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

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forest certification in developing and transitioning countries
Certification soon became a question of prestige for both the community groups and
the NGOs supporting them. Due to the large areas of the first concessions to be
certified, varying between 7,000 and 53,000 hectares, Guatemala temporarily
harbored the world’s largest area of certified community forests. Once the mandatory
certification regulation was approved, the number of assessments rose concomitantly
with an increasing understanding of the different aspects of sustainable forest
management and certification by technical personnel in NGOs and government
agencies.
The industrial concessions took their time to become certified as they were not
clear about the process and not least because they needed to become certified only
within three years of formalizing the concession contract. Nonetheless, their principal
concern was related to the transition from a conventional exploitation system to
sustainable forest management with its economic, social and environmental implications.
Institutional Design
Guatemalan National Council of Forest Management Standards (CONESFORGUA)
11 CONESFORGUA has established
its administrative
headquarters at the Chamber
of Industry in Guatemala City
and maintains a technical
office in INAB. Its current
members include representatives
from INAB, CONAP,
Gremial Forestal (Forestry
Board), the Forestry Chamber,
the Dutch-funded PROCUCH
project and NPV, among others.
CONESFORGUA is yet to
be endorsed by FSC.
12 Central American government
initiative to formulate
regional criteria and indicators
for sustainable forest
use.
The forest certification process in Guatemala has largely been a result of successful
campaigning by development projects and NGOs seeking to provide an impetus to
sustainable forest management in Petén. Despite the unique stipulation of mandatory
certification in the MUZ of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, the FSC has played a
rather passive role in the process to date. It may therefore not come as a surprise that
it was not until 2002 that the Guatemalan National Council of Forest Management
Standards (CONESFORGUA) 11 was formally set up to define the national forest management
standards and that, as of mid 2004, it has not been endorsed as a national
initiative by FSC.
The emergence of CONESFORGUA needs to be seen in the context of recent
changes in Guatemala’s forest policy. The formulation of the national forest action
plan (PAF-G) in 2000 required that relevant government agencies, such as the
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) and in particular the National
Forestry Institute (INAB), provide a clear strategy for the sustainable management of
the country's forest resources. This action plan would provide the basis for a working
group established to develop national standards. During the initial stages, there was
some doubt as to whether these should follow the stipulations of the Lepaterique
Process 12 or the FSC system. Following a series of consultations, it was agreed to opt
for the FSC system, taking into account its predominance throughout Latin America,
a factor believed to greatly facilitate its adoption.
Due to slow progress, the development of national standards was commissioned to
a national council in 2001. But it was not until 2002 that it became formalized as the
Guatemalan National Council of Forest Management Standards (CONESFORGUA).
In 2003, CONESFORGUA carried out a series of consultations throughout the
country to define the criteria for creating the social, environmental and economic
chambers of the national initiative. At present, CONESFORGUA is working jointly
yale school of forestry & environmental studies