ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

11

ISO 14000and forestry

management

In brief

ISO/TC 207, the ISO technicalcommittee responsible for the ISO14000 family, has developed a“bridge” between the managementsystem approach of ISO 14001 andthe broad performance bench-marks for Sustainable Forest Man-agement (SFM) developed throughvarious international processes.The project has been published byISO as ISO Technical Report ISO/TR 14061, Information to assistforestry organizations in the use ofEnvironmental Management Sys-tem standards ISO 14001 and ISO14004, which is available fromISO’s national member institutes(see Web site list: http://www.iso.ch/addresse/address.html) and ISOCentral Secretariat.

The following article on ISO/TR 14061 was contributed by DickHortensius, of the NetherlandsStandardization Institute (NNI)1),who was an active participant inthe TC 207 working group that de-veloped the “bridging document”to link ISO 14001 with perform-ance benchmarks for SFM. It ispartly based on a text originallywritten by the author for the ISODevelopment Manual 10, Envi-ronmental Management and ISO14000 (ISBN 92-67-10280-X).

by Dick Hortensius

1) NNI (Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut), Kalfjeslaan 2,P.O. Box 5059, NL-2600 GB Delft,Netherlands.Tel. + 31 15 2 69 03 90.Fax + 31 15 2 69 01 90.E-mail dick.hortensius@nni.nlWeb www.nni.nl

ISOdevelops‘bridging’document

ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

12

Recent years have shown agrowing interest in certificationof (sustainable) forest manage-ment. The most widely knowncertification scheme is that of theForest Stewardship Council(FSC). However, various otherschemes are under development,e.g. in Canada, Finland, Malay-sia and Indonesia. Certificationrelated to management activitiesis often associated with ISO 9000(quality management) and ISO14000 (environmental manage-ment). Therefore, it is not surpris-ing that parties in the forestrysector have been investigatingthe possibility of using ISO 14000as a basis for forest managementcertification.

In 1995, Canada and Australiajointly proposed to ISO/TC 207 todevelop a “Guide to the applica-tion of ISO 14001 in the ForestrySector for Sustainable ForestManagement”. This resulted inthe establishment of an “Interna-tional Study Group to consider thepotential use of ISO standards forachieving sustainable forestrymanagement”. The Study Grouprecognized in its report to ISO/TC207 that ISO 14001 provides aninternational framework that can

The author, Dick Hortensius, isSenior StandardizationConsultant with the NetherlandsStandardization Institute (NNI).He is closely involved with thedevelopment of the ISO 14000series on environmentalmanagement and participatedactively in the TC 207 workinggroup that developed the ISO/TR14061 as a ‘bridging document’to link the environmentalmanagement system approach ofISO 14001 with performancebenchmarks for SustainableForest Management.

Acknowledgement

We wish to thank Mrs. RenskeSchulting, of the AgriculturalUniversity of Wageningen, theNetherlands, who kindly pro-vided the forestry photographsused to illustrate this article onpages 12, 14, 18 and 19.

Parties in the forestrysector have beeninvestigating the

possibility of usingISO 14000 as a basis

for forestmanagementcertification

This article has the objective ofproviding “state-of-the-art” infor-mation on the possible use of theISO 14001 environmental man-agement system standard in theforestry sector to support sustain-able forest management and re-lated certification activities.

Within ISO, TC 207 is responsi-ble for the development of theISO 14000 series of standards onenvironmental management. TheISO 14000 series is a set of ge-neric tools for developing, imple-menting, maintaining and evalu-ating environmental policies andobjectives. The series containsstandards for environmental man-agement systems, environmentalauditing, life cycle assessment,environmental labelling and en-vironmental performance evalu-ation. The best known standard inthis series is ISO 14001, specify-ing the requirements for an envi-ronmental management system(EMS). Such a system enables anorganization to control and moni-tor its environmental aspects, tocomply with relevant legislationand to continually improve its en-vironmental performance.

This view of a forest in Finlandshows a new method of clear-cutting with so-called ‘left-over’trees which provide shade andthus have a positive influence onthe micro-climate since they aidin regeneration.

Certification of forestmanagement is seenas an alternative togovernmentalregulations or inaddition to them

be used for the certification of for-estry organizations’ environmen-tal management systems and thatcan contribute to Sustainable For-est Management. However, a rec-ommendation was made to assistthe use of ISO 14001 in the sectorby developing a “bridging docu-ment” providing guidance for for-estry organizations on theapplication of generally acceptedcriteria for Sustainable ForestManagement in establishing per-formance objectives and targetsas part of their EMS. Followingthis recommendation, ISO/TC207 decided to establish a work-ing group (TC 207/WG 2) to pre-pare a report describing informa-tive reference material for theimplementation of ISO 14001 andthe use of ISO 14004 by forestryorganizations.

ISO/TC 207/WG 2 met severaltimes in 1996/1997 and submittedits final report to ISO/TC 207 inDecember 1997 with a recom-mendation to consider it for publi-cation as an ISO Technical Re-port (ISO document of informativenature). Subsequently the WG re-port was circulated for ballot inTC 207 and, following its ap-proval, it was published by ISO inDecember 1998 as ISO/TR 14061,Information to assist forestry or-ganizations in the use of Environ-mental Management System stand-ards ISO 14001 and ISO 14004.

ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

13

Developments in SustainableForest Management

In the last two decades, therehas been a significant develop-ment of multilateral agreementsamong nations addressing envi-ronmental issues and the sustain-able management of natural re-sources. The movement gainedmomentum in 1980 with the pub-lication of the World Conserva-tion Strategy and the 1987 reportof the Commission on Environ-ment and Development, OurCommon Future, often referred toas the “Brundtland Report”. Theforestry debate came into sharperfocus during the UNCED (United

agement at the national level(e.g. the Helsinki and Montrealsets).

In other cases, the sets aremeant as a framework for the as-sessment of the management of adefined forest area, as is the non-governmental set of the ForestStewardship Council (FSC). Themajority of these Principles andCriteria for SFM relate to forestmanagement objectives to beachieved with respect to the main-tenance of the forest eco-system,as well as the ecological, socialand economic functions of the for-est. In most of the sets, there isonly little mention of forest man-agement systems.

The best known certificationscheme is that of the ForestStewardship Council. This systemincludes certification of forestmanagement as well as of the“chain-of-custody” and finally re-sults in labelling of products withthe FSC mark. Another system isbased on a standard for a Sustain-able Forest Management Systemof the Canadian StandardsAssociation (CSA). This standardcan be seen as the combination ofa management system that iscomparable with ISO 14001 andthe criteria and indicators for sus-tainable forest management asdefined by the Canadian Councilfor Forest Ministers. The CSA

Box 1: Examples of SFM initiatives andthe forestry issues addressed

SFM initiatives (# number of countries involved):

Intergovernmental

International Tropical Timber Organization (27)

Pan-European (Helsinki) Process (38)

Montreal Process (12)

Tarapoto Proposal (8)

Dry Zone Africa Initiative (28)

North Africa and Near East Initiative (20)

Central American Initiative of Lepaterique (7)

African Timber Organisation Initiative (13)

Non-governmental

Forest Stewardship Council

All initiatives mentioned include criteria andindicators that address following forestry issues:

– extent of forest resources

– health and vitality

– productive functions

– biological diversity

– protective and environmental functions

– developmental and social needs

– legal, policy and institutional framework

Intergovernmental

International Tropical Timber Organization (27)

Pan-European (Helsinki) Process (38)

Montreal Process (12)

Tarapoto Proposal (8)

Dry Zone Africa Initiative (28)

North Africa and Near East Initiative (20)

Central American Initiative of Lepaterique (7)

African Timber Organisation Initiative (13)

Nations Conference on Envi-ronment and Development) proc-ess with “Agenda 21” and a setof “Forest Principles” beingadopted at the Earth Summit inJune 1992. These documents em-brace the concept of sustainablemanagement of the world’s for-ests to meet current needs withoutcompromising the ability ofpresent and future generations tomeet their own needs.

As a result of these interna-tional discussions, various inter-governmental and non-govern-mental initiatives have beentaken to develop sets of Princi-ples, Criteria and related Indica-tors for Sustainable Forest Man-agement. To date, eight inter-governmental sets of Criteria andIndicators for SFM have beenagreed. In most cases, these setsare intended to assess thesustainability of the forest man-

Box 1 provides various exam-ples of these initiatives and theforestry issues addressed.

In recent years, there has beena growing interest in certificationof (sustainable) forest manage-ment, in some cases followed bylabelling of wood products and therequired verification of the socalled “chain-of-custody”. Certi-fication is seen as an alternativeto governmental regulations, or inaddition to them. The drivingforce behind certification is thepublic interest in good forest man-agement and the desire to knowwhether wood and wood productsoriginate from well managedsources. For forest and timbertrade organizations, a certificateof sustainable origin can providemarket access.

The ISO 14000 seriesdoes not interferewith any nationalenvironmentallegislation. Thesetting of limit valuesand performancelevels remains theprerogativeof (national)governmentalauthorities

ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

14

standard, however, does not in-clude requirements for the“chain-of-custody” and thereforedoes not result in a product label.In addition, various other systemsare under development (e.g. inFinland and Indonesia).

Environmental managementaccording to ISO 14001

The International Standard ISO14001 was published in Septem-ber 1996 by the International Or-ganization for Standardization(ISO). It is one of a series of stand-ards on environmental manage-ment, known as the ISO 14000 se-ries. Figure 1 shows in schematicform the relationship between thestandards in the ISO 14000 series.The philosophy behind this set-upis that the environmental man-agement system of an organiza-tion is of central importance andthat the other standards are in-tended to support specific ele-ments of the organization’s envi-ronmental policy andmanagement system.

The ISO 14000 series does notinterfere with any national envi-ronmental legislation. The settingof limit values and performancelevels remains the prerogative of(national) governmental authori-ties. The ISO 14000 series pro-vides management tools for or-ganizations to control theirenvironmental aspects and im-prove their environmental perfor-mance.

ISO 14001 specifies the requi-rements for an environmentalmanagement system (EMS). Thisstandard provides the basis forcertification of an organization’sEMS. An ISO 14001-certifiedEMS provides confidence to ex-

ternal parties that an organizationhas control over the significantenvironmental aspects of itsoperational processes, that it hascommitted itself to comply withall relevant environmental legis-lation and regulations and to con-tinually improve its overall envi-ronmental performance.

Henceforth, a certified EMSprovides an important basis forcommunication with other busi-nesses, government and financialorganizations, as well as the gen-eral public, people living in theneighbourhood and environmen-tal groups. In all these cases, thecertificate provides informationabout the capability of the organi-zation to control and improve itsenvironmental aspects and toachieve its stated environmentalobjectives.

Key elements of the ISO 14001EMS (see Figure 2) are:

• the environmental policy andthe requirements to pursuethis policy via objectives, tar-gets and environmental pro-grammes;

• the analysis of the environ-mental aspects of the organi-zation (including its processes,products and services, as wellas the goods and services usedby the organization);

• implementation and organiza-tion of processes to control andimprove operational activitiesthat are critical from an envi-ronmental perspective (in-cluding both products andservices of an organization);

ISO 14010 series

ISO 14030 series

ISO 14040 series

ISO 14020 series

ISO 14001

ISO 14004

ISO 14050

Figure 1: Structure of the ISO 14000 series of standards onenvironmental management

Timber harvesting in a forest inQuebec, Canada. • monitoring and measurement,

and corrective actions to en-sure that objectives and tar-gets will be achieved;

• conduct of audits to determinewhether the EMS is indeedwell functioning and conductof management reviews toaddress the possible needfor changing the policy andobjectives to ensure thecontinuing suitability, adequacyand effectiveness of the EMS.

In the environmental policy, anorganization shall include the fol-lowing basic commitments:

• compliance with relevant leg-islation and regulations;

• continual improvement inoverall environmental per-formance;

• prevention of pollution.

System related tools Environmental management Product related tools systems

Auditing guidelines

Environmental PerformanceEvaluation guidelines

EMSspercification

EMS Guide

Life Cycle assessment

Environmental Labelling

Terms and Definitions

ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

15

services. This does not mean thata company with an ISO 14001 cer-tified EMS automatically pro-vides “environmentally friendly”products. An ISO 14001 certifi-cate must therefore not be used asa basis for product claims. How-ever, one can expect that anorganization implementing ISO14001 does have knowledgeabout the environmental aspectsof its products (and services) andthat it aims at products that haveless impact on the environment,given its commitment to continualimprovement.

ISO 14001 and SustainableForest Management: thebridging concept

ISO 14001 provides a soundmanagement system for achiev-ing environmental objectives,however, ISO 14001 does notspecify absolute environmentalperformance requirements. Onthe other hand the principles, cri-teria and indicators for SFM con-

Checking and corrective action

EnvironmentalPolicy

Planning

Implementationand operation

Managementreview

Continualimprovement

Figure 2: Environmental management model of ISO 14001

Based on knowledge of the spe-cific environmental situation ofthe organization, these policycommitments must be translatedinto detailed objectives and pro-grammes aimed at controllingand improving the environmentalaspects of the organization’s proc-esses, products and services.

It is an important principle ofISO 14001 that it does not estab-lish absolute environmentalperformance requirements. Theorganization itself, taking into ac-count the above mentioned threebasic commitments, must formu-late its own environmental policyand therefore determines its ownobjectives and level of ambitionwith respect to environmentalperformance. Sceptics see this asa weakness of ISO 14001. Promot-ers of the standard consider this asits strength: ISO 14001 provides amanagement tool to achievethose environmental objectivesthat are relevant to the processes,products and services of the or-ganization, the applicable legis-lative framework and the view ofinterested parties in that specificsituation. Therefore, ISO 14001 isreally a management systemstandard that is applicable world-wide and does need to be changedor adapted to local or regional cir-cumstances.

ISO 14001 specifies the require-ments for an environmental mana-

gement system that, if well imple-mented and maintained, ensuresthat a stated environmentalpolicy is achieved, i.e. that themanagement of the organization’senvironmental aspects is continu-ally improved until the “on-the-ground” performance corres-ponds with the environmentalpolicy (see Figure 3).

ISO 14001 applies to the con-trol and improvement of the envi-ronmental aspects of an organiza-tion’s operations, products and

ISO 14001

input

outputEnvironmentalPerformance

Compliance withlegislation

Continual Improvement

Prevention of pollution

EnvironmentalPolicy

system

Figure 3:The system concept ofISO 14001

tain general performance re-quirements, but do not providedetails of what these imply for aspecific forest in a specific con-text, nor how these should beachieved. Therefore, a combina-tion of both approaches is neededfor those forestry organizationswhich want to assure their stake-holders that their forest manage-ment will improve continually to-wards the ultimate goal ofachieving SFM.

ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

16

ISO 14001ISO 14001

ITTOHelsinkiMontreal

FSCetc.

ITTOHelsinkiMontreal

FSCetc.

This idea has evolved into theso-called “bridging concept” (seeFigure 4) that forms the basis ofthe ISO Technical Report 14061:the “bridge” between the manage-ment system approach of ISO14001 (“specifying the toolsneeded to establish and achievean organization’s environmentalpolicy without specifying absoluteperformance levels”) and thebroad performance benchmarksfor SFM developed through vari-ous international processes (“pro-viding policy objectives thatshould be achieved without speci-fying what goals and targetsshould be set at the level of a spe-cific forest area and how to man-age an organization’s environ-mental aspects to ensure thatthese policy objectives and tar-gets are achieved”). Henceforth,the “bridging concept” shows away forward to “lasting sustain-able forest management”.

cators and a forestry organiza-tion’s EMS. The report concludeswith chapters on the applicationof EMS based on ISO 14001 tosmall-scale forest ownerships andoperations, the options for dem-onstrating the effective imple-mentation of EMS (varying fromself-declaration to third party cer-tification) and the ways to com-municate this.

The report contains a numberof annexes that provide moredetailed information on the re-ference material (e.g. the variousinter-governmental and non-gov-ernmental international initia-tives in the field of SFM and allsorts of country-level initiatives).In addition, various interestingcase studies of the implementa-tion of ISO 14001 in the forestrysector are included. These casestudies include examples of large-scale forestry operations, as wellas existing models for implement-

Figure 4: The bridging conceptof ISO/TR 14061

ISO/TR 14061

ISO/TR 14061 is designed to beused in conjunction with ISO14001. It provides a link betweenthe management system ap-proach of ISO 14001 and therange of forest policy and forestmanagement performance objec-tives, including principles, crite-ria and indicators of SFM, that aforestry organization can con-sider.

The report starts by providing anumber of definitions and somebackground information on theISO 14000 series of standards.The main chapters of the reportare those that list reference mate-rial for forest organizations anddescribe the relationship betweenSFM principles, criteria and indi-

ing ISO 14001 by small-scale for-est organizations working in co-operation with each other.

The relationship betweenSFM principles, criteria andindicators and a forestryorganization’s EMS

The basic relationship betweenSFM-related information (includ-ing forestry principles, criteriaand indicators) and the ISO 14001EMS as described in ISO/TR14061 is given in Figure 5

The right-hand box shows themain elements of ISO 14001 andthe left-hand box important ele-ments related to the concept ofSFM. The dotted arrows show pos-sible relationships between theseSFM elements and ISO 14001 el-ements and requirements. This isbriefly outlined below.

ISO/TR 14061Aim: To build a bridge betweenISO 14001 and Principles &Criteria for Sustainable ForestManagement ISO 14001

provides amanagement toolto achieve thoseenvironmentalobjectives that arerelevant to theprocesses,products andservices of theorganization, theapplicablelegislativeframework andthe view ofinterested partiesin that specificsituation

ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

17

Policy,

Objectives

&

Targets

Policy,

Objectives

&

Targets

ProgrammeProgramme

Monitoring &measurement

Monitoring &measurement

Correctiveaction

Correctiveaction

Audit &Review

Audit &Review

Operationalcontrol

Operationalcontrol

Measurable performancerequirements

ISO 14001 requirementsSFM related information

Measuring performance

Review ofperformance data againststated policy, objectives

and targets

Views of interested parties

Policy, objectives and targets

Since the UNCED meeting inRio de Janeiro in 1992, non-bind-ing Forest Principles and variousinternational governmental andnon-governmental sets of prin-ciples and criteria for SFM havebeen developed. These sets areon various occasions further re-fined and detailed at the nationaland forest management area lev-els in various ways: as national(voluntary) codes (sometimes ref-erenced in national forest ac-cords), as part of national (bind-ing) legislation/regulations, aspart of codes developed by sectororganizations, or referenced inprivate standards.

As a result, these sets of forestmanagement performance objec-tives can be incorporated in theISO 14001 system in various ways:

– as part of the commitment tocomply with legislation;

– as part of the commitment tocomply with other require-ments that are subscribed to;

– as part of a voluntary choice ofthe organization to go beyondthe basic policy requirementsof ISO 14001, e.g. because it isan important issue for relevantstakeholders of the organiza-tion.

As ISO 14001 requires that theenvironmental policy shall beappropriate to the nature, scaleand environmental impacts of theorganization’s activities, productsor services, the general Principlesand Criteria for SFM should be“translated” into specific policyobjectives for the organization’sforest area.

The identification and evalua-tion of environmental aspects re-quired by ISO 14001 is an impor-tant basis for setting theenvironmental objectives andtargets. Organizations may choseto use principles and criteria forSFM as guidance to the identifi-cation, listing and considerationof relevant environmental as-pects from the perspective ofSFM.

Case studies of theimplementation ofISO 14001 in theforestry sector areincluded

Figure 5:The basic conceptof ISO/TR 14061

Application ofPrinciples,Criteria andIndicators forSustainableForestManagementin theframework ofISO 14001

Forestry performancemeasures, including

legislation, public policyand sets of Principlesand Criteria for SFM

Local implementation

Public participationprocess

Indicators for SFMand related

specific SFMrequirements

On-the-groundSFM Performance

ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

18

According to ISO 14001, theviews of interested parties have tobe considered when establishingenvironmental objectives. Manyframeworks for SFM stress the im-portance of a so-called public par-ticipation process in establishingthe local criteria, indicators andperformance standards for SFM.In relation to SFM, interested par-ties may include: environmentalinterest groups, aboriginal peo-ple, consumers of forest products,governmental agencies and forestdwellers. The forestry organiza-tion can fulfil the ISO 14001 re-quirement to consider views of in-terested parties by organizing apublic consultation process.

Monitoring and measurement,and auditing and review

According to ISO 14001, tar-gets are measurable performancerequirements. As part of themonitoring requirements, anorganization must measure thekey characteristics of its operati-ons and activities amongst othersto track performance against itsobjectives and targets. SFM indi-cators and related SFM require-ments can be used as a startingpoint for developing targets thatare specific to the forestry organi-zation. Indicators derived fromthese targets can then be used inmonitoring of “on-the-ground per-formance” as part of the EMS.

The environmental manage-ment system audits are conductedto determine whether the EMS iswell implemented and main-tained. This may include a reviewof the organization’s monitoringdata against its environmentalobjectives and targets to deter-mine whether the organization’sEMS is capable of achieving theseobjectives and targets.

ISO 14001 defines environmen-tal targets as detailed perform-ance requirements, quantifiedwhere practicable, that need to beset and met in order to achieve theenvironmental objectives. Theseperformance requirements can bebased on externally developedSFM indicators and related spe-cific SFM requirements. In anycase, the indicators and the re-lated “performance standards”should be specific and applicableto the organization’s forest area.

Programme, implementationand operation

According to ISO 14001, theenvironmental programme in-cludes designation of responsibili-ties and the means and timeframefor achieving the objectives andtargets. To facilitate theimplementation and achievementof the policy, objectives, targetsand programme, ISO 14001 re-quires that an organization take anumber of procedural measures.

This photograph shows timberharvesting in a forest in NewBrunswick, Canada, during whichgreat care is being taken to avoidsoil damage. The involvement of stakeholders

in forest management planning inthe Netherlands.

According to ISO14001, targets aremeasurableperformancerequirements

Use of the ISO TechnicalReport 14061

Apart from the development ofTR 14061, ISO 14001 currentlyalready provides a useful tool inthe pursuit of sustainable forestmanagement. One of many ex-amples is the choice made by theSwedish organization KorsnåsForest to certify its forest manage-ment against the requirements ofISO 14001, as well as those ofFSC. Korsnås has chosen to useISO 14001 which it sees as awidely accepted standard for en-vironmental management and, at

ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

19

ISO 14001

input

outputSustainableForestManagement

Compliance withlegislation

Continual Improvement

Prevention of pollution

EnvironmentalPolicy aimedat SFM

system

Bridging documentcan assist in adaptingsystem elements

Bridging document providesreference to SFM criteria

The ISO 14000 andFSC approaches havebeen portrayed asmutually exclusive, oreven as being inopposition to eachother. This is notnecessary and notconstructive

the same time, to work towards aset of performance requirementsconsidered important by its cus-tomers and the consumers of itsproducts. Other Swedish organi-zations have followed the exam-ple of Korsnås, e.g. AssiDomån.

On many occasions, the ISO14000 and FSC approaches havebeen portrayed as mutually ex-clusive, or even as being in oppo-sition to each other. This is notnecessary and not constructive.The two systems can complementeach other. ISO 14001 provides

for the sound implementation(and elaboration) of those FSCcriteria that relate to formal for-est management processes. Theadvantage lies in associating theISO 14001 framework for envi-ronmental management that haswide recognition by the businesscommunity and many govern-ments with FSC which provides, inaddition to the basic commit-ments required by ISO 14001, theframework for performance re-quirements related to sustainableforest management.

The Dutch government issuedin February 1997 a policy paperon “Timber Certification and Sus-tainable Forestry”. In this paper,the importance of the combina-tion of a system and performanceapproach to achieve SustainableForest Management is empha-sized. So-called “minimum re-quirements” for timber eligiblefor an “SFM label” for the Dutchmarket were defined. These mini-mum requirements relate to:

– sustainable management ofthe forest where the timber origi-nates from;

Figure 6 : Possible use ofISO/TR 14061

A piece of timber from a certified forest.

ISO

900

0+

ISO

140

00 N

EW

S 4/

1999

20

Italy’s first ISO 9001 communeby Pietro Marcaccio and Marta Proietti1)

The Commune of Cornated’Adda2), in the province ofMilan, Italy, has become thecountry’s first local authority tobe certified to ISO 9001. The cer-tification covers all departmentsand services.

The project began more thantwo years ago and came to frui-tion in February 1999 when thecommune was successfully au-dited by CISQ-CERT3).

Cornate d’Adda has a popula-tion of 8 890. It covers an area ofnearly 14 km2 and includes threehamlets. The commune employs54 people and its infrastructureincludes one secondary schooland three primary schools.

A novel aspect of the pro-gramme was that it includedthe participation of citizens ofCornate d’Adda who were skilledprofessionals with experience ofquality management systems, hu-man resources, training and com-munication, and who cooperatedwith the local authority’s manage-ment and staff, and the TownCouncil.

A strong emphasis was laid onteamwork and continual trainingof staff at every level of theadministrative structure.

Just as the mission of businessorganizations is to meet customerrequirements, Cornate d’Addahas an equivalent mission of satis-fying its citizens.

The Town Hall of Cornated’Adda, Italy’s first localauthority to achieve ISO 9001certification.

1) Pietro Marcaccio, Project Leader;Marta Proietti, Process Engineer.

2) Comune di Cornate d’Adda,Via Volta, 29, 20040 Cornate d’Adda,Italy.Tel. + 39 687 41.Fax + 39 692 61 19.

Contacts:Pietro MarcaccioTel. + 39 692 65 44.E-mail pimarca@tin.it

Sergio ProiettiTel./fax + 39 692 67 18.

CISQ-CERT, Via Quintiliano, 41/43,20138 Milano, Italy.Contact: Maurizio Ranzanici.Tel. + 39 2 502 371.Fax + 39 2 501 196.E-mail fedcisq@tin.itWeb www.cisq.com

It is our pride, as citizens ofCornate d’Adda, that such certifi-cation constitutes a pre-eminentachievement on the nationalscale. It is our determination, aspioneers in the field, to extend ourwinning spirit and our knowledgeas a passport to Europe for thecoming third millenium. Q

– operation of an adequatemanagement system (e.g. ISO14001) for the forest manage-ment;

– the certification system andcertification body

– watertight and transparent“chain-of-custody”.

These minimum requirementsare applied by the DutchKeurhout Organization to grantthe Keurhoutlabel for timber fromsustainably managed sources.Forestry organizations that wantto be eligible for theKeurhoutlabel have to demon-strate that they combine soundprinciples, criteria and indicatorsfor SFM with an effective man-agement system. The ISO initia-tive in developing a bridgingdocument between ISO 14001and sets of principles and criteriafor SFM matches perfectly thatpolicy.

ISO/TR 14061 should be usedin conjunction with ISO 14001and/or ISO 14004. It is up to theforestry organizations to decidewhether they want to meet exter-nally developed performance ob-jectives such as the sets of SFMcriteria mentioned in clause 2. Ifso, the ISO Technical Report canbe of help to organizations in thejoint implementation of ISO14001 and sustainable forest man-agement (see Figure 6).

ISO/TR 14061 hopefully willsupport further application of ISO14001 in the forestry sector andthereby contribute to the imple-mentation of good forest manage-ment with a view to conservingone of the most precious resourcesof our earth. Q