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Modular approach to forest certification – the smart way
28 June 2011
The fundamental principles for good forest management, the global Principles & Criteria (P&C) were heavily debated among FSC’s members over the weekend. A key issue of concern was whether they resulted in reduced access for smallholders and the forests of the South. FSC’s Systems Integrity Director Phil Guillery informed an engaged audience on FSC’s plans to move ahead with its Modular Approach Program (MAP), launched in draft format last year.
The idea of the Modular Approach Program is to offer an incentive for forest operations engaging on the pathway towards full FSC certification, through recognition of steps along the road combined with requirement to move forward within a certain time frame. Several organizations have developed similar approaches, but a global framework is lacking.
When and how to allow claims
What should be set as the minimum level for MAP recognition? “Our current thinking is that legality assurance is a good starting point”, Mr. Guillery told the audience.
“However, legality is not enough to merit recognition by itself; we are considering a “legality” concept where MAP participants also need to fulfil additional social or environmental criteria which are yet to be defined”.
A related question is what kind of claims should be allowed. “One extreme is ‘no claims at all’, and the other is to permit on-product labelling”, said Phil Guillery. Consulted stakeholders had warned against yet another consumer label, and the business response had shown a preference for including such info in their CSR reports or in B2B communication.
Securing timber legality
“We are exploring whether MAP could be a way to secure compliance with the
EU Timber Regulation and other national legislation on timber legality”, said Mr. Guillery. He highlighted the inherent risk that such assurance might be a stopping point, offering too little incentive for participants to progress towards full FSC certification. The concern that MAP might end up competing with full FSC certification was raised by stakeholders present at the meeting as well.
Richard Donovan, Vice President of Forestry at the Rainforest Alliance, commented: “At the Rainforest Alliance, we were initially concerned that forest operations participating in legality verification or controlled wood certification would stall and be stuck rather than move forward with FSC certification. But that hasn’t happened”.
Financing MAP: innovative approaches
FSC is also looking into securing a financial basis for the MAP. FSC has engaged with the sustainability team of PriceWaterHouseCoopers in Germany, to develop a business model for the financing of MAP.
It is collaborating with several partners (BeCitizen, Rothschild group, Casse des Dèpôts) to develop an innovative financial reward mechanism for forest owners: The GreenChip concept, designed to work with MAP. This involves the issuing of ‘GreenChips’to producers or premiums, which increase the closer the operation gets towards fulfilling the FSC requirements.
The basis for GreenChips issuing is not yet defined but could be related to an operation’s harvest volume or forest area.
The overall idea was well received by the audience, however some points were raised. Would there be potential risks for the FSC system’s integrity involved? For example, would those companies using the claims be covered by the Policy of Association? Participants asked. Some called for a broader approach to the GreenChip approach by applying recognition to ecosystem services and NTFPs, in addition to timber.
The anticipated timeline for finalising the standard is end of this year.
Throughout this article we have used the abbreviation MAP for the program; but the FSC team developing these concepts would prefer to invent a new name. One snappy suggestion coming from the audience was “1-2-3 – FSC!” Probably the MAP, whatever its final name will be, will not provide for ‘snappy solutions’; but this initiative by FSC could result in real solutions to a real challenge: how to move FSC forward in a world where many forest owners face huge challenges to enter on board.
Related articles:
Andre de Freitas: Integrity remains our top priority (27/06 2011)
FSC Principles & Criteria review: for better or for worse? (27/06 2011)
Small but essential (27/06 2011)
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