Impact of Forest Certification in Developing Countries Examined
A market-based system intended to protect global forests is struggling to take root in developing countries, according to a recently published Yale book.
Confronting Sustainability: Forest Certification in Developing and Transitioning Countries, published by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Publication Series, assesses the effectiveness of forest certification programs, which give consumers, retailers and manufacturers the opportunity to purchase products derived from environmentally and socially responsible forest operations.
The 16-country comparative, historical analysis reveals that existing interest and commitments from North American and European markets have not been strong enough to significantly influence forest management choices in some of the world’s most environmentally sensitive forests.
The 622-page book was edited by Benjamin Cashore, director of the program on forest certification at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies; Fred Gale, a senior lecturer in the School of Government at the University of Tasmania, Australia; Errol Meidinger, a professor of law at the State University of New York at Buffalo; and Deanna Newsom of the Rainforest Alliance. Yale envrionment school Dean Gus Speth wrote the Foreword.
The editors argue that the success of forest certification depends on a heightened level of concern and awareness on the part of the world’s wealthiest consumers of forest products, whose consumption habits currently feed tropical forest destruction. Increased demand for certified forest products, the editors point out, could have huge impacts on China’s voracious appetite for timber, since the bulk of China’s products are destined for foreign markets.
Two critical findings from the book justify the call for increased support. First, research reveals that firms that undergo the auditing, or certification, process are required to undertake critical improvements in their environmental and social practices. Second, forest certification programs have generated significant opportunities for public participation, exchange and learning among industrial, environmental and social organizations and indigenous peoples. For instance, forest certification has led to a much greater understanding of the role of ancient, old-growth and other high-conservation-value forests.
In addition to promoting responsible forestry, certification is a critical tool in avoiding the inadvertent purchase of materials from companies that destroy the forest environment. “For years there was no way of knowing whether the products we were purchasing were contributing to the destruction of the world’s most critical forests,” say the editors. “Now that we have this ability, customers need to put their money where their mouths are and purchase certified products.”
The study represents a significant collaborative endeavor, in which a common template was used to assess the historical development of forest certification in 16 countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific. The countries are Bolivia, Brazil, Estonia, Gabon, Guatemala, Indonesia, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Russia, the Solomon Islands, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
In an innovative effort to present a comprehensive and culturally accurate analysis, the editors employed nationally based researchers, including Ugandan forestry practitioners, who examined forest certification’s potential impact on carbon sequestration and ultimately global warming, and a Russia-based scholar who highlighted the ways that forestry operations in the eastern and western parts of her country responded to the differences in market signals sent by Chinese and European buyers.
The book’s approach, according to the editors, was expressly designed to minimize problems of Western bias and academic imperialism, and to engage in a new form of global collaborative research. Preliminary results were presented by each case-study author at a symposium held at Yale in 2004 and then substantially revised for the final volume.
For more information or to purchase the book, visit www.yale.edu/forestcertification
Contact: David DeFusco, Director of Communications (203) 436-4842, David.DeFusco@Yale.edu
Confronting Sustainability: Forest Certification in Developing and Transitioning Countries, published by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Publication Series, assesses the effectiveness of forest certification programs, which give consumers, retailers and manufacturers the opportunity to purchase products derived from environmentally and socially responsible forest operations.
The 16-country comparative, historical analysis reveals that existing interest and commitments from North American and European markets have not been strong enough to significantly influence forest management choices in some of the world’s most environmentally sensitive forests.
The 622-page book was edited by Benjamin Cashore, director of the program on forest certification at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies; Fred Gale, a senior lecturer in the School of Government at the University of Tasmania, Australia; Errol Meidinger, a professor of law at the State University of New York at Buffalo; and Deanna Newsom of the Rainforest Alliance. Yale envrionment school Dean Gus Speth wrote the Foreword.
The editors argue that the success of forest certification depends on a heightened level of concern and awareness on the part of the world’s wealthiest consumers of forest products, whose consumption habits currently feed tropical forest destruction. Increased demand for certified forest products, the editors point out, could have huge impacts on China’s voracious appetite for timber, since the bulk of China’s products are destined for foreign markets.
Two critical findings from the book justify the call for increased support. First, research reveals that firms that undergo the auditing, or certification, process are required to undertake critical improvements in their environmental and social practices. Second, forest certification programs have generated significant opportunities for public participation, exchange and learning among industrial, environmental and social organizations and indigenous peoples. For instance, forest certification has led to a much greater understanding of the role of ancient, old-growth and other high-conservation-value forests.
In addition to promoting responsible forestry, certification is a critical tool in avoiding the inadvertent purchase of materials from companies that destroy the forest environment. “For years there was no way of knowing whether the products we were purchasing were contributing to the destruction of the world’s most critical forests,” say the editors. “Now that we have this ability, customers need to put their money where their mouths are and purchase certified products.”
The study represents a significant collaborative endeavor, in which a common template was used to assess the historical development of forest certification in 16 countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific. The countries are Bolivia, Brazil, Estonia, Gabon, Guatemala, Indonesia, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Russia, the Solomon Islands, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
In an innovative effort to present a comprehensive and culturally accurate analysis, the editors employed nationally based researchers, including Ugandan forestry practitioners, who examined forest certification’s potential impact on carbon sequestration and ultimately global warming, and a Russia-based scholar who highlighted the ways that forestry operations in the eastern and western parts of her country responded to the differences in market signals sent by Chinese and European buyers.
The book’s approach, according to the editors, was expressly designed to minimize problems of Western bias and academic imperialism, and to engage in a new form of global collaborative research. Preliminary results were presented by each case-study author at a symposium held at Yale in 2004 and then substantially revised for the final volume.
For more information or to purchase the book, visit www.yale.edu/forestcertification
Contact: David DeFusco, Director of Communications (203) 436-4842, David.DeFusco@Yale.edu
