach of sustainably managed forests needs to be
expanded in order to have a significant impact on global forestry,
Carbarle said "the FSC can be a reinforcing message in the campaign to
protect forests around the world."
Copyright 1998, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved