Nghe An: Piloting the issuance of Sustainable Forest Certification for over 10,000 hectares of forest

In order to manage and use forest resources sustainably, conserve biodiversity and forest environmental service values, Nghe An is piloting about 10,000 hectares of planted forests to be granted Sustainable Forest Management Certificate (FSC Certificate). 5 pilot districts include Yen Thanh, Nghi Loc, Nghia Dan, Thanh Chuong, Do Luong.

Achieving FSC certification will enhance the brand of forest products and help them access demanding markets such as the United States, Europe, and Australia. Photo: PV

FSC certification not only benefits forest owners from higher value timber sources, but also enhances the brand of forest products and helps them access demanding markets such as the United States, Europe, and Australia.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Lam - Head of Forest Use and Development Department (Forestry Sub-Department) said: Regarding the implementation solution, Nghe An coordinated with relevant units to assess the potential of selected forest owners. The province has attracted a number of enterprises to support 5 districts in planting and exploiting production forests according to international standards on sustainable forest certification. At the same time, the above enterprises also committed to purchasing products for 5 districts building sustainable forest certification...

Preparing forest tree seeds for autumn planting in Do Luong. Photo: Van Truong

According to the roadmap, we strive to complete the granting of FSC certificates for over 10,000 hectares of forest in the above 5 districts in the first 6 months of 2020, then expand the granting of certificates to the following forest areas in the province.

In the long term, Nghe An will issue support policies and credit incentives for households participating in planting raw material forests for large timber business, raw material areas associated with forest product processing with forest certification. Call for funding from projects in the area such as ODA projects, NGOs, State budget capital, Forest Protection and Development Fund, and enterprises' own capital.

The essence of forest certification is sustainable forest management. Wood harvested from certified forest areas not only complies with regulations related to legality, but also complies with regulations related to environment and society (for example, there must be assessments on environmental impact, biodiversity). Therefore, certified wood is widely accepted and circulated in North American and European markets...

Forest certification has important environmental, social and economic implications. Economically, forest certification aims to improve business efficiency and increase income, thereby recognizing and trusting the forest management activities of forest owners (enterprises, household groups, etc.); forest owners have professional and sustainable access to potential domestic and foreign markets; and at the same time, have better access to support service providers (financial, technical, etc.).

The Forest Stewardship Council has developed the FSC Certificate with a set of 10 principles and 56 criteria to serve as a basis for evaluating forest management and the use of forest products by forest owners and forest product producers. The FSC Certificate is valid for 5 years and is accepted globally.

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