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

forest certification in guatemala
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those responsible for forest fires, organization of brigades, fire fighting strategies,
training of personnel, and acquisition of equipment.
More Efficient and Integrated Management of Forest Resources
Certification has promoted the use of forest residues and the integration of NTFPs in
some forest management plans. Most concessions, however, still rely on the
extraction of only a few commercial tree species.
Improvements in Annual Operational Plans
Certification required the hiring of resource managers, the installation of offices to
administer forestry operations, the use of technical documents, and capacitybuilding
in forest management.
conclusion
Summary
Certification in Guatemala emerged as a result of the forest concession process in the
Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR). The main factors promoting certification were 1) the
existence of relatively large and technically well-managed management units with
technical assistance from NGOs; 2) the financial support provided by international
donor agencies to finance the certification process; and 3) the government’s decision
to make certification mandatory for concessions in the MBR. Most of the positive and
negative impacts of forest certification therefore apply to the Petén region of
Guatemala, and not the country as a whole.
Certification of the first management units improved the overall understanding of
the process and helped with the replication of the experience in community areas
where certification was voluntary and where technical and financial assistance from
donor agencies facilitated its adoption. Certification soon became a question of status
for the NGOs or projects and the community groups involved.
The industrial concessions, as well as those communities with a greater
entrepreneurial vision and endowed with larger volumes of high-value timber
species, will continue to be committed to certification even if mandatory certification
should be suspended. However, communities with fewer advances towards
sustainable forest management rather view certification as a burden, particularly as
they are increasingly required to absorb the associated costs. It is especially here
where unfulfilled price premium expectations, nurtured for many years by NGOs,
development projects and certification bodies alike, have turned into a disincentive to
continued certification.
The principal positive impacts brought about by certification include:
1) prestige and security in the process of concession granting in the MBR
and forest management in general (e.g. national and international
prizes awarded);
yale school of forestry & environmental studies