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

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forest certification in developing and transitioning countries
Greater Understanding of Forest Management Issues
Certification has raised the understanding of the significance and implications of forest
management. Both the certification and standards development processes have
offered discussion fora, enabling a variety of actors to become informed and enrich
their understanding of good forest management.
Social Effects
Improved Health and Labor Security
Certification has had a positive effect regarding health and safety, especially during
harvesting operations, which are considered the potentially most hazardous activities.
Improvements were made in three main aspects:
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Use of safety equipment. Before becoming certified, forest workers often
had inadequate footwear, clothing, or protective headwear. Through certification,
the use of minimum safety equipment became mandatory.
Availability of first-aid kits in logging camps. The vast majority of logging
camps had no first aid kits or basic medicine available in the event of accidents
or common illnesses. The certification standard required this equipment
be available and personnel be trained in basic first aid techniques.
Life insurance. To protect the security of workers and their families, certification
standards require that the forest workers be covered by some system
of insurance, at least during the period of forest harvesting. While
Guatemala’s social security system is not ideal, by law it is mandatory for
all enterprises with more than five workers to be affiliated with it.
Additionally, the assessed operation can consider a private scheme or the
creation of a contingency fund by the community enterprise itself.
Improvements in working conditions. Certification has had a positive
impact on working conditions, in particular regarding:
Improvements in camp conditions. One of the most important discernable
impacts brought about by certification has been the improvement of
logging camps. This is a prominent example of low-cost improvements
induced by the conditions imposed through the certification process. In
most cases improved spatial arrangements of the camps, including the
establishment of latrines and the spatial segregation of dining space and
minimally comfortable sleeping quarters, can make a significant
difference.
Labor contracts. Before certification, many enterprises informally contracted
their workforce. The certification standard requires formal labor contracts
between employer and employees, irrespective of the communal or
private nature of the operation. This resulted in fairer payments, access to
credit, and other social benefits as stipulated by the law.
yale school of forestry & environmental studies