Abstract
In recent decades, the concept of forest certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has been widely adopted in selected Southeast European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia). As sustainability is traditionally recognised as a leading principle in the forest management doctrine in these countries, the aim of this study was to understand whether, and how, FSC forest certification contributes to the sustainable management of state forests. The research was carried out in two phases. First, in order to assess forest management compliance with FSC standard, non-conformities for the period 2014–2018, identified in audit Public Summary Reports, were analysed in all public companies that managed state-owned forests in selected countries. Further, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the professionals responsible for forest certification in these companies were conducted (n = 11) to determine the contribution of forest certification to the economic, ecological, and social aspects of sustainable forest management. In total, 185 non-conformities were analysed. The results showed that FSC certification was successful in addressing certain problems in forest management practices and contributed to sustainable forest management, mainly covering social and ecological issues. The most frequently identified non-conformities were those related to FSC Principle 4 Community relations and worker’s rights (32.3% of all non-conformities) and Principle 6 Environmental impact (30.4% of all non-conformities). The contribution of FSC certification to sustainable forest management is mainly reflected in the following aspects: Worker’s rights; health and safety of employees; availability of appropriate personal protective equipment; consultation with local people and interest groups; awareness of environmental impacts of forestry operations; waste disposal and storage of fuel; improving the image of forest companies and maintenance of high-conservation-value forests. The majority of non-conformities were minor and required procedural changes to be closed. Moreover, there are no statistically significant differences between the countries with regard to the number of non-conformities for all principles. It can be concluded that FSC certification, as a market-driven mechanism, plays an important role by influencing forest management practices and business operations of public forest companies in a positive manner.
Highlights
Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the central concept in the management of forests acrossEuropean countries [1,2] and plays a significant role in European bio-economy policies [3]
Non-conformities correspond to the information recorded in 24 official audit Public Summary Reports, of which the highest number was issued in BiH, followed by Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia (Table 5)
Based on the analysis of 185 non-conformities in 24 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) audit Public Summary Reports carried out in all the public forest companies in selected SEE countries (BiH, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia), within the period 2014–2018, it can be concluded that FSC certification contributes to SFM, covering mainly social and ecological issues
Summary
Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the central concept in the management of forests acrossEuropean countries [1,2] and plays a significant role in European bio-economy policies [3]. The implementation of forest certification in selected SEE countries has grown in importance in recent decades, mainly due to the following three reasons: (a) the willingness of public forest companies to improve their business performances and competitiveness, with an ultimate goal to achieve SFM; (b) the growing interest from civilian society, media and non-government organizations (NGOs) in becoming actively involved in addressing the issue of SFM and illegal practices in the forest sector; (c) the interest of forest and wood-processing companies in assuring their international customers of the legality and sustainability of their timber supply chains. As of March 2019, two FM certificates are in place in Slovenia, covering 22.3% of Slovenian forests (Table 1) From this area, 233,106.28 hectares are state properties managed by the public forest company, Slovenski državni gozdovi, and 29,582.62 hectares are grouped certified by eight private forest owners [58]. In 2017, the public forest company obtained PEFC certification as it met the requirements of the wood processing industry
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
