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Bringing logging
companies in line with FSC
certification standards in
the Congo Basin
CIFOR research in the Congo Basin analysed
the certification for forest products and
found that government standards are
often less stringent than those from the
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) – and that
logging companies adhered to standards
which fell somewhere between the two.
FSC is an independent, multi-stakeholder
organisation that promotes responsible
forest management. FSC certification is
meant as a stamp of approval to consumers
worldwide that forest products are the
result of environmentally and socially
responsible forest management. About 5.2
million hectares of forest in the Congo Basin
are already FSC certified.
The research finding stemmed from an
analysis of the management plans of a
number of certified logging companies.
While the standards the companies were
typically following were superior to what
was legally required, they were not sufficient
to fully comply with the FSC requirements
for responsible forest management.
‘The tendency was for companies to use
the management plan more as a vehicle for
getting the government’s approval than as a
blueprint for responsible forest management
as required by the FSC,’ said Paolo Cerutti,
leader of the CIFOR study. ‘In that way they
could meet their legal obligations but avoid
fully adhering to the FSC logic of responsible
forest management.’
CIFOR’s findings contributed to calls by
NGOs for a moratorium on FSC certification
of industrial-scale logging in the Congo
Basin. The FSC responded by conducting
an audit of all certified companies. As a
result, a number of firms have already
started to adapt their management
plans to bring them into line with FSC
standards. In addition, CIFOR is working
to ensure that all of the certifying bodies
used by the FSC base their assessments
on the same standards when evaluating
logging companies.
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