Philippines moves to institutionalize forest certification

Forests are more than a community of plants, animals and trees. They are more than just a place to enjoy nature and its wonders. Forests are a critical life support system. They provide air to breath, food, medicine, and other life supporting services. Forests also provide livelihoods to local communities.

Unfortunately, much of earth’s forests have been destroyed or converted for other purposes. In the Philippines, more than half of the forests have been converted for food production and industrial purposes. Hence, sustainably managing the forests has become a critical task for the Philippines.

Forest certification is one of the most important initiatives in protecting forests from unsustainable use. It is a system of forest inspection and tracking to ensure that forest products entering the international market have come from sustainably managed forests or production forests.

In the Philippines, forest certification has been initiated not only to protect the forests but also to help make Philippine furniture and handicrafts more competitive.

Under the PCARRD-funded Furniture and Handicraft R&D Program, the initial steps for forest certification in the country have been done through the project “Institutionalizing Forest Certification in Support of the Furniture and Handicraft Industry.” However, much work still needs to be done, according to project reviewers.

The initiative is very timely as the competition and quality requirements (such as forest certification) in the world market continue to intensify such that Philippine furniture and handicraft suppliers find it difficult to compete nowadays.

Implemented by the University of the Philippines Los Baños - College of Forestry and Natural Resources (UPLB-CFNR), the project conducted a series of workshops to orient the stakeholders on forest certification, its institutionalization in other countries, and its links to sustainable forest management.

The workshop series resulted in the willingness of stakeholders to share resources and expertise for forest certification in Region 13, where more than two-thirds of land area is forestland. This, in the long-term, will result in a sustainable supply of quality raw materials for the furniture and handicraft industry.

The stakeholders also identified their possible roles and contributions in the process of institutionalizing forest certification.

The workshops also facilitated the formulation of criteria and indicators to be used in certifying forest plantations. A total of seven criteria and 58 indicators were tested in the field. On this basis, stakeholders came up with a final list of criteria and indicators. This is expected to expedite the process of institutionalizing forest certification as the identified criteria and indicators closely respond to the requirements of accrediting bodies like the Forest Stewardship Council.

A working group created from the project, which has already been completed, picked up the project recommendations to continue pursuing the development of a forest certification scheme for the CARAGA region. Among the important recommendations is the dissemination of the project results to inform concerned agencies/stakeholders on the importance of forest certification.

The project also recommended involving the stakeholders including those not initially consulted by the project like the peoples’ organizations and church groups. (Ma. Rowena M. Baltazar, S&T Media Service)