Do Sustainable Forest Managements Affect Forest Conservation?

Abstract

This study examined the effect of sustainable forest management schemes on forest conservation using remote sensing data on forest change. We applied fixed effect models focusing on two major sustainable forest management schemes: the Forest Stewardship Council and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. The regression results showed that, contrary to findings from previous research, expansion of the sustainable forest management area was uncorrelated with forest loss when the fixed effects of country and time were controlled. Our findings were robust to different types of forest definition and to country groups restricted by OECD or non-OECD membership. Our estimations suggested that sustainable forest management increased forest loss in non-certified forest areas, indicating the existence of leakage of forest loss from certified to non-certified forest areas. These findings imply that leakage effects should be considered when implementing forest management or protected forest schemes.