Forest certification
Exploring fair trade timber: a review of issues in current practice, institutional structures and ways forward
Pushing forward an agenda to do more for community timber production through fair trade
Authors:
D. Macqueen; A. Dufey; B. Patel
Publisher:
International Institute for Environment and Development , 2006
There has been a expansion in community ownership and management of forests. Communities now own or manage one fourth of the forests in developing countries. At the same time limitations of instruments such as certification, eco-labelling and social auditing, which were set up to up to improve the forest sector, are becoming apparent. This report examines complementary instruments such as Fair Trade, and outlines some of the options for building on this momentum and enhancing local returns from responsible forestry.
The paper argues that forest certification schemes need to:
- give more attention to producer support mechanisms in order to increase community access to certified markets
- give thought to how community products might be distinguished from those of large enterprises and be financially rewarded for the social benefits associated with their community origin.
Fair trade organisations needs to look at:
- new product lines and market chains and pay greater attention to the forest management that underpins their products
- pilot mechanisms between willing buyers and well-organised community producer groups might provide greater insight to what is (or is not) possible
- developing fair trade timber through a fair trade organisation, or through endorsement by well-known national fair trade companies (e.g. Traidcraft).
The paper concludes with a call to establish an alliance of interested parties who wish to purse fair trade in timber. Both forest certification and fair trade schemes have a strong emphasis on social benefits to producer communities.
