Development of a manual for rubber plantation owners and rubber wood consumers in Thailand for obtaining international forest management certification

Abstract

Currently, the export situation of rubber wood products in Thailand is at a high risk of price and market competition. All relevant organizations in Thailand hope to solve these problems sustainably. One of the important ways is to increase the value of rubber wood products and marketing channels for exporting to more countries besides China. However, Thailand still faces a significant obstacle to the export of rubber wood products, that is, most of the rubber plantations have not yet been certified for international forest management. Forest certification is one mechanism to prevent and manage global environmental problems including air, soil, water, biodiversity and the reduction of forest areas. Previous research [1] indicated that most rubber plantation owners and rubber wood consumers in Thailand did not fully understand the principles, criteria, and indicators of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and that in Forest Management (FM) certification auditors need to process a request for Corrective Action Requests (CARs) or suspend certificates in some cases. Therefore, this research aimed to develop an appropriate manual for rubber plantation owners and rubber wood consumers in Thailand for obtaining the FSC standards. Secondary data of the forest management certification system at the international level, including organizations, certification process, and FSC certification standards, were analysed and related to data at the national level (i.e., laws, regulations and status of rubber plantations in economic, social and environmental dimensions). The consistency and limitations of FSC principles, criteria, and indicators in certificates issued in Thailand were also analysed. A manual, with recommendations for compliance with FSC standard, was developed. It consists of five chapters: 1) FSC definition; 2) FSC scoping; 3) FSC evaluation and surveillance; 4) FSC scoping assessment; and 5) implementations in accordance with FSC standards. This knowledge had been shared through workshops with the rubber plantation owners, rubber wood consumers, staff of the Rubber Authority of Thailand, and other organizations. In total, over 150 people attended the workshops in the following locations: Songkla, Surat Thani, Rayong, and Bangkok. The workshops aimed to develop the participant skills to request for FSC: FM certification.