The social welfare effect of forest certification under environmental spillovers

Forest certification has positive environmental spillovers.Considering environmental spillovers,this study ana‐lyzed the social welfare effects of forest certification using partial and general equilibrium methods.The re‐sults of the partial equilibrium analysis showed that social welfare in producing countries tended to increase under the market expansion of certified forest products.The general equilibrium analysis results indicated that,in autarky,or economic independence,the production amount of certified forest products could increase.If conventional forest products are imported and certified forest products are exported,then the level of utility in free trade condition is greater than that in autarky.If conventional forest products are exported and certi‐fied forest products are imported,then the price of imported products must be compared with the price of the autarky domestic market to determine the utility level of free trade and autarky.If the price of certified prod‐ucts is less than the price at the time of autarky,then the total utility level increases;otherwise,it decreases.The social welfare effect of forest certification can be increased through expanding the market demand of cer‐tified products and giving these products subsidies in production and price incentives in importing.

The Practice of Forest Certification in Canada and the Lessons for China

Forest certification has become an important governance mechanism of improving forest management.The present situation of forest certification in Canada is introduced in this paper,and the measures for promoting forest certification in Canada are analyzed.By referring to the experience of Canada,several recommendations are put forward for promotion of forest certification in China.

Progress of forest certification in China

The Chinese Government is committed to forest certification as a market-based instrument to promote sustainable forest management. Forest certification includes a number of regulations, rules and policy paradigms related to certification and there are numerous challenges facing the uptake of forest certification in China. In particular, the ban on commercial logging in natural forests implemented by the Natural Forest Protection Program has resulted in little demand for forest certification of natural forest management units. However,there are also certification opportunities, such as the certification of non-timber forest products that benefit local communities who depend on forests for the goods and services they provide. This paper provides an overview of progress in forest certification in China, including its development history, organizational structure, scheme documents, certification scopes and standards, accreditation, certification bodies and auditors, and certification logos. The paper also focuses on government support for the supervision and management of forest certification through policy incentives, including the potential government procurement and subsidy policies for certified forest products. Finally, the paper analyzes certified non-timber forest products as an example of the value of certification to promote sustainable forest management and how the concept of forest certification can be used to add value to forests and ensure they are responsibly and sustainably managed. In general, forest certification in China has a clear role in sustainable forest management, both for timber and non-timber forest products.

Approach Analyses to Promote Sustainable Forest Management with Forest Certification in China

The paper was based on the current development status of forest certification to analyze the basic characteristics of forest certification from the development point of view in terms of origin, development, main drivers and impacts, and then conducted the approach analysis to promote sustainable forest management with forest certification in China. The result showed that China shall establish her own forest certification scheme, with the focus on the improvement of forest sustainable management concept through forest certification, the promotion of forest certification through the leadership of large companies and the strengthening of capacity building. It is unrealistically expected to employ forest certification to facilitate China’s forest management immediately on the track of sustainability.

Cost-Benefit Analysis on Forest Certification for Forest Management and Forestry Industry Development in China

The paper is based on the summarization of forest certification development to analyze and describe how forest certification promotes and pushes the setup of forest resources management model, forest management level and collective forest tenure reform. In terms of breaking green trade barrier, upgrading international competitiveness of forest products, facilitating forestry enterprise growth, etc, it elaborated the role of forest certification in promoting forestry industry development. The authors also made an objective analysis on the costs and risks that China has to bear for conducting forest certification. Based on the comprehensive analysis on benefits and costs, the authors presented the specific recommendations on how China would conduct forest certification.

Effects of acquiring FSC forest management certification for Japanese enterprises using SmartWood Audits

We explore the organizational, environmental, and economic effects of sustainable forest management （FM） certification by Smart- Wood （SW）, one of the certification bodies accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council （FSC） to carry out certification in Japan. We closely investigated three enterprises： the Yusuhara Forest Owners＇ Cooperative, Yamanashi Prefectural Forest, and Ryujin-mura Forest Owners＇ Coopera- tive. Interviews with representatives of these entities provided crucial empirical information regarding the influence of certification on envi- ronmental assessment, rare-species protection, landscape-management planning, management objectives, and forest supervision. Attainment of FM status improved environmental awareness and engendered positive changes in assessing and managing forests and other natural resources but simultaneously imposed heavier economic costs.

Key Impact Factors to Success of Forest Certification

Forest certification has developed very quickly across the world as one of the most important market initiative to promote sustainable forest management (SFM). Its success and effectiveness are influenced by some key factors, including credibility, cost effectiveness, certification standard, effectiveness, equitableness, government's role and laws/regulations framework. The paper analyzed these key factors to the success of forest certification and put forward relevant suggestions and advices for China to develop forest certification.

Low-level retention forestry, certification, and biodiversity: case Finland

In managed forests,leaving retention trees during final harvesting has globally become a common approach to reconciling the often conflicting goals of timber production and safeguarding biodiversity and delivery of several ecosystem services.In Finland,the dominant certification scheme requires leaving low levels of retention that can benefit some specific species.However,species responses are dependent on the level of retention and the current low amounts of retention clearly do not provide the habitat quality and continuity needed for declining and redlisted forest species which are dependent on old living trees and coarse woody debris.Several factors contribute to this situation.First,the ecological benefits of the current low retention levels are further diminished by monotonous standwise use of retention,resulting in low variability of retention habitat at the landscape scale.Second,the prevailing timber-oriented management thinking may regard retention trees as an external cost to be minimized,rather than as part of an integrated approach to managing the ecosystem for specific goals.Third,the main obstacles of development may still be institutional and policy-related.The development of retention practices in Finland indicates that the aim has not been to use ecological understanding to attain specific ecological sustainability goals,but rather to define the lowest level of retention that still allows access to the market.We conclude that prevailing retention practices in Finland currently lack ecological credibility in safeguarding biodiversity and they should urgently be developed based on current scientific knowledge to meet ecological sustainability goals.

Clearcuts and related secondary dieback undermine the ecological effectiveness of FSC certification in a boreal forest

Background:Over the last 25 years,the prominent forest certification system established by the Forest Stewardship Council(FSC)has used by many companies worldwide for claiming responsible forest management.The objectives of the Russian National FSC standard to decrease the size of clearcuts and the retention of forest elements such as residual seed trees need on-site validation to proof the effectiveness of FSC.To assess the ecological impacts of harvesting practices and benefits of FSC certification,we geospatially compared logging activities with and without FSC certification.Within a sample area covering approximately 3,000 km^(2) in the east of the Russian Arkhangelsk Region,we used available data on tree cover loss and satellite images to assess secondary impacts of clearcuttings on adjacent remnant forests and to quantify the logging intensity.Additionally,the size and structure as well as the density of skidding trails of ten specific clearcuttings located within the sample area were surveyed using satellite images and in the field observation to delineate the boundaries of clearcuts and forested remnants within the clearcuts.Results:We found a significant increase of small-scale tree cover loss in the proximity of the clearcuts.Patchy dieback is possibly linked to the scale and intensity of logging in the surroundings.On the investigated clearcuts,FSC failed to reduce the size,to increase the retention of forest remnants including seed trees on logged areas,and to maintain larger tracts of undisturbed ground and soil compared to clearcuts that were logged before they received FSC-certification.Conclusions:Trees and forest remnants remaining inside an increasingly stressed forest ecosystem matrix may not resist further harvesting-related and climate change-induced stresses and disturbances.Large-scale clearcuttings seem to have negative impacts even in adjacent forests and undermine the ecological effectiveness of FSC certification in the study area.The Russian FSC standard is not clearly setting effective guidelines that induce a change in clearcutting practices in order to reduce ecological risks.

Ecological perspectives on variable retention forestry

Forest management globally affects the ecosystem services,especially those related to ecosystem functioning and biodiversity conservation,by altering forest structure and composition.The degree of alteration was related to the intensity and type of harvesting;therefore,the major silvicultural challenge is to develop alternatives to mitigate climate change and maintain forest functions and biodiversity while also providing acceptable levels of timber production.Variable retention forestry(VRF)is a highly flexible concept,with continuity of forest cover,structure,function,and species composition,thereby supporting multiple economic,environmental,and cultural goals.This special issue provides an overview of the concepts and applications related to VRF implementation around the world.It shows that VRF has been applied globally for several decades,with varying levels and retention types,depending on local conditions and the economic importance of forestry.The challenges of VRF seem to differ to some extent on different continents,yet the general aims have been accepted in most of the continents.VRF has been successful in mitigating many effects of intensive harvesting,though in some forests of the world,the retention levels are too low to maintain acceptable levels of biodiversity and ecosystem functions.We conclude that an active collaboration between scientists and forest practitioners is needed to realize all of the opportunities provided by VRF in solving global forestry-related issues.

Obstacles for Plantation to Get FSC Certification in China

The development of plantation plays a very important role in forestry industry development in China because of its unique advantages. However, the ecological and environmental issues urgently require sustainable plantation development. FSC certification for sustainable forest management balances the economic, environmental and social benefits and contributes to sustainable development of plantation. FSC certification for plantation is significantly important to China with the most plantation area in the world. However, Chinese plantation management may have some obstructions in meeting the FSC certification requirements. According to the criteria and indicators of FSC forest management certification for the plantation, this paper lists some potential non-conformances in the management of Chinese plantation to provide an important reference.

The challenge of combining variable retention and prescribed burning in Finland

Historically,wildfires have played an important role in forest dynamics in Fennoscandia.In Finland,the annually burned area has diminished in recent decades.This has led to a decline of fire-adapted habitat types and species,many of which have become red-listed.In Fennoscandia,there is a long tradition of silvicultural burnings to enhance tree regeneration.Recently,prescribed burnings have been modified for biodiversity goals following the recommendations that have emerged from ecological research.Prominent biodiversity gains can be obtained by combining sufficient retention levels with burnings.Consequently,burning and retention have been recommended by recent national red-list assessments,strategies,and forest-management guidelines,and they have been adopted in forest-certification standards in Finland.Contrary to these recommendations,the opposite development has taken place:(1)the ecological efficiency of the criterion concerning prescribed burning in the PEFC forestcertification standard has been impaired,(2)state funding to encourage private forest owners to apply prescribed burning was reduced significantly,and(3)prescribed burnings have been abandoned altogether in commercial state-owned forests.Traditional burnings with variable retention have also been partially replaced with burning of small retention-tree groups.This new method is less risky and cheaper,but its ecological benefits are questionable because small-sized fires produce much smaller areas of burned forest soil with less fire-affected wood than traditional silvicultural burnings.Generally,the widely accepted goal to increase burnings with retention appears difficult to achieve and would require stronger political will and economic support from the government.We identified several actions that could improve the weakened situation of fire-dependent biodiversity and recommend the following:(1)setting a clear goal and ensuring sufficient funding for the burnings—including restoration burnings in conservation areas—and targeting these to specific fire-continuum areas with sufficient retention to ensure the continuity of fire-affected habitats at landscape level;(2)renewing the current subsidizing policies to encourage private landowners to perform prescribed burnings in regeneration areas after final fellings,and to safeguard accidental forest-fire areas as set-asides;(3)renewing the current prescribed-burning criterion of the Finnish PEFC forest-certification standard with more ambitious ecological goals;and(4)re-introducing prescribed burnings in commercial state forests where management targets are under political steering.