Certification processes in tropical forests can be instrumental in raising awareness of commercial timber managers and producers of the interrelationship between timber and non-timber production and
sustainability in specific forests and forest regions. This is extremely important for species that have both wood and non-wood values and markets and to ensure that timber operations do not negatively affect
subsistence and commercial harvesting of NTFPs from the same forest area. In spite of protective standards, certification of timber can create additional pressures on NTFPs. For example, some tree species widely used for their medicinal barks and exudates in Brazil, and characterized as at risk by ecologists, are currently commercialized as certified timber in the United States.

 

Growing interest by timber companies in extraction of not only timber but high-value NTFPs could either prohibit access of rural collectors to forest products or help NTFP harvesters to broaden their trade opportunities.There have been a range of studies of the status of timber and wood product certification and the issues and challenges for moving forward. However, there is much less documentation of the status of forest certification and NTFPs that look at either the impacts of forest certification for the sustainability and harvesting of NTFPs or the opportunities and challenges for incorporating certification standards for commercially important products into the various certification schemes.

This book (downloadable pdf available) tries to provide answers to the following questions:

 

• How applicable are the forest certification schemes to the requirements and issues regarding the harvesting and management of NTFPs? How compatible are the two sets of standards in cases where both types of products can be harvested from the forest?
• What models have been applied in cases where the harvesters of NTFPs are different from those who harvest or have the rights to manage and harvest timber?
• Under what conditions is certification a useful tool for NTFP collectors? In those circumstances when it is appropriate, how can forest certification be made accessible to different types of NTFP harvesters and users, many of whom are small producers?
• Where does the forest certification option fit in with other types of sustainable or just management and harvesting standards?
• What are the broader implications of setting standards for NTFPs
  for industry, governments, communities and small producers?

 

The book includes the following table of contents:

Introduction 1
A Focus on Forest Management Standards 19
NTFPs within the Forest Management Certification
Framework: Challenges and Recommendations 31
Accessibility and Applicability of NTFP Certification 47
Social Opportunities and Challenges 85
Market and Economic Opportunities and Challenges 93
Legal and Institutional Opportunities and Challenges 101
Broader Applications for Standards and Certification 111
Collaboration and Harmonization: The Way Forward? 113
Conclusion 119
Recommendations 123

Numerous case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America, are included which explain the complexities and potential benefits of NTFP certification. Here are summaries of three of the 25 case studies provided:

 

Developing Standards for Brazil Nuts in Bolivia

By P. Pacheco and P. Cronkleton, Center for International Forestry Research, Bolivia

 

Over a three-year period, a collaborative effort led by the Bolivian Council for Voluntary Forest Certification (CFV), with strong support from the Program of Forest Management in the Bolivian Amazon (PROMAB), brought together the owners of processing plants, representatives of producer organizations and other experts to develop certification standards for Brazil nut forests. In 2001, after eight different drafts, the effort resulted in the Bolivian Standards for Forest Management Certification of Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa), which were then submitted to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for acceptance (Soldán 2003). The Bolivian standards were conditionally approved in 2002, although it was not until 2006 that all conditions were met (pers. comm. Baqueros). Initially there were high expectations that certification would bring financial benefits and would encourage the owners of Brazil nut estates (barraqueros) to comply with social and ecological standards in return for this formal recognition and validation of their forest use. Unfortunately, the difficulty in meeting required standards to attain certification, compounded by continued property rights insecurity in the Bolivian Amazon, has meant these standards have had little impact. As of mid-2007, no Bolivian stakeholders have attempted to certify their forest management under these standards. At the same time the FSC standards for Brazil nut certification have not taken root in Bolivia, a growing number of producers are gaining important market advantage and market access through organic certification and compliance with Fairtrade Standards.

 

Social Benefits of Certification

By C. Lombard, D. Cole and P. du Plessis, PhytoTrade, South Africa

 

An example of organic NTFP certification that benefited from investment in improved social organization is that of PhytoTrade (formerly SANProta/CRIAA) in Namibia where producers are part of an association that negotiates with European buyers. Well-substantiated clinical evidence of efficacy, an increase in people suffering from arthritis and increased marketing initiatives by product manufacturers triggered a dramatic increase in sales of devil’s claw (Harpagophytum procumbens). In 1998/9 export sales from Namibia reached over 600 tons, involving between 5,000 and 10,000 Namibian harvesters in tuber extraction. To combat the problem of unsustainable harvest, donors funded a service NGO to organize groups of registered harvesters.

 

Harvesters exchanged knowledge about sustainable resource use and voluntarily adopted sustainable resource management practices that they helped to formulate. An exporter signed a contract to purchase all of the devil’s claw produced by the project, paid the harvesters immediately upon delivery and gained access to a reliable premium product (Lombard et al. unpublished).

Conservation impacts of the devil’s claw project include recognition of traditional knowledge about sustainable harvesting and extending “best practices” to harvesters who were too young or who did not come from a traditional harvesting background.

 

Maple Syrup Certification in the USA

By Alan Pierce, Independent Researcher

 

In January 2000, SmartWood, an FSC-accredited certification body, finalized a set of maple syrup certification standards in consultation with foresters, maple experts and maple producers (see Pierce 2002c). In February of 2000, the Merck Forest and Farmland Center in Rupert, Vermont, requested to have its maple stands (sugarbushes) evaluated under the new guidelines. Merck had already obtained FSC endorsement for its timber operations in 1999, thus the sugaring assessment was an ‘add-on’

certification rather than a holistic assessment of timber and nontimber products.

 

When asked to compare the organic certification process with the FSC assessment process, Merck’s staff stated that the organic certification was smoother, less expensive and more rigorous than the forest certification audit, particularly with respect to issues that influence product processing and quality such as lead testing, packaging and batch-tracking. Staff also reported that “green certification (for syrup) has no value right now.” That is, consumers do not understand the relevance of the FSC label on the syrup and perhaps have never considered that sugaring and sugarbushes could be unsustainable. Organic certification is considered to provide a marketing advantage, and staff cited statistics from an organic certifier which report that organically certified syrup can realize a premium of as much as US$0.15 per pound over ‘conventional’ syrup.

The experience to date shows both specific opportunities and significant challenges for NTFP certification. There is a need to better understand the appropriate role that forest certification can play and provide appropriate enabling conditions. Knowledge is key — both for generating effective management standards and for increasing the two-way flow of knowledge between collectors and buyers. Collectors often have highly developed management practices but poor market information, and commercial buyers, industries and government regulators are often unaware of traditional use and knowledge but understand and shape the market chain. There is a need to respect the knowledge and skills of small producers and harvesters, recognizing the mutual benefits of sustainably producing forest products — for the resource, for the harvesters and for the consumer.