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forest certification in estonia
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Table 4 Main discussion topics in Estonian NWGFC (after Tonisson 2000 and Kuuba 2004).
Issue Arguments Arguments
Pro
Con
Spring truce – ban – no disturbance to nesting birds; – difficult for forest industry as
logging in breeding – protection of forest soil and it represents significant
season (spring- undergrowth, mosses, berries; share of total felling;
summer) – avoidance of severe damage – reduced income of forest
to roots and mycorrhiza;
owners and foresters.
– reduced erosion;
– reduced spread of disease and
pests;
– higher quality of timber.
Ban on – wetlands have high conservation – many private forests are
amelioration of value; located on less productive
wetland forests – amelioration systems affect wetlands which could be
natural functioning of forest more productive after land
ecosystems;
improvement.
– amelioration systems affect
ecosystems in natural water
bodies;
– economic effect is negative
since growing cycle of trees is
too long in Estonia.
Limiting clear cut – ecological and sustainable – clear cutting is economically
management management is free of clear cuts. more beneficial;
– Estonian forest unit and clearcut
site is very small.
No introduced – sustainable forestry has to be – there is need for introduced
species, herbicides, managed without them. species because of forestry
pesticides
traditions and landscaping;
– pesticides and herbicides can
be used to prevent huge
damage.
the reaction to certification
Forest Policy Community and Stakeholders
None of the certification schemes had direct opponents. Work on the national sustainable
forestry standard was begun jointly, and this cooperation helped to ease later
conflicts as teams developing FSC and PEFC certification schemes worked separately.
Supporters and skeptics of FSC and PEFC certification schemes had conflicting
opinions. While environmental NGOs supported the FSC and were skeptical of the
PEFC, the majority of forest owners and the timber industry were skeptical of the FSC
and backed the PEFC. Most of the timber industry companies that have FSC CoC
certificates have pursued it due to direct requirements of customers (Feilberg 2004).
yale school of forestry & environmental studies