Chhattisgarh Forest Department

NWFP Certification

Objectives of Certification

 Certification provides solution, towards a responsible trade of forest products and SFM. It aims at fulfilling following objectives:  

• Control resource management techniques.  

• Control resources economically.

• Create a system that addresses public concerns on environment and values.  

• Manage resources holistically.  

• Balance the need to extract resources from the environment while maintaining sustainable ecosystem.

• Improve livelihood opportunities.

Advantages of Certification

 Certification yields myriad benefits that are reflected in the economic, environmental and social spectrum like:

 Ecological:  

• Maintenance and enhancement of forest resource productivity.  

• Improvement in conservation of biodiversity and its associated benefits such as the hydrological cycle of the area, forest ecosystems, soil fertility due to use of organic substances and subsequently, increase in agricultural production.   

• Protection of threatened and endangered species and their habitat.  

• Maintenance of ecological functions and integrity of forest ecosystems and their resultant benefits.

Economic:  

• Increased returns compared to uncertified forest produce to the communities.  

• Greater consumer preference for certified products provide wider and larger market accessibility.  

• Generates a competitive advantage.  

• Facilitates new market access.

Social:  

• Develops and improves the company's or producers' public image and workers' satisfaction.  

• Improvement in the condition of workers, indigenous community and local people through participation of stakeholders in the development of forest management/farmland management standards.  

According to the In-Session Seminar: Certification And Forest Product Labelling: A Review, Item 7 of the Provisional Agenda, Eighteenth Session, Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, FAO, the advantages of certification are as follows:  

• Increased market share or at least protection from the loss of the existing market share (mainly against other wood products but also against non-wood products);

• A market premium from selling a "green" product;  

• Greater insurance of the markets against market restrictions;

• Long-term supply security because of the sustainability of the supplying forests;  

• Independent evaluation of forest management practices;

• Basis of comparing different management practices, and setting common standards;

• Improved commitment to forest resource management;

• Improved image with a range of interest groups;

• Basis for improved control or policing of resource holders;

• Protection from action by environmental groups.

Possible disadvantages include:  

• High cost (both financial and managerial);

• Reduced (short term) revenue due to reduced output volumes;

• Management is distracted from other important activities;

• Loss of some control to other groups (e.g. to those developing the certification standards; those less close to the resource);

• Confusion created with consumers;

• Wood products placed at a disadvantage vis-à-vis non-wood products that are not subject to certification.