Estimating demand for certification of forest ecosystem services: A choice experiment with Forest Stewardship Council certificate holders

Jaung, Wanggi; Putzel, L.; Bull, Gary; Guariguata, Manuel R.; Sumaila, U. Rashid

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.10.016

Cited by 22 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forest certification was developed in the early 1990s to reduce the deforestation and forest degradation caused by unsustainable forest management [1]. The FSC forest certification assures buyers/consumers that certified forest products have been produced from forests that have been responsibly/sustainably managed in terms of environment, economy and society.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity Observation for Land and Ecosystem Health (BOLEH): A Robust Method to Evaluate the Management Impacts on the Bundle of Carbon and Biodiversity Ecosystem Services in Tropical Production Forests

et al. 2018

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The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has initiated a new sustainability mechanism, the ecosystem-services certification. In this system, management entities who wish to be certified for the maintenance of ecosystem services (carbon, biodiversity, watershed, soil and recreational services) must verify that their activities have no net negative impacts on selected ecosystem service(s). Developing a robust and cost-effective measurement method is a key challenge for establishing a credible certification system. Using a single method to evaluate a bundle of ecosystem services will be more efficient in terms of transaction costs than using multiple methods. We tested the efficiency of a single method, “biodiversity observation for land and ecosystem health (BOLEH)”, to simultaneously evaluate biodiversity and carbon density on a landscape scale in FSC-certified tropical production forests in Sabah, Malaysia. In this method, forest intactness based on the tree-generic compositional similarity with that of a pristine forest was used as an index of biodiversity. We repeated BOLEH in 2009 and 2014 in these forests. Our analysis could detect significant spatiotemporal changes in both carbon and forest intactness during these five years, which reflected past logging intensities and current management regimes in these forests. Enhancement of these ecosystem services occurred in the forest where sustainable management with reduced-impact logging had long been implemented. In this paper, we describe the procedure of the BOLEH method, and results of the pilot test in these forests.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity Observation for Land and Ecosystem Health (BOLEH): A Robust Method to Evaluate the Management Impacts on the Bundle of Carbon and Biodiversity Ecosystem Services in Tropical Production Forests

et al. 2018

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“…Therefore, it is rather compelling to argue that the certification process has not been successful in engaging small-scale forestry companies. The cost of certification remains a crucial aspect in the way that FC is accepted and promoted, not only in Russia but also in the United States and China (Jaung et al 2016;Tian et al 2018). Small-scale non-certifying companies are, in general, unaware that the participatory fees for certification can be outsourced in some countries (Tian et al 2018) or charged against the company's annual turnover (FSC AAF Policy 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite positive observations from scholars, criticism by small forest owners, in particular, has been directed at the low level of knowledge and awareness of the FC process and standards by local authorities and forest owners, the high cost of certification, and the stringent requirements for forest managers (Jaung et al 2016;Tian et al 2018). Other studies suggest that FSC has limitations in addressing the complex nature of measuring and monitoring biodiversity (Meijaard et al 2014;Jaung et al 2016), and PEFC has been criticized for prioritizing economic gains over environmental concerns (Johansson and Lidestav 2011). It was also noted that that the same standards may be verified differently by different auditors, when identifying the differences from both certified and non-certified areas (Rametsteiner and Simula 2003;Johansson and Lidestav 2011).…”

Section: Recent Studies On Forest Certificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, they affirm the concept that the certification mechanism is a good management tool for biodiversity conservation. In a global oriented study, 188 forest owners with FSC forest management certification from 57 countries were surveyed through email invitation (Jaung et al 2016). The study highlighted the positive impacts of certification on forest ecosystem services, capacity building, and lucrative market reach.…”

Section: Recent Studies On Forest Certificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to effectively support these international efforts, a number of key wood-importing countries have adopted national action plans to combat illegal logging by adopting stringent trade and labelling regulations but also by incentivizing legal compliance, such as the US Lacey Act 2008 (Section 8204), Japan's Green Purchasing Policy 2007, and Australia's Illegal Logging Prohibition Act (Ulybina and Fennell 2013;McDermott et al 2015). Another prominent and transformational tool to tackle illegal logging and biodiversity loss by promoting responsible and sustainable forest management practices is the widely known Forest Certification (FC) scheme (Johansson and Lidestav 2011;Lewis and Davis 2015;Jaung et al 2016;. Adopted in the early 1990s, it is a voluntary, market-driven mechanism that involves third-party auditing of wood products.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of forest industries compliance to forest certification standards in northwestern Russia

Trishkin¹

2019

Diss. For.

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Russian boreal forests (taiga) cover an area of over 800 million hectares, which accounts for 20 % of the global forest resource and 47 % of the total territory of the Russian Federation. Russian forests are faced with several pressing environmental, institutional, and economic challenges of which illegal logging is a major concern. Forest Certification (FC) is a voluntary, market-driven mechanism involving a third-party auditing service ("the certifier") where the quality of forest management and production practices are systematically assessed against a set of specific requirements ("standards") with the aim of informing end-users of the sustainability of the forests from which the wood originated. Currently, Russia has approximately 43 million hectares of forests under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme, and the FSC has granted 235 forest management (FM) certificates and 796 chain of custody (COC) certificates. National and transnational timber companies in Russia largely shape and influence the forest certification process. This thesis investigated the perceptions of certified and non-certified companies towards FC, and to what degree the representatives of these companies agree with the benefits and barriers of the FC process in the Russian context. The timber tracking system and the Due Diligence System (DDS) employed by each company were analyzed to investigate their effectiveness in tracking and preventing illegal timber entering the timber supply chain of the company. Moreover, non-conformities (NCs) to FSC Principles during the period 2011-2015 were collected and analyzed to reveal the degree of severity (minor and/or major) as per the FSC principles, geographical location, and size of leased forest area. The results of these interconnected studies showed that both certified and non-certified companies perceive FC as an economic initiative and as an opportunity for new markets. FC is seen to provide access to new markets and, thus, enables additional sales but also ensures legality of the timber and improves the company's image and competitiveness in foreign markets. The company's own tracking system and DDS appeared functional, but require further improvements to meet EU Timber Regulation requirements (Article II). Analyzes of the major and minor NCs in the Northwestern region and within the Russian Federation showed that the number of minor NCs have increased since 2011; from 221 to 363 incidents by 2015, which also coincides with the increase in the number of issued FSC certificates i.e. increased area under certification. The Republic of Karelia and the Arkhangelsk region had the highest recorded minor NCs, particularly for FSC Principle 6 "Environmental impactto maintain or restore the ecosystem, its biodiversity, resources and landscapes". The results further indicated that the total number of identified NCs was highest for large-size leaseholders in the Northwestern region. However, in the Russian Federation as a whole the majority of minor and major NCs occurred with small...

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Price premiums for certified wood products in Japan: A case study on cutting boards made of Japanese Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa)

Ota

Kamakura

Konoshima

2022

Small-scale Forestry

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Forest certification is slowly but steadily expanding in Japan, with the total area of certified forest being around 2.5 million ha or 10% of all forestland. However, FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) products are still uncommon because few companies undertake CoC (Chain of Custody) certification. We conducted experimental sales of FSC certified and non-certified cutting boards with different designs and sizes made of Hinoki or Japanese Cypress ( Chamaecyparis obtusa ) on an internet shopping website. We prepared the same products from FSC certified and non-certified wood and sold them simultaneously at different prices. Customers interested in purchasing cutting boards could choose either and were aware of the prices. The largest cutting board was 460 mm × 240 mm × 30 mm, with the basic price of JPY 3,600, and the smallest was 200 mm × 200 mm × 25 mm, with the basic price of JPY 2,950. We considered four price difference levels, between 20% and 50%, for a period of around six months. In total, 22% of customers chose certified products at a 20% price premium, 14% chose a certified product at a 30% price premium, 10% chose a certified product at a 40% price premium, and 10% chose a certified product at a 50% price premium. All price premiums were found to be statistically significant. Therefore, price premiums for FSC certified products are feasible up to 50% for small wood products such as cutting boards. These findings can help forest owners and the wood industry consider the potential of forest certification.

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Estimating demand for certification of forest ecosystem services: A choice experiment with Forest Stewardship Council certificate holders

Cited by 22 publications

References 33 publications

Biodiversity Observation for Land and Ecosystem Health (BOLEH): A Robust Method to Evaluate the Management Impacts on the Bundle of Carbon and Biodiversity Ecosystem Services in Tropical Production Forests

Biodiversity Observation for Land and Ecosystem Health (BOLEH): A Robust Method to Evaluate the Management Impacts on the Bundle of Carbon and Biodiversity Ecosystem Services in Tropical Production Forests

Assessment of forest industries compliance to forest certification standards in northwestern Russia

Price premiums for certified wood products in Japan: A case study on cutting boards made of Japanese Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa)

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