Forest Certification in Developing and Transitioning ... - UTas ePrints

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forest certification in developing and transitioning countries
In Bolivia, all natural forests ultimately belong to the government; the state grants
commercial harvesting rights to four main groups (long-term contracts are not
granted any longer) in accordance with the Forestry Law (Table 1). All groups are
required to have a forest management plan approved by the Forest Service.
Table 1 Forest Bolivian rights granted (as of December 2003)
Type of Right Quantity Area (ha)
Forest Concessions 78 5,091,087
Local Social Associations (ASL) 19 531,161
Indigenous Lands (TCO) 23 560,273
Private lands above 200 ha 128 739,121
Private lands equal or below 200 ha 649 78,803
Long-term contracts 2 225,400
Total 899 7,225,844
Source: Superintendencia Forestal, 2003, data not published
Forest Concessionaries and the Timber Industry
This sector includes companies with large areas (average of 65,000 hectares per
concession). The government grants these companies 40-year concessions, which are
renewable every five years after a technical audit. If the operation is certified in
accordance with an international system (such as FSC), it does not need to pass a
government audit and contract renewal occurs automatically.
With the new forestry regime, companies could choose to convert their long-term
harvesting contracts to the system of forest concessions or to maintain their contracts
as granted by the old forestry law. Long-term contracts provided the legal means to
grant rights to those industries that preferred not to use the concession scheme.
Today, there are only two long-term contacts left (Table 1). New concessions are supposed
to be granted through international auctions (although none has been held
yet).
In general, forest concessionaries are vertically integrated and carry out all of the
processes in the production chain: forest management, logging, primary and secondary
transformation, and national and international commercialization. However, the
timber industry is poorly diversified; most timber products are solid wood (Castello
and Roca 2002). The timber industry produces mainly furniture, flooring, doors,
laminates and other products such as sawn timber, veneer, plywood and particle
board.
Secondary transformation of timber is essentially concentrated in this part of the
forest sector, as firms have more financial resources, technology and experience than
other segments of the sector. With the exception of one, all companies are national.
Most timber companies are part of the Camara Forestal de Bolivia-CFB, or Bolivian
Forestry Chamber.
yale school of forestry & environmental studies