Approaches to Measuring the Conservation Impact of Forest Management Certification

Sustainable forest management (SFM) certification emerged in the 1980s and 1990s as a mechanism to promote responsible forest use and as an alternative to boycotts of forest products amid growing concerns about forest degradation and destruction. Since then, forest certification has evolved into a multifaceted market-based mechanism to promote compliance with sets of ecological, social, and economic criteria to enhance sustainability. Commodity certification has evolved from its origins as a means of verifying organic and environmentally sustainable production; issues like social equity, transparency, participation, and legal compliance have become increasingly relevant. One commonality in all certification schemes is that they are voluntary, market-driven ('willing buyer, willing seller') schemes aimed at transformational change toward more sustainable production and consumption patterns within existing market structures. This document presents the state of the current knowledge on how to assess impacts of forest management certification. It also discusses the design, implementation, and use of forest management certification. It focuses on methodologies to provide evidence-based information on the environmental impacts of certification. The concluding chapter briefly discusses the economic and social impacts. The objective is to identify areas where further methodological work is needed to improve understanding on the impacts of certification. Many benefits of certification, like improved information on management practices by outside stakeholders (for example, consumers, governments) are undisputed. At the same time, there is less knowledge on whether or not practices at field level have changed and how much. Although improved information as such is a valuable outcome, more quantitative information on environmental impacts will be welcome.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Romero, Claudia, Castrén, Tuukka
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Program on Forests (PROFOR), Washington, DC 2013-04
Subjects:	ACTION PLAN, ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT, AGRICULTURE, ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE, AUDITING, BASELINE INFORMATION, BEHAVIORAL CHANGE, BEHAVIORAL STUDIES, BIODIVERSITY, BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION, BRAZILIAN AMAZON, BUFFER ZONES, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY RESEARCH, CERTIFICATION BODIES, CERTIFICATION BODY, CERTIFICATION PROCESS, CERTIFICATION RESEARCH, CERTIFICATION SCHEME, CERTIFICATION SCHEMES, CERTIFICATION STANDARDS, CERTIFIED FORESTS, CERTIFIED TIMBER, CIVIL SOCIETY, CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS, CIVIL WARS, COLLABORATION, COMMERCIAL LOGGING, COMMERCIAL LOGGING OPERATIONS, COMMERCIALIZATION, COMMUNITY FOREST, COMMUNITY FORESTRY, CONCESSION, CONSERVATION INTERVENTIONS, CONSERVATION VALUE, CONSULTATION, CONSULTATION PROCESSES, CONSULTATIONS, CONSUMER AWARENESS, CONSUMERS, CORRECTIVE ACTION, COSTS OF CERTIFICATION, CREDIBILITY, CROW, DEFORESTATION, ECOSYSTEM, ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS, EVALUATION OF IMPACTS, EVALUATORS, FAIR TRADE, FAIR TRADE MOVEMENT, FEASIBILITY, FIELD STUDIES, FIGURES, FISH, FOREST, FOREST ADMINISTRATION, FOREST AREAS, FOREST AUTHORITIES, FOREST CERTIFICATION, FOREST CERTIFICATION PROGRAM, FOREST CERTIFICATION SYSTEM, FOREST CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS, FOREST CONCESSIONS, FOREST DEGRADATION, FOREST INDUSTRIES, FOREST INDUSTRY, FOREST INDUSTRY SECTOR, FOREST LAW, FOREST LAW ENFORCEMENT, FOREST MANAGEMENT, FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION, FOREST MANAGEMENT OUTCOMES, FOREST MANAGER, FOREST MANAGERS, FOREST OPERATION, FOREST OPERATIONS, FOREST OWNERS, FOREST POLICIES, FOREST POLICY, FOREST PRODUCT, FOREST PRODUCTS, FOREST SECTOR, FOREST STAKEHOLDERS, FOREST STEWARDSHIP, FOREST USE, FOREST USER, FORESTRY, FORESTS, GENETIC, ILLEGAL LOGGING, ILLEGAL TIMBER, INTEREST GROUPS, INTERMEDIARIES, INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATION, INTERVENTION, INTERVIEWS, ISSUES, LAND TENURE, LEGAL REGIMES, LOGGING, NATIONAL FOREST, NATIONAL FOREST POLICIES, NATIONAL FOREST POLICY, NATURAL FORESTS, NATURAL RESOURCE, NATURAL RESOURCE GOVERNANCE, NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NEGATIVE IMPACTS, PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES, POPULATION DENSITY, PREPARATION, PROGRAM EVALUATION, PROTECTED AREAS, PUBLIC POLICIES, RAINFOREST, RAINFOREST ALLIANCE, REGENERATION, RESEARCH CENTER, ROAD TO CERTIFICATION, SELF-INTEREST, SOCIAL EQUITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE, SOCIAL MAPPING, SPECIES, SPILLOVER EFFECTS, STAKEHOLDER, STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS, STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION, SUPPLIERS, SUSTAINABILITY, SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT, SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF FORESTS, TEMPERATE FORESTS, TIMBER, TIMBER CERTIFICATION, TIMBER HARVESTING, TIMBER INDUSTRY, TIMBER MARKET, TIMBER PRODUCTION, TIMBER PRODUCTS, TIMBER TRADE, TRANSPARENCY, TREE, TROPICAL FOREST, TROPICAL FORESTRY, WILDLIFE, WOOD, WOOD PRODUCTION, WOOD PRODUCTS, WORKERS UNION,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/04/17782502/approaches-measuring-conservation-impact-forest-management-certification https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16498
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