Summary 2, oct. 10-13: Themes and opinions from the e-conference debate

number of participants: 8

Thread 2: How can FSC really start to deliver on its mission in the South?

1. Increased strategic alliances and stronger lobbying:

FSC should develop strategic alliances with the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and some local NGOS. FSC can join in with their efforts to improve forest management around the world.

FSC will need to develop a strong lobbying leverage to be able to influence governments to adopt certification as part and parcel of routine forest management. Although I do not envisage the FSC being the "UN of sustainable forest management" in the next five years, I certainly see the FSC getting stronger by forming strategic alliances or partnerships with other key players such as governments, NGOs and the private sector.

To stop any conspiracy theory that FSC the people in the North are working together to disadvantage people in the South, maybe it would be better for FSC to be affiliated to the UN?

2. Better FSC presence in the South and greater participation:

One person representing FSC in Asia? Two in Africa? If it weren't so tragic it would be hilarious. FSC needs to have a vision for what it wants to achieve and set targets for the number of certified hectares in tropical forests. It needs to decentralise and the push to get Regional Coordinators is a good move. FSC has to get National Initiatives going and support them more strongly.

• Decentralized actions: FSC could implement more meetings, and more technical and commercial workshops in the South, rather than the North.

• Reinforce National Initiatives: FSC could directly reinforce 5-6 national initiatives in the South and promote new certification bodies based in the South.

The establishment of local certification bodies would be, especially in Latin America, an important step in creating an incentive for good forest management and also in increasing the certification bodies' knowledge and awareness of the complex social realities of each region.

FSC should be a participative process whereby if FSC wants to be present in the South it should include people and organisations in the South on an equal basis. If it is an authoritarian relationship, which it is seen as now, FSC and certification will be seen as just a method of the North to bar fair trade.

3. Better communication, training and outreach:

There is need for an effective communications strategy to broadcast the message about certification, its benefits, the FSC, etc. in order to create awareness particularly in rural areas, schools, among policy makers, the general public and the private sector. At the same time, there will need to be a compendium of consumers of certified forest products worldwide [to complement information of suppliers of certified products] and such information made readily accessible to all countries.

A local producer asked why he cannot sell his products because they are not certified, while foreigners from the North can sell the same furniture easily. Of course it is a matter of knowledge [of certification] and relationships [with certified markets]. But FSC should assist these people to get the same opportunities.

FSC should put a lot of money into education and into the extension of good management practices. This should be a two way process, so that local practices are also acknowledged and local people are included.

FSC could support and initiate training and development programmes to assist forest owners and companies to improve their forest management concepts and practices. FSC could engage in alliances with funding agencies and training institutions.

FSC could promote more training and technical assistance in good forest management practices in the South, involving local organisations.

4. Simpler certification, lower costs and greater financial benefits:

I agree with your comments about survival and development where poverty and illiteracy are high in rural areas. FSC are not accessing these areas, making certification simple, and at fair and reduced cost. Why have a mass paper chase when we could make it simple?

Stepwise or phased certification could be designed to recognise various stages of accomplishment; that is different levels of compliance with the FSC standard. Certificates for different levels could be recognisable in the marketplace. If the next level has not been reached within a certain period of time, the certificate could be withdrawn. Forest owners and companies are more inclined to begin and continue a process where the rewards are close and reachable in a relative short time.

FSC will need to have better controls on how much the process of certification will cost. Certification will have to be affordable in order to attract larger numbers of new entrants. In the past, exorbitant prices charged for certification have excluded many potential entrants into certification schemes.

The challenge for FSC is to create a forest certification process where local people benefit from fair prices for certified products (timber and non-timber). Forest certification does not necessarily imply higher prices, but in some cases it can be a key tool to negotiate deals and prices in the market. For FSC to succeed in the South it must guarantee social and economic benefits to forest owners.

It continues to be extremely difficult for owners of small and medium-size forest areas to join the FSC. Unless there is a difference in the purchase price their income is not even enough to cover the cost of implementing FSC standards, and certainly not to pay for audit costs.

The cost of the certification assessment process could be borne by public funding. One or more assessment funds could be managed by a variety of funding agencies which could act as broker between the forest company which wishes to be certified, and the certifiers.

Could FSC work with organisations like the World Bank to improve forest sectors, enabling organisations to seek funding so they can be part of the FSC family?

The FSC objectives conference is funded by DFID-FRP (UK) projectnr ZF0185, and facilitated by Treemail (NL)
For more information please contact: info@fscobjectives.org