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

forest certification in indonesia
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conclusion
Summary
There are two forces driving forest certification in Indonesia. First, there is the
international pressure of the market place, with consumers reacting to destructive
forestry practices by supporting import bans or boycotts and/or requesting that wood
products be certified to the importing country standard. Second, there is domestic
pressure, which is demanding that government and forest companies improve
forestry practices and policy and promote certification as a tool for change. Because
of the unique forestry context, certification is not designed solely to meet market
demand and policy change will be required for certification to be effective.
Recognising this, supporters of certification are promoting it as a tool to advocate for
policy change in forestry sector.
For example, TNC and WWF Indonesia have developed a program to support
certification and combat illegal logging, and the Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF) is
working with Forum International, the Tropical Forest Trust (TFT), and PENSA-IFC
(Pengembangan Usaha, Program for Eastern Indonesia Small and Medium Enterprise
Assistance, the International Finance Corporation) to develop certification support
programs. International buyers are working with forest management units (both
forest concessions and community forestry groups) to facilitate certification and get
certified wood. Meanwhile LEI is preparing itself to become a constituent-based
organization (CBO) to make it a more effective and legitimate accreditation body in
Indonesia.
Roadblocks and Challenges
Disputes over forestland tenure, unsustainable forest management and un-conducive
forest management policy have been Indonesia’s major forestry problems. These are
made worse by political, economic and social disruption, which have placed the
efforts of sustainable forest management certification at a critical stage
(Kartodihardjo 2003). In addition, there have been distractions related to the implementation
of regional autonomy, which has led to disputes between regional and central
governments over forest management authority.
Certification’s arrival in Indonesia is to be credited to the establishment of LEI. For
the last ten years, LEI has contributed significantly to public awareness and understanding
of forest certification. Certification is now the concern of certifying bodies,
companies under assessment and assessors, NGOs, local communities around the
forest area under certification assessment, and other individuals who are involved in
the assessment process or sustainable forest management issues. Meanwhile, the FSCaccredited
certifying bodies operating in Indonesia (SmartWood, and SGS Qualifor
until 2003) view Indonesia as an important market for their services but could not
expect many applicants because in reality there are not many good forest management
companies, not to mention the social and policy environment around forestry
sector.
yale school of forestry & environmental studies