Title: Forest Certification: Enhancing Social Forestry Developments?
Abstract: Forest certification is a market-based instrument to recognise good forestry practice. It is a procedure whereby an independent certifier gives a written assurance that a forest is managed in accordance with agreed ecological, economic, and social criteria. A label informs the consumers that the products they buy come from a certified forest. Thus, forest certification is an instrument that harnesses market forces to provide an incentive for good forest management. Forest certification is applicable to all types of forest enterprise, whether industrial or small-scale, corporately owned or community based, located in the North or in the South. It was designed as a tool to promote forestry that is socially beneficial as well as environmentally responsible and economically viable (Forest Stewardship Council, 1994). In the face of increasing failure of other policy instruments to contain forest destruction caused by logging operations, early proponents of certification hoped this new and market-based instrument would enhance control over the industrial exploitation of forests. At the same time, advocates of social forestry expected it would provide market access and other benefits for small-scale, low-impact, community run ‘eco-timber’ projects (Irvine, 1999).
Publication Year: 2000
Publication Date: 2000-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 9
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