Sustainable Forest Finance Toolkit - PwC

Certification briefing note 7 of 7New Application HOME‘Stepwise’ approaches to certificationMany forests do not meet the standards of sustainable forestmanagement, and considerable efforts are required toimprove them. The process to achieve full certification canbe challenging, long and complex, particularly wherefinancial and staff resources are limited.A stepwise approach breaks down the certification processinto smaller, more manageable phases. Step-by-stepapplication of sustainable forest management standardsallows limited resources to be placed on incremental andfocused improvements. It facilitates progress towardscertification, and is also easier to evaluate progress. It alsogenerates economic benefits by providing a differentiator forproducts from forests moving towards certification,compared to those managed unsustainably.Stepwise approaches involve a gap assessment of the forestconcession, the creation of annual plans and targets andregular progress audits towards targets and, ultimately,certification.One example of such an approach is Rainforest Alliance’sSmartStep. Forests in the SmartStep programme createstep-by-step targets and are audited for up to five years onprogress, working towards FSC certification. Similarprogrammes are operated by GFTN and the Tropical ForestTrust.Key due diligence questions oncertification• Has the company developed a policy on certification (e.g.accelerating certification efforts in high-risk regions)?• Is the company’s forest land certified to an internationallyrecognised standard, or is the company on a crediblepath to certification?• Does the company have targets around purchasingcertified wood and paper products?Page 48pwc