FSC reflected in scientific and professional literature

2. Impact in and beyond the forest: 2.3 Environmental effects
erations, the disturbed areas in managed forests decreased from 26% - 75% to 15% of the
logged area. 103
But, as Ros-Tonen titled one of her papers: “There is more to sustainable forest management
than reduced impact logging.” 104 While Ros-Tonen summarizes that “partnerships between
multiple actors (e.g. the FSC) are needed in order to create the institutional context for good
forest governance and sustainable forest management and stimulate the necessary local
community involvement, (...).” we will here list some examples of RIL success and other forest
management improvements triggered by requirements from FSC certification. Several of
these examples are drawn from certification reports:
In 2005 the TREES Program of the Rainforest Alliance 105 examined the 2099 conditions
(changes that forestry operations were required to make during the assessment process) given
to 129 forest management operations in 21 countries certified by the FSC accredited certification
body SmartWood (SW), (see 1.0 General). The most prevalent environmental impacts
of FSC forest management certification were improved riparian and aquatic management (required
of 63% of operations), improved treatment of sensitive sites and high conservation value
forests (62%) and improved treatment of threatened and endangered species (62%).
103 Rockwell, Cara A.; Kainer, Karen A.; Staudhammer, Christina L. and Baraloto, C. (2007): Future crop tree damage
in a certified community forest in southwestern Amazonia. Forest Ecology and Management 242, Elsevier
104 Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A.F. et al. (2008): Forest-related partnerships in Brazilian Amazonia: There is more to sustainable
forest management than reduced impact logging, Forest Ecology and Management, Elsevier.
doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.02.044
105 Newsom, Deanna & Hewitt, Daphne (2005): The Global Impacts of SmartWood Certification. Final Report of the
TREES Program for the Rainforest Alliance. http://www.rainforestalliance.org/programs/forestry/perspectives/documents/sw_impacts.pdf
(as of June 2008)
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