Forest Management Certification Assessment Report for - Rainforest ...

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Pre-condition #:1/06Non-conformance:Major MinorCorrective Action Request:Reference Standard #: 6.5.8Description of non-conformance: Tembec does not have a complete andup-to-date assessment of the Equivalent Clearcut Area in each watershed,and has not identified measures to be taken in watersheds where the ECAexceeds 25%. The team concluded that this is a significant piece ofinformation that is needed to ensure that Indicator 6.5.8 is met, especiallygiven the current situation in which logging is proceeding rapidly insome watersheds in response to the mountain pine beetle and is a majornon-conformance.Tembec shall complete a summary of the current Equivalent Clearcut Area status in allwatersheds in which Tembec has current logging operations, and all watersheds in which itplans to operate in 2007, and shall identify the measures to be taken in any watersheds thatexceed, or that are planned to exceed, 25% ECA.Timeline for Conformance: Prior to certificationAudit findings: Tembec submitted two pieces of information to address this Pre- condition.The first was a report providing Equivalent Clearcut Areas (ECA) for 22 Riparian AssessmentUnits (also called riparian watersheds) within the operating areas of Tembec’s two forestlicences. A map of each watershed was attached to the report. This report indicates that 2 ofTembec’s units marginally exceed an ECA of 25%, (26.5% and 28.4%). Tembec made awritten commitment to engage a qualified registered professional to undertake a Peak FlowSensitivity Assessment as described in the “hydrological strategy” in the Sustainable ForestManagement Plan (SFMP, Sept 2005) and to develop management strategies for these areasthat are consistent with the SFMP, and the Mountain Pine Beetle Operational Plan describedbelow.The identification of the 22 riparian assessment units is a useful step in integrating theequivalent clearcut area concerns with the requirements (CAR 19/06) to develop riparianassessments to meet Indicator 6.5 bis in the BC standard. However, these Riparian AssessmentUnits include a number of individual discrete watersheds within them (called sub-units) andreflect a grouping of the individual watersheds into the Riparian Assessment Unit rather thanactual individual watersheds. ECAs are required for the sub-unit watersheds in order to meetIndicator 6.5.8. Thus, the team requested Tembec to prepare an additional analysis identifyingECAs at the watershed, or sub-unit level, and specifically for the watersheds where Tembec hadoperations planned in 2006-2007.Tembec then prepared a table showing the ECA status (in %) for 44 individual sub-unitwatersheds in which Tembec has operations or plans operations in 2006 and 2007. Thesewatersheds are within 14 of the 22 Riparian Assessment Units. This table also shows whetherhydrological assessments have been completed within these watersheds. The team confirmedthat there are no operations planned, at present, within any watersheds within any of the otherPage 74 of 89
Riparian Assessment Units in the operating areas of the licence. Thus, with this table, Tembechas met the requirement of the first part of the Pre-condition to provide a summary of the ECAstatus of its watersheds with active logging operations.In addition to the ECA tables and completed hydrological assessments for many of thewatersheds, Tembec also developed a specific “Mountain Pine Beetle Management Strategy forwatersheds with Hydrological Concerns” as part of the Mountain Pine Beetle Operational Plandescribed in Precondition 02/06 below and has made commitments to follow this strategy,consistent with its SFMP.The ECA summary table indicates that 12 watersheds (out of the 44) exceed the 25% ECAthreshold established in Indicator 6.5.8. In 6 of these watersheds, Tembec has had ahydrological assessment completed by a qualified professional and told the team that it isfollowing the recommendations of that assessment report. Thus, although the ECAs exceedthe 25% threshold, Tembec is meeting Indicator 6.5.8 by following the recommendations of ahydrological assessment. One watershed is too small to require an assessment. Tembec madea commitment to continue to follow these recommendations in any new blocks logged in thesewatersheds in response to the mountain pine beetle.There are 5 watersheds - the Yahk River (in Gilnockie RAU), Hawkins Face and Yahk Face(in Little Moyie RAU), Hodge (in Matthew RAU) and Carroll (in Russell RAU) where theECA exceeds 25%, and where hydrological assessments had not been completed at the time ofthis report. Tembec is actively conducing Peak Flow Sensitivity analyses for some of theseareas at present. Tembec made a commitment to the team that they will not undertake anynew harvesting operations beyond the operations already underway or approved in existingcutting permits in the latter 4 of these watersheds until a hydrological assessment is completed.In the Yahk River, there are special circumstances related to some blocks approved in a forestdevelopment plan, but not currently approved in a cutting permit. However, Tembec told theteam that the ECA calculation for the Yahk River unit is current to 2006 and includes all areasplanned for harvest under the approved forest development plan. Thus, operations in newcutting permit areas will be part of the approved forest development plan areas and will notincrease the ECA beyond the currently calculated 25.3%. Thus the team does not considerthese as “new areas” in the sense that they have already been accounted for.The team concluded that the management strategies outlined in the SFMP and Mountain PineBeetle operational plan, and the commitment to either following the recommendations ofhydrological assessments, or not to undertake new harvest in any watersheds without anassessment, in all the watersheds that exceed 25%, meets the second requirement of the Preconditionto identify the measures to be taken in any watersheds that exceed, or that are plannedto exceed, 25% ECATherefore, the team concluded that Tembec has met the requirements of this Pre-condition. Theteam did not verify any information in the field and accepts Tembec’s commitment toundertake hydrological assessments prior to commencing operations in any new (not currentlyapproved areas) within the watersheds that exceed the 25% threshold as required by theIndicator. The completion of the hydrological assessments should be verified in the nextPage 75 of 89
Page 1 and 2:
Certified by:SmartWood Headquarters
Page 3 and 4:
MWLAP Ministry of Water, Land and A
Page 5 and 6:
1. Scope of the Certificate1.1. Sco
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2. ASSESSMENT PROCESS2.1 Certificat
Page 9 and 10:
December 1-Jan 31,2006June 9, 2006
Page 11 and 12:
The First Nations assessor (TL) wro
Page 13 and 14:
During the assessment period, the a
Page 15 and 16:
3. ASSESSMENT FINDINGS AND OBSERVAT
Page 17 and 18:
FSC PrincipleP3 - IndigenousPeoples
Page 19 and 20:
FSC PrincipleP4: CommunityRelations
Page 21 and 22:
FSC PrincipleP4: CommunityRelations
Page 23 and 24: FSC PrincipleComments from Interest
Page 25 and 26: FSC PrincipleP5: Benefits fromthe F
Page 27 and 28: FSC PrincipleP6: EnvironmentalImpac
Page 29 and 30: FSC PrincipleP6: EnvironmentalImpac
Page 31 and 32: FSC PrincipleP7: ManagementPlanP7:
Page 33 and 34: P10 - Plantations • Clearcut harv
Page 35 and 36: P5: Benefits fromthe Forestapproach
Page 37 and 38: P7: ManagementPlanP8: Monitoring& A
Page 39 and 40: Tembec shall complete a summary of
Page 41 and 42: CAR #: 6/06 Reference Standard #: 3
Page 43 and 44: CAR #: 11/06 Reference Standard #:
Page 47 and 48: c) Clearly describes how monitoring
Page 49 and 50: In cases where the non-conformance
Page 51 and 52: Note for Future Annual Audits (Note
Page 53 and 54: planning processes to resolve confl
Page 55 and 56: Sparwood and Creston - and a number
Page 57: APPENDIX I: FSC Reporting Form: Det
Page 60 and 61: Government determines AAC, followin
Page 62 and 63: to local communities’ traditional
Page 64 and 65: 3 A19040 Fairy TBD3 A19040 Fernie A
Page 66 and 67: system category.Shelterwood systems
Page 68 and 69: Environmental protection measures,
Page 70 and 71: Forest Licence A20212: Harvesting m
Page 72 and 73: 1. AUDIT PROCESS1.1 Auditors and qu
Page 76 and 77: annual audit.Status: Met and Closed
Page 78 and 79: Status: Met and Closed.Follow-up Ac
Page 80 and 81: Status: Met and Closed.Follow-up Ac
Page 82 and 83: CAR #: 6/06 Reference Standard #: 3
Page 84 and 85: Timeline for Conformance: By the en
Page 86 and 87: minimum 7 m machine-free zone along
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