Forest Management Certification Assessment Report for - Rainforest ...

P7: ManagementPlanP8: Monitoring& AssessmentP9: Maintenanceof HighConservationbudgets.• No chemical use in forestmanagement. Chemical use forweed control is very small anddirected to invasive (non-native)plants.• No prohibited chemicals used in offsitetree nursery.• No exotic species or GMOs.• SFMP is an excellent document, andmeets the FSC standard with only afew exceptions.• Public comments on the SFMP weresolicited through questionnaires.• Exceptional training related to safetyand most environmental aspects ofthe SFMP.• Active and broad company-wideprogram of ongoing operationalmonitoring.• Recent Sustainability Reports are anexceptional step towards a completemonitoring program, though Tembecrecognizes some details are yet to bedeveloped.• Tembec’s current procedures willallow chain of custody requirementsto be met.• Monitoring reports are availableupon request.• Substantial amount of work on avery thorough HCV assessment andit is almost been completed.mountain pine beetle attack. There ispublic concern about the extent ofrecent harvesting in some watersheds.(Pre-condition 1/06 and CAR 18/06).• Tembec has not implemented theRiparian assessment and variablereserve width approach at the watershedunit level. (CAR 19/06).• The SFMP needs to describe HCVFattributes, but HCVF areas have not yetbeen finalized. (CAR 23/06).• The SFMP does not establishmanagement objectives specifically formountain pine beetle management atlandscape levels. This is the dominantmanagement factor at the moment. It isnot clear how other managementobjectives and strategies for otherforest values set out in the SFMP willbe addressed as operational harvestingactivities focus on mountain pinebeetle. There is public concern aboutthe rationale for harvesting “susceptibleforest types” and other issues related tothe pine beetle. (Pre-condition 2/06).• Some staff are not aware of somecomponents of the SFMP, corporatepolicy and the FSC BC Standardrelated to First Nations and socialcommitments. (CAR 20/06).• Reduced staffing is making it difficultfor Tembec staff to adequatelysupervise the implementation of theSFMP. (Observation 7.3).• Several aspects of the monitoringprogram need to be developed to fullymeet the standard (CARs 21/06 and22/06).• It is not widely known that Tembecprepares annual monitoring reports orthat these reports are publicly available.(Observation 8.5.1).• The HCVF assessment process was notcomplete at the time of the FSCAssessment. (Pre-condition 3/06 andPage 37 of 89