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Principles
and Criteria of Forest Stewardship
(Taken
from the FSC website on July 4, 2001 - link)
Document
1.2 Revised February 2000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
It
is widely accepted that forest resources and associated lands
should be managed to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural
and spiritual needs of present and future generations.
Furthermore, growing public awareness of forest destruction and
degradation has led consumers to demand that their purchases of
wood and other forest products will not contribute to this destruction
but rather help to secure forest resources for the future. In
response to these demands, certification and self-certification
programs of wood products have proliferated in the marketplace.
The
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international body which
accredits certification organizations in order to guarantee the
authenticity of their claims. In all cases the process of certification
will be initiated voluntarily by forest owners and managers who
request the services of a certification organization. The goal
of FSC is to promote environmentally responsible, socially beneficial
and economically viable management of the world's forests, by
establishing a worldwide standard of recognized and respected
Principles of Forest Stewardship.
The FSC's Principles and Criteria (P&C) apply to all tropical,
temperate and boreal forests, as addressed in Principle #9 and
the accompanying glossary. Many of these P&C apply also
to plantations and partially replanted forests. More detailed
standards for these and other vegetation types may be prepared
at national and local levels. The P&C are to be incorporated
into the evaluation systems and standards of all certification
organizations seeking accreditation by FSC. While the P&C
are mainly designed for forests managed for the production of
wood products, they are also relevant, to varying degrees, to
forests managed for non-timber products and other services.
The P&C are a complete package to be considered as a whole,
and their sequence does not represent an ordering of priority.
This document shall be used in conjunction with the FSC's Statutes,
Procedures for Accreditation and Guidelines for Certifiers.
FSC
and FSC-accredited certification organizations will not insist
on perfection in satisfying the P&C. However, major
failures in any individual Principles will normally disqualify
a candidate from certification, or will lead to decertification.
These decisions will be taken by individual certifiers, and guided
by the extent to which each Criterion is satisfied, and by the
importance and consequences of failures. Some flexibility
will be allowed to cope with local circumstances.
The scale and intensity of forest management operations, the uniqueness
of the affected resources, and the relative ecological fragility
of the forest will be considered in all certification assessments.
Differences and difficulties of interpretation of the P&C
will be addressed in national and local forest stewardship standards.
These standards are to be developed in each country or region
involved, and will be evaluated for purposes of certification,
by certifiers and other involved and affected parties on a case
by case basis. If necessary, FSC dispute resolution mechanisms
may also be called upon during the course of assessment.
More information and guidance about the certification and accreditation
process is included in the FSC Statutes, Accreditation Procedures,
and Guidelines for Certifiers.
The
FSC P&C should be used in conjunction with national and international
laws and regulations. FSC intends to complement, not supplant,
other initiatives that support responsible forest management worldwide.
The
FSC will conduct educational activities to increase public awareness
of the importance of the following:
- improving
forest management;
- incorporating
the full costs of management and production into
the price of forest products;
- promoting
the highest and best use of forest resources;
- reducing
damage and waste; and
- avoiding
over-consumption and over-harvesting.
FSC
will also provide guidance to policy makers on these issues, including
improving forest management legislation and policies.
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PRINCIPLE
#1: COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND FSC PRINCIPLES
Forest
management shall respect all applicable laws of the country
in which they occur, and international treaties and agreements
to which the country is a signatory, and comply with all
FSC Principles and Criteria.
|
| 1.1 |
Forest
management shall respect all national and local laws and administrative
requirements. |
| 1.2 |
All
applicable and legally prescribed fees, royalties, taxes and
other charges shall be paid. |
| 1.3 |
In
signatory countries, the provisions of all binding international
agreements such as CITES, ILO Conventions, ITTA, and Convention
on Biological Diversity, shall be respected. |
| 1.4 |
Conflicts
between laws, regulations and the FSC Principles and Criteria
shall be evaluated for the purposes of certification, on a
case by case basis, by the certifiers and the involved or
affected parties. |
| 1.5 |
Forest management areas should be protected from illegal harvesting,
settlement and other unauthorized activities. |
| 1.6 |
Forest
managers shall demonstrate a long-term commitment to adhere
to the FSC Principles and Criteria |
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PRINCIPLE
#2: TENURE AND USE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Long-term
tenure and use rights to the land and forest resources shall
be clearly defined, documented and legally established.
|
| 2.1 |
Clear
evidence of long-term forest use rights to the land (e.g.
land title, customary rights, or lease agreements) shall be
demonstrated. |
| 2.2 |
Local
communities with legal or customary tenure or use rights shall
maintain control, to the extent necessary to protect their
rights or resources, over forest operations unless they delegate
control with free and informed consent to other agencies.
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| 2.3 |
Appropriate
mechanisms shall be employed to resolve disputes over tenure
claims and use rights. The circumstances and status
of any outstanding disputes will be explicitly considered
in the certification evaluation. Disputes of substantial
magnitude involving a significant number of interests will
normally disqualify an operation from being certified. |
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PRINCIPLE
#3: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS
The
legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own,
use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall
be recognized and respected.
|
| 3.1 |
Indigenous
peoples shall control forest management on their lands and
territories unless they delegate control with free and informed
consent to other agencies. |
| 3.2 |
Forest
management shall not threaten or diminish, either directly
or indirectly, the resources or tenure rights of indigenous
peoples. |
| 3.3 |
Sites
of special cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance
to indigenous peoples shall be clearly identified in cooperation
with such peoples, and recognized and protected by forest
managers. |
| 3.4 |
Indigenous
peoples shall be compensated for the application of their
traditional knowledge regarding the use of forest species
or management systems in forest operations. This compensation
shall be formally agreed upon with their free and informed
consent before forest operations commence. |
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PRINCIPLE
#4: COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND WORKER'S RIGHTS
Forest
management operations shall maintain or enhance the long-term
social and economic well-being of forest workers and local
communities.
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| 4.1 |
The
communities within, or adjacent to, the forest management
area should be given opportunities for employment, training,
and other services. |
| 4.2 |
Forest
management should meet or exceed all applicable laws and/or
regulations covering health and safety of employees and their
families. |
| 4.3 |
The
rights of workers to organize and voluntarily negotiate with
their employers shall be guaranteed as outlined in Conventions
87 and 98 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
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| 4.4 |
Management
planning and operations shall incorporate the results of evaluations
of social impact. Consultations shall be maintained
with people and groups directly affected by management operations.
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| 4.5 |
Appropriate
mechanisms shall be employed for resolving grievances and
for providing fair compensation in the case of loss or damage
affecting the legal or customary rights, property, resources,
or livelihoods of local peoples. Measures shall be taken
to avoid such loss or damage. |
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PRINCIPLE
# 5: BENEFITS FROM THE FOREST
Forest
management operations shall encourage the efficient use
of the forest's multiple products and services to ensure
economic viability and a wide range of environmental and
social benefits.
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| 5.1 |
Forest management should strive toward economic viability,
while taking into account the full environmental, social,
and operational costs of production, and ensuring the investments
necessary to maintain the ecological productivity of the forest. |
| 5.2 |
Forest
management and marketing operations should encourage the optimal
use and local processing of the forest's diversity of products. |
| 5.3 |
Forest
management should minimize waste associated with harvesting
and on-site processing operations and avoid damage to other
forest resources. |
| 5.4 |
Forest management should strive to strengthen and diversify
the local economy, avoiding dependence on a single forest
product. |
| 5.5 |
Forest
management operations shall recognize, maintain, and, where
appropriate, enhance the value of forest services and resources
such as watersheds and fisheries. |
| 5.6 |
The
rate of harvest of forest products shall not exceed levels
which can be permanently sustained. |
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PRINCIPLE
#6: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Forest
management shall conserve biological diversity and its associated
values, water resources, soils, and unique and fragile ecosystems
and landscapes, and, by so doing, maintain the ecological
functions and the integrity of the forest.
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| 6.1 |
Assessment
of environmental impacts shall be completed -- appropriate
to the scale, intensity of forest management and the uniqueness
of the affected resources -- and adequately integrated into
management systems. Assessments shall include landscape
level considerations as well as the impacts of on-site processing
facilities. Environmental impacts shall be assessed
prior to commencement of site-disturbing operations. |
| 6.2 |
Safeguards
shall exist which protect rare, threatened and endangered
species and their habitats (e.g., nesting and feeding areas).
Conservation zones and protection areas shall be established,
appropriate to the scale and intensity of forest management
and the uniqueness of the affected resources. Inappropriate
hunting, fishing, trapping and collecting shall be controlled.
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| 6.3 |
Ecological
functions and values shall be maintained intact, enhanced,
or restored, including:
a)
Forest regeneration and succession.
b) Genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity.
c) Natural cycles that affect the productivity of the
forest ecosystem.
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| 6.4 |
Representative samples of existing ecosystems within the landscape
shall be protected in their natural state and recorded on
maps, appropriate to the scale and intensity of operations
and the uniqueness of the affected resources. |
| 6.5 |
Written
guidelines shall be prepared and implemented to: control erosion;
minimize forest damage during harvesting, road construction,
and all other mechanical disturbances; and protect water resources.
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| 6.6 |
Management
systems shall promote the development and adoption of environmentally
friendly non-chemical methods of pest management and strive
to avoid the use of chemical pesticides. World Health
Organization Type 1A and 1B and chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides;
pesticides that are persistent, toxic or whose derivatives
remain biologically active and accumulate in the food chain
beyond their intended use; as well as any pesticides banned
by international agreement, shall be prohibited. If
chemicals are used, proper equipment and training shall be
provided to minimize health and environmental risks. |
| 6.7 |
Chemicals,
containers, liquid and solid non-organic wastes including
fuel and oil shall be disposed of in an environmentally appropriate
manner at off-site locations. |
| 6.8 |
Use
of biological control agents shall be documented, minimized,
monitored and strictly controlled in accordance with national
laws and internationally accepted scientific protocols.
Use of genetically modified organisms shall be prohibited.
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| 6.9 |
The
use of exotic species shall be carefully controlled and actively
monitored to avoid adverse ecological impacts. |
| 6.10 |
Forest
conversion to plantations or non-forest land uses shall
not occur, except in circumstances where conversion:
a) entails a very limited portion of the forest management
unit; and
b) does not occur on high conservation value forest areas;
and
c) will enable clear, substantial, additional, secure, long
term conservation benefits across the forest management
unit.
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PRINCIPLE
#7: MANAGEMENT PLAN
A
management plan -- appropriate to the scale and intensity
of the operations -- shall be written, implemented, and
kept up to date. The long term objectives of management,
and the means of achieving them, shall be clearly stated.
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| 7.1 |
The
management plan and supporting documents shall provide:
a)
Management objectives.
b) Description of the forest resources to be managed,
environmental limitations, land use and ownership status,
socio-economic conditions, and a profile of adjacent lands.
c) Description of silvicultural and/or other management
system, based on the ecology of the forest in question
and information gathered through resource inventories.
d) Rationale for rate of annual harvest and species
selection.
e) Provisions for monitoring of forest growth and
dynamics.
f) Environmental safeguards based on environmental
assessments.
g) Plans for the identification and protection of
rare, threatened and endangered species.
h) Maps describing the forest resource base including
protected areas, planned management activities and land
ownership.
i) Description and justification of harvesting techniques
and equipment to be used.
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| 7.2 |
The
management plan shall be periodically revised to incorporate
the results of monitoring or new scientific and technical
information, as well as to respond to changing environmental,
social and economic circumstances. |
| 7.3 |
Forest
workers shall receive adequate training and supervision to
ensure proper implementation of the management plan. |
| 7.4 |
While
respecting the confidentiality of information, forest managers
shall make publicly available a summary of the primary elements
of the management plan, including those listed in Criterion
7.1. |
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PRINCIPLE
#8: MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT
Monitoring
shall be conducted -- appropriate to the scale and intensity
of forest management -- to assess the condition of the forest,
yields of forest products, chain of custody, management
activities and their social and environmental impacts.
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| 8.1 |
The
frequency and intensity of monitoring should be determined
by the scale and intensity of forest management operations
as well as the relative complexity and fragility of the affected
environment. Monitoring procedures should be consistent
and replicable over time to allow comparison of results and
assessment of change. |
| 8.2 |
Forest
management should include the research and data collection
needed to monitor, at a minimum, the following indicators:
a)
Yield of all forest products harvested.
b) Growth rates, regeneration and condition of the forest.
c) Composition and observed changes in the flora and fauna.
d) Environmental and social impacts of harvesting and
other operations.
e) Costs, productivity, and efficiency of forest management.
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| 8.3 |
Documentation
shall be provided by the forest manager to enable monitoring
and certifying organizations to trace each forest product
from its origin, a process known as the "chain of custody."
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| 8.4 |
The
results of monitoring shall be incorporated into the implementation
and revision of the management plan. |
| 8.5 |
While
respecting the confidentiality of information, forest managers
shall make publicly available a summary of the results of
monitoring indicators, including those listed in Criterion
8.2. |
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PRINCIPLE
9: MAINTENANCE OF HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE FORESTS
Management
activities in high conservation value forests shall maintain
or enhance the attributes which define such forests.
Decisions regarding high conservation value forests shall
always be considered in the context of a precautionary approach.
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| 9.1 |
Assessment
to determine the presence of the attributes consistent with
High Conservation Value Forests will be completed, appropriate
to scale and intensity of forest management. |
| 9.2 |
The
consultative portion of the certification process must place
emphasis on the identified conservation attributes, and options
for the maintenance thereof. |
| 9.3 |
The
management plan shall include and implement specific measures
that ensure the maintenance and/or enhancement of the applicable
conservation attributes consistent with the precautionary
approach. These measures shall be specifically included
in the publicly available management plan summary. |
| 9.4 |
Annual
monitoring shall be conducted to assess the effectiveness
of the measures employed to maintain or enhance the applicable
conservation attributes. |
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PRINCIPLE
# 10: PLANTATIONS
Plantations
shall be planned and managed in accordance with Principles
and Criteria 1 - 9, and Principle 10 and its Criteria. While
plantations can provide an array of social and economic
benefits, and can contribute to satisfying the world's needs
for forest products, they should complement the management
of, reduce pressures on, and promote the restoration and
conservation of natural forests.
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| 10.1 |
The
management objectives of the plantation, including natural
forest conservation and restoration objectives, shall be explicitly
stated in the management plan, and clearly demonstrated in
the implementation of the plan. |
| 10.2 |
The
design and layout of plantations should promote the protection,
restoration and conservation of natural forests, and not increase
pressures on natural forests. Wildlife corridors, streamside
zones and a mosaic of stands of different ages and rotation
periods, shall be used in the layout of the plantation, consistent
with the scale of the operation. The scale and layout
of plantation blocks shall be consistent with the patterns
of forest stands found within the natural landscape. |
| 10.3 |
Diversity
in the composition of plantations is preferred, so as to enhance
economic, ecological and social stability. Such diversity
may include the size and spatial distribution of management
units within the landscape, number and genetic composition
of species, age classes and structures. |
| 10.4 |
The
selection of species for planting shall be based on their
overall suitability for the site and their appropriateness
to the management objectives. In order to enhance the conservation
of biological diversity, native species are preferred over
exotic species in the establishment of plantations and the
restoration of degraded ecosystems. Exotic species,
which shall be used only when their performance is greater
than that of native species, shall be carefully monitored
to detect unusual mortality, disease, or insect outbreaks
and adverse ecological impacts. |
| 10.5 |
A
proportion of the overall forest management area, appropriate
to the scale of the plantation and to be determined in regional
standards, shall be managed so as to restore the site to a
natural forest cover. |
| 10.6 |
Measures
shall be taken to maintain or improve soil structure, fertility,
and biological activity. The techniques and rate of harvesting,
road and trail construction and maintenance, and the choice
of species shall not result in long term soil degradation
or adverse impacts on water quality, quantity or substantial
deviation from stream course drainage patterns. |
| 10.7 |
Measures
shall be taken to prevent and minimize outbreaks of pests,
diseases, fire and invasive plant introductions. Integrated
pest management shall form an essential part of the management
plan, with primary reliance on prevention and biological control
methods rather than chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Plantation
management should make every effort to move away from chemical
pesticides and fertilizers, including their use in nurseries.
The use of chemicals is also covered in Criteria 6.6 and 6.7. |
| 10.8 |
Appropriate
to the scale and diversity of the operation, monitoring of
plantations shall include regular assessment of potential
on-site and off-site ecological and social impacts, (e.g.
natural regeneration, effects on water resources and soil
fertility, and impacts on local welfare and social well-being),
in addition to those elements addressed in principles 8, 6
and 4. No species should be planted on a large scale
until local trials and/or experience have shown that they
are ecologically well-adapted to the site, are not invasive,
and do not have significant negative ecological impacts on
other ecosystems. Special attention will be paid to social
issues of land acquisition for plantations, especially the
protection of local rights of ownership, use or access. |
| 10.9 |
Plantations
established in areas converted from natural forests after
November 1994 normally shall not qualify for certification.
Certification may be allowed in circumstances where sufficient
evidence is submitted to the certification body that the manager/owner
is not responsible directly or indirectly of such conversion. |
The
FSC Founding Members and Board of Directors ratified principles
1-9 in September 1994.
The FSC Members and Board of Directors ratified principle 10 in
February 1996.
The revision of Principle 9 and the addition of Criteria 6.10
and 10.9 were ratified by the FSC Members and Board of Directors
in January 1999.
The definition of Precautionary Approach was ratified during the
1999 FSC General Assembly in June 1999.
GLOSSARY
Words
in this document are used as defined in most standard English
language dictionaries. The precise meaning and local interpretation
of certain phrases (such as local communities) should be decided
in the local context by forest managers and certifiers. In this
document, the words below are understood as follows:
Biological
diversity: The variability among living organisms from
all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other
aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they
are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species
and of ecosystems. (see Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992)
Biological
diversity values: The intrinsic, ecological, genetic,
social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational
and aesthetic values of biological diversity and its components.
(see Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992)
Biological
control agents: Living organisms used to eliminate or
regulate the population of other living organisms.
Chain
of custody: The channel through which products are distributed
from their origin in the forest to their end-use.
Chemicals:
The range of fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, and hormones
which are used in forest management.
Criterion
(pl. Criteria): A means of judging whether or not
a Principle (of forest stewardship) has been fulfilled.
Customary
rights: Rights which result from a long series of habitual
or customary actions, constantly repeated, which have, by such
repetition and by uninterrupted acquiescence, acquired the force
of a law within a geographical or sociological unit.
Ecosystem:
A community of all plants and animals and their physical environment,
functioning together as an interdependent unit.
Endangered
species: Any species which is in danger of extinction throughout
all or a significant portion of its range.
Exotic
species: An introduced species not native or endemic to the
area in question.
Forest
integrity: The composition, dynamics, functions and
structural attributes of a natural forest.
Forest
management/manager: The people responsible for the operational
management of the forest resource and of the enterprise, as well
as the management system and structure, and the planning and field
operations.
Genetically
modified organisms: Biological organisms which have
been induced by various means to consist of genetic structural
changes.
Indigenous
lands and territories: The total environment of the
lands, air, water, sea, sea-ice, flora and fauna, and other resources
which indigenous peoples have traditionally owned or otherwise
occupied or used. (Draft Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples: Part VI)
Indigenous peoples: "The existing descendants of the peoples
who inhabited the present territory of a country wholly or partially
at the time when persons of a different culture or ethnic origin
arrived there from other parts of the world, overcame them and,
by conquest, settlement, or other means reduced them to a non-dominant
or colonial situation; who today live more in conformity with
their particular social, economic and cultural customs and traditions
than with the institutions of the country of which they now form
a part, under State structure which incorporates mainly the national,
social and cultural characteristics of other segments of the population
which are predominant." (Working definition adopted
by the UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples).
High
Conservation Value Forests: High Conservation Value Forests
are those that possess one or more of the following attributes:
a)
forest areas containing globally, regionally or nationally significant
:
concentrations of biodiversity values (e.g. endemism, endangered
species, refugia); and/or
large landscape level forests, contained within, or containing
the management unit, where viable populations of most if not
all naturally occurring species exist in natural patterns of
distribution and abundance
b) forest areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangered
ecosystems
c) forest areas that provide basic services of nature in critical
situations (e.g. watershed protection, erosion control)
d) forest areas fundamental to meeting basic needs of local
communities (e.g. subsistence, health) and/or critical to local
communities’ traditional cultural identity (areas
of cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance
identified in cooperation with such local communities).
Landscape:
A geographical mosaic composed of interacting ecosystems resulting
from the influence of geological, topographical, soil, climatic,
biotic and human interactions in a given area.
Local
laws: Includes all legal norms given by organisms of government
whose jurisdiction is less than the national level, such as departmental,
municipal and customary norms.
Long
term: The time-scale of the forest owner or manager
as manifested by the objectives of the management plan, the rate
of harvesting, and the commitment to maintain permanent forest
cover. The length of time involved will vary according to
the context and ecological conditions, and will be a function
of how long it takes a given ecosystem to recover its natural
structure and composition following harvesting or disturbance,
or to produce mature or primary conditions.
Native
species: A species that occurs naturally in the region; endemic
to the area.
Natural
cycles: Nutrient and mineral cycling as a result of interactions
between soils, water, plants, and animals in forest environments
that affect the ecological productivity of a given site.
Natural
Forest: Forest areas where many of the principal characteristics
and key elements of native ecosystems such as complexity, structure
and diversity are present, as defined by FSC approved national
and regional standards of forest management.
Non-timber
forest products: All forest products except timber, including
other materials obtained from trees such as resins and leaves,
as well as any other plant and animal products.
Other
forest types: Forest areas that do not fit the criteria for
plantation or natural forests and which are defined more specifically
by FSC-approved national and regional standards of forest stewardship.
Plantation:
Forest areas lacking most of the principal characteristics and
key elements of native ecosystems as defined by FSC-approved national
and regional standards of forest stewardship, which result from
the human activities of either planting, sowing or intensive silvicultural
treatments.
Precautionary
approach: Tool for the implementation of the precautionary
principle.
Principle:
An essential rule or element; in FSC's case, of forest stewardship.
Silviculture:
The art of producing and tending a forest by manipulating its
establishment, composition and growth to best fulfil the objectives
of the owner. This may, or may not, include timber production.
Succession:
Progressive changes in species composition and forest community
structure caused by natural processes (nonhuman) over time.
Tenure:
Socially defined agreements held by individuals or groups, recognized
by legal statutes or customary practice, regarding the "bundle
of rights and duties" of ownership, holding, access and/or
usage of a particular land unit or the associated resources there
within (such as individual trees, plant species, water, minerals,
etc).
Threatened
species: Any species which is likely to become endangered
within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant
portion of its range.
Use
rights: Rights for the use of forest resources that can be
defined by local custom, mutual agreements, or prescribed by other
entities holding access rights. These rights may restrict the
use of particular resources to specific levels of consumption
or particular harvesting techniques.
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