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Fairness and equality for all in forest management certification
The General Assembly of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), to be held in Bali on Oct. 9-14, is an opportunity for the FSC to ensure fairness and equality for stakeholders around the world, especially in encouraging improvements in forest governance, as well as the expansion of forest rehabilitation and restoration.
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he General Assembly of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), to be held in Bali on Oct. 9-14, is an opportunity for the FSC to ensure fairness and equality for stakeholders around the world, especially in encouraging improvements in forest governance, as well as the expansion of forest rehabilitation and restoration. This is in line with the FSC’s motto “Forest for All Forever”.
As provider of the most credible forest management certification scheme, the FSC has contributed significantly to sustainable forest management. Initiated at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the FSC started as an initiative with the spirit of encouraging improvements in forest governance through a market approach and has become an alternative to campaigns to boycott wood products.
Today, the FSC is represented in more than 80 countries with more than 200 million hectares of certified forest. On the market side, the FSC has emerged as the preferred certification scheme for manufacturers of wood-based consumer products ranging from furniture, plywood and flooring to paper, packaging and textiles. FSC certification means that products with FSC labels are derived from forests that are managed economically and with social and ecological sustainability.
At the next General Assembly in Bali, one of the important points on the agenda to be discussed is the new policy related to the Policy for Association (PfA), Policy to Address Conversion (PAC) and the Remedy Framework. The FSC's new policy was a long time in the making before being introduced as Motion 37/2021.
The motion will be discussed and voted on by all FSC members who take part in the General Assembly in Bali and will be adopted if more than half of the members vote for it.
If approved, the motion could support the FSC's target of certifying 300 million ha of forests. The approval is also expected to expand the application of FSC certification in forest plantations worldwide, including in Indonesia. At the same time, the Remedy Framework can also support the FSC's ambition to promote the expansion of forest rehabilitation and restoration activities.
One of the important points in this motion is the change in the cut-off date – the deadline for authorized natural forest conversion into forest plantations - from November 1994 to December 31, 2020. The change is subject to mandatory environmental and social improvements in natural forests already converted under the provisions of the Remedy Framework.
If approved, Motion 37/2021 will give the FSC the opportunity to expand the number of stakeholders and provide fairness and equality for stakeholders in developing countries in Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America that have not been able to join the FSC due to the cut-off date issue.
It should be noted that the actual situation in many developing countries is different to the situation in countries that have developed plantations before the FSC cut-off date was set. In developing countries, conversion is often unavoidable because the allocated land is the only area available and meets the requirements to be developed as sustainable plantations.
The change in FSC’s cut-off date should not be considered a setback because what will actually change is the point in time when all stakeholders in various parts of the world receive equal consideration and treatment.
The change of date also indicates that the FSC can re-associate with plantation companies or organizations previously not able to associate with the FSC because they did not meet the cut-off date. The FSC will not lose credibility because re-association requires these plantation companies to terminate conversion activities and opens up new opportunities for environmental and social remedy under the Remedy Framework for conversions that happened previously. This can be a positive point for the FSC because it will be recognized as an organization that strongly encourages rehabilitation and restoration to tackle the problem of global deforestation.
Motion 37/2021 has received a positive signal for approval at the General Assembly in Bali given that the FSC Board of Decision (BoD) has approved the PfA and PAC, and part of the Remedy Framework, as well as the Procedure for Disclosure. However, there are FSC members who believe that the PfA, PAC and Remedy Framework documents need revision through the submission of Motion 45/2021, which will also be discussed and voted on in Bali.
It is hoped that the proposed improvements of the PfA, PAC and Remedy Framework will not delay or suspend their implementation. Protracted delays in implementation could kill the spirit of renewal and the enthusiasm for expanding the number of forest plantation stakeholders for better forest management on a more significant scale through Motion 37/2021.
In the context of Indonesia, the adoption of Motion 37/2021 will certainly have a positive impact. Data collected by the Environment and Forestry Ministry show there are currently only around 3.1 million ha under 568 forest concession business licenses (PBPH) that have FSC certification, most of which are natural forest. Only 3.2 percent of the total FSC certified area are plantation forests.
The low number of FSC-certified PBPH forest plantations is because of the 1994 cut-off date. In fact, PBPH forest plantations in Indonesia only started to be grown after the 1990s.
Indonesia’s commitment to sustainability and sustainable forest management is demonstrated by the Legality and Sustainability Verification System (SVLK), which is mandatory. The SVLK was developed in a transparent and accountable manner by involving civil society, an independent accreditation committee, and an independent auditor. The SVLK has also received international recognition and is recognized as the only certification scheme that is equivalent to the FLEGT licensing of the European Union.
Thanks to the SVLK, Indonesia’s exports of wood products increased from US$9.84 billion in 2015 to a record high of $13.56 billion in 2021.
If the PBPH can complete the SVLK certification and voluntary certificates such as the FSC, Indonesia’s forestry products will gain wider recognition and become more impactful on the entire economic chain created for PBPH forest plantation management.
In addition, PBPH forest plantations with FSC certificates can be an incentive for Indonesia to fulfil its commitment to tackling climate change.
The government has stated that reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 31,89 percent by Indonesia’s own efforts or 43,2 percent with international support is part of Indonesia’s agenda, according to the updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat. Furthermore, Indonesia’s climate mitigation agenda Forest and Other Land Use (FOLU) Net Sink 2030 is part of the agenda to increase the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) absorption to be equal to or higher than emissions from the FOLU sector in 2030. In the FOLU Net Sink, the level of GHG emissions from the forestry sector is expected to reach minus 140 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030.
To achieve these goals, Indonesia states in the operational plan for Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030 its intention to reduce deforestation, particularly the conversion of natural forests for forest plantations.
As a major part of the agenda to tackle global climate change, the FSC’s approval of Motion 37/2021 will definitely support efforts to achieve these targets.
Finally, the adoption of Motion 37/2021 can expand opportunities for all stakeholders to be involved in more sustainable forest management, not only in Indonesia but also in other countries. The adoption of Motion 37/2021 could create room for improvements to ensure better forest management in the future.
This article was published in collaboration with APHI.
The Writer is a Secretary General for Asossociation of Indonesia Forest Concessionaires (APHI)
