Private governance in forestry politics

Résumé du document

In the first part of this document, we have pointed out that deforestation and loss of terrestrial diversity are serious global problems requiring concerted action. A number of measures have been discussed in the international arena to promote sustainable forest management. The emergence of a global forest regime is one of these consequences. With the Convention on Biological Diversity, the international community adopted a work plan for forest diversity. Besides, the Kyoto protocol has provided credits for planting forests and stimulated the debate between the different stakeholders. Nevertheless, all of these measures have not set up legally binding agreements on forests. Consequently, private forest governance has emerged as potential solution that acts more efficiently. To better understand the functioning of this private governance, we'll examine the Forest Stewardship Council and try to understand its aims, practices and realizations in forest protection.

Extraits

[...] The FSC mixed-sources label indicates that the wood comes from FSC-certified well-managed forests, recycled material and/or controlled wood which come from non-controversial sources. Last, there is the FSC recycled label which means that materials used for the manufacturing come form the re-use of forest resources which helps to reduce the pressure on natural forests. Although FSC has set up stringent commitments and recommendations to obtain certification, the labels provided by the FSC are graduated and decided according to the degree of compliance of a product through the FSC principles and criteria. How does FSC influence in practical way the forest management? [...]

[...] Nevertheless, all of these measures have not set up legally binding agreements on forest. Consequently, private forest governance has emerged as potential solution to act more efficiently. To better understand the functioning of this private governance, we examine the Forest Stewardship Council and try to understand its aims, practices and realizations in forest protection. What is the Forest Stewardship Council? 1.1 Definition Disillusioned by the failure of a large part of governments and international institutions to reduce forest destruction worldwide, social groups and environmental organizations have decided to develop an alternative solution. [...]

[...] It is a voluntary process for verifying responsible forest practices. It is up to a forest owner or a forestry industry to initiate te certification process by requesting an independent certifier to inspect the forest and to value if the forest management meets the FSC requirements for certification. The good forest management includes environmental, social and economical practices. Only accredited certification bodies can do the evaluations to award a certificate. Once a forest is certified, it is necessary to be able to trace the products that come from it throughout the supply chain in order to know if the claims of the origins of the product are verifiable. [...]

[...] Although they still use products from other sources, some of major companies are engaged with FSC-certified owners: Ikea, Nike, Starbucks Coffee, Johnson & Johnson Gibson Musical Instrument is manufacturing a Les Paul guitar model from certified mahogany. Conclusion To sum up, the F.S.C appears as a possible solution to fill the gaps in the global forest regime. Through principles and criteria, certifications and ecolabel, it promotes a number of possibilities to promote efficiently a sustainable forest management, as we see in Guatemala. However, if the F.S.C. is maybe the most robust scheme in existence, its shortcomings must be not forgotten. A number of industry-dominated competitors have emerged. These competitors have marginalized the F.S.C. in many countries. [...]

[...] Nevertheless, the performance standards are separated from state-based international criteria. The specificity of the FSC must be its independence concerning the setting of the principles and criteria. The FSC was created to have more ambitious ecological and social requirements than public authority; otherwise it could not denounce failures of the international public forest policy Activities 1.3 Accreditation Through these standards, the FSC has developed rigorous procedures to evaluate whether national groups participate on the same field can provide independent and competent services. [...]