--------------------- Forwarded message: From: owner-list@panda.org Sender: owner-forest-alert@panda.org Reply-to: wwf@panda.org Date: 96-09-03 16:15:16 EDT Certification gives the world's forests hope By Francis Sullivan* As the world's forests rapidly disappear to the chainsaws of the transnational logging companies, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) offers a way towards sustainable utilisation of wood and preservation of precious forests. Godalming, U.K.: A couple of years ago a British civil servant said to me, "There are three areas where the Earth Summit failed: forests, forests and forests". At that time the conservation movement was scrutinising the"Non-legally binding authoritative statement of forest principles... ". Much of what is written cannot be disputed, indeed much is good common sense, but has anything changed on the ground? Recent United Nations research has confirmed that the world's tropical forests are now disappearing at about one per cent per year. That doesn't sound much until you consider that every decade that passes we lose a tenth of the world's tropical forests - the most biologically rich ecosystems on earth. In temperate and boreal forests the area is static, but old growth and natural forests are being rapidly lost to monoculture plantations which do not yield the same range of benefits to society. WWF has recently published research which shows that it is the timber industry which is responsible for the destruction and degradation of the world's forests which are richest in wildlife. It's obvious that the timber industry is after the largest and oldest trees which get the highest prices in the market place. But help may be at hand. And the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), with international headquarters located in Oaxaca, Mexico, may provide it. This is a unique organisation set up in 1993 - in the aftermath of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. At that time, many in the timber industry, conservation groups and indigenous peoples' representatives were frustrated that, for environmental, social and economic reasons, the Forest Principles were too weak and would do nothing to protect the forests needed . FSC is an independent association with over 140 members from 31 countries. Its mandate is to improve forest management worldwide using independent forest certification as the tool. FSC does not certify the forest itself, but has already approved four organisations which are competent to do this work. Another four organisations have applied to be approved as "FSC endorsed certification bodies". To date about 2.3 million hectares of forest have been certified in all different types of natural forests, from the USA to the Solomon Islands. A wide range of timber products are now being sold from these certified forests, and carry the `FSC Trademark', a seal of approval that the forest of origin is well managed. This gives credibility in the marketplace, to consumers who have become increasingly sceptical about the claims made by companies about the environmental probity of their products. Speaking of the FSC Julia Carabias, Mexico's Minister of the Environment, Mexico, observed in late June, "I believe that we have in our hands an instrument that can revolutionise the timber industry, and can guide consumption patterns that are being generated and developed throughout the world." These developments come not a moment too soon. Today the race is now on to grab the forests which remain - before another company gets their hands on them. Currently only six per cent of the world's forests are legally protected, which means a staggering 94 per cent is effectively "up for grabs". In the last five years transnational logging companies (TNCs) have stepped up their efforts to capture what remains of the world's untouched forests. Massive timber licences have been sought in Chile, Guyana, Surinam, Brazil, Nigeria, Zaire, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. All too often the results are devastating to the lives of local people, species and habitats and the wider environment (water resources and local climate). But people are starting to fight back. In Chile, the local communities have successfully put on hold logging by the massive US-based Trillium Corporation. In Mexico, in the Uzachi community in the State of Oaxaca, it was the women who fought off local loggers who were bound to destroy the delicate balance of nature and upset the hydrology of their region. The people of Uzachi have shown that there is another way, where local people control forestry activities on their own lands. The Uzachi community carefully survey an area prior to felling, mark those few trees which are mature and fell them carefully so as not to damage the younger saplings in the forest. In this way the continuity of production is ensured, providing a continuous flow of income to the community while maintaining the ecological balance. So proud are the community that they have sought international recognition for the actions. They turned to the FSC for help. Recent research carried out by the European Commission shows that the European public no longer turn to government and industry to obtain trustworthy environmental information. In fact it is environmental protection groups who they trust. Producers and consumers of wood products alike are now seeing the market as well as the socio-environmental benefits of the certification of forests and wood products. Well over a hundred companies (with annual timber product sales of over $4 billion) in the UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Austria have already pledged their support to buy wood products which have been independently certified through the FSC process and demand is now growing daily. Timber producers also realise that there are market benefits from being certified thus creating an incentive for improved forest management. One certified producer in the United States said recently that he had never had to make a single marketing call, such was the level of demand for his certified products. Of course, forest certification is not a panacea. Many other actions are needed by governments to control the misuse of forests and create the conditions in which the forest sector truly contributes to the achievement of sustainable development. The next opportunities governments have to show they are taking the world's forest seriously will be at the Commission on Sustainable Development and the so-called Earth Summit II meeting to be held in June 1997 - five years after the original meeting in Rio. Heads of Government and their advisers should not lose sight of the fact that during this time another twentieth of the world's tropical forests have disappeared forever, and even more of the natural and old growth temperate and boreal forest has been converted to plantation or cleared for agriculture. Let us hope that after Earth Summit II we can say that the world's governments now have the commitment to conserve the remains of the world's forests, before it is too late, for all of us. *Francis Sullivan is the Leader of WWF's Global Forests for Life Campaign http://www.panda.org This message was sent to $list
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