IFS TRG WS 6th Sept 2012

IFS 2 days Training Workshop on “Forest Certification: A Marketing Tool for Sustainable Forest

Management” Programme Director: Prof. Manmohan Yadav

13-14 September 2012 at

Indian Institute of Forest Management IIFM conducting two days Training Workshop on “Forest Certification: A Marketing Tool for Sustainable Forest Management” for Indian Forest Service Officers during September 13-14, 2012. 28 Senior Indian Forest Service Officers representing the States & UTs of Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Andaman & Nicobar, Daman & Diu, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand participated in this programme in addition to faculty members from IIFM.

The programme was sponsored by the Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests.

IFS TRG WS 6th Sept 2012

The Workshop participants and the subject experts deliberated on the emerging issues of Sustainable Forest Management and a market mechanism called Forest Certification that links good forestry practices with green markets.

This has implications for benefiting the local community through fair share in the management of forestry sources and revenues generated from such forests. The Forest Certification Mechanism also facilitates market access to forestry products in the western markets. In addition to the experience sharing among the senior forest officers from different states the workshop will also benefit from the intensive work undertaken by the institutions like Indian Institute of Forest Management as well as the forest material based industries such as paper companies like BILT (Ballarpur Industries Limited), ITC Paper etc. Forests are one of the major sink for storing carbon and thus contribute in mitigation of climate change through carbon sequestration. It is estimated that the world’s forests if protected properly can avoid 17% of the Global Green House Gas Emissions (GHG) resulting from deforestations and degradation of forests. Increasing forests /tree cover is also the most cost effective and genuine option of capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and hence not only maintaining the existing forest but also further increasing the forest cover should be the goal of forest management globally. Accordingly, concepts like sustainable forest management, forest certification and REDD+ are being promoted for

IFS TRG WS 6th Sept 2012

achieving this goal. “REDD+” goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. It is applicable across entire tropical forest landscapes, whereas forest certification is considered as the verification of responsible/sustainable forest management (SFM). Thus, certification standards could address current gaps in REDD+, such as: addressing forest degradation and reduced impact logging that could lower global forest carbon emissions by more than10 percent.

Voluntary certification provides useful practical experience that should feed into the design of the international REDD+ regime. USA has made certification as mandatory requirement for REDD+ projects in US. India under its National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) has 8 major missions and increasing forest cover under the Green India Mission is one of these missions. Thus, managing forests on the principles of sustainable management is the key to achieving Green India Mission goals. India’s national strategy aims at enhancing and improving the forest and tree cover of the country and thereby enhancing the quantum of forest eco-system services that flow to the local communities. Green India Mission and National Afforestation Programme together would add or improve 2 million ha of forests and trees cover annually in the country and thus add 2 million tons of carbon annually. Forest Certification has emerged as a market tool for communicating the good management practices in a forest to the consumers of forest products. Though,

IFS TRG WS 6th Sept 2012

this concept is more popular in the developed markets but it is also gaining consumer awareness in the Indian premium market segments. Forest Certification is a third party assessment of forest management practices based on a pre-decided standard developed through multi-stakeholder consultative process. Such assessment has been necessitated in an environmentally conscious world where consumers in developed markets show their preferences for products coming from sustainably managed forest. The requirement of forest certification promotes sustainability concerns through the concept of triple bottom line (Ecologically sound, socially desirable and economically viable practices) as it is known among the business community.

The workshop was inaugurated by Shri. R.K. Dave Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Government of Madhya Pradesh on 13th September 2012 at Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal. Shri. RK Dave commended the pioneering initiatives undertaken by IIFM in the area of Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Certification in the country. Dr. Ram Prasad, Former Director, IIFM Chaired the first technical session and provided a chronological description of the Bhopal-India Process initiated by India for developing Criteria & Indicators based approach to Sustainable Forest Management in the country. Prof. K.N.K Krishna Kumar, Dean, IIFM welcomed all the guests and provided a brief about the academic activities of IIFM.

IFS TRG WS 6th Sept 2012

Prof. Manmohan Yadav, Program Director briefed about the aims and objectives of the Workshop. He presented and discussed the emergence of forest certification schemes as market tool for achieving SFM at global and national levels. He informed that 10% of the global forest area i.e. 404 million ha out of 4000 million ha. is certified under two major international certification schemes. Out of 400 million ha certified forest in the world 164.4 million ha is certified under Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and 243 million ha forest is certified under (PEFC). PEFC is the only programme that endorses national forest certification schemes and as of now has recognized 31 national certification schemes in countries like Brazil, Chili, Malaysia, USA, Canada and almost all European Countries. India has also envisaged setting up of its own forest certification scheme with inputs from IIFM.

Dr. R. B Lal, Former Director IIFM chaired the second session and emphasised the importance of integrating the concepts of ecosystem services valuation, forest certification and REDD+. Dr. R.N Saxena, Addl PCCF MP presented and discussed the impact of climate change on the forest biodiversity and the need to implement the adaptation strategies like REDD+ mechanisms. He informed that the state is preparing a CDM and REDD+ projects in Mandla and Chindwada districts of MP for submission to Government of India. On approval of these projects the local communities participating in managing the forests will get

IFS TRG WS 6th Sept 2012

financial benefits and the forest quality would improve substantially adding to the carbon stock. Dr. Madhu Verma presented and discussed various means to Forest Ecosystem Services Valuation and its potential linkage with forest certification. She discussed the recent initiatives in measuring the ecosystem services valuation including biodiversity under TEEB study in various countries including India. During the second day of the programme on September 14, 2012 the perspective of Industry and the markets was discussed. Mr. Manu Jose Mattam from SCS, a certification body of FSC, informed about the market benefits that are driving certification in India. He informed that forest certification in India is gaining importance in recent past and as a result as of now there are 5 forest management certifications covering 39800 ha of plantations and more than 300 chain- of-custody certifications obtained by various forest raw material based industries and users in the country. Ms Anushree Shukla, Manager (Procurement) BILT shared the experience of Patneswari Agriculture Cooperative Limited in Odisha (PACL) comprising of 1300 families of farmers growing Eucalyptus on their land totalling 3000 acres and has been certified by FSC for responsible forestry practices. BILT paper unit purchases the wood from these plantations with price premium paid to the farmers. Dr. GA Kinhal in his presentation highlighted the important aspects that require to be incorporated in our Working Plans prepared for managing the government owned forests in the country.

IFS TRG WS 6th Sept 2012

In the concluding session of the workshop Dr. P K Shukla, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Shri R S Negi, Managing Director, MP MFP Federation advocated the positive role forest certification can play in ensuring the sustainability of the forests. They also appreciated the pioneer work done by IIFM in the field of forest certification by conducting such programmes and field based research studies in the country. Prof. Manmohan Yadav, Faculty in Marketing Area and Coordinator – Centre for Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Certification, IIFM Bhopal Coordinated the Program.