The status of forest certification in the Canadian value-added wood products manufacturing sector

Abstract

With forest certification on the rise in Canada, a nation-wide mail survey was implemented in 2004 to gain insight into the attitudes of value-added wood products manufacturers towards certification. The majority of firms in this sector (64.8%) were not interested in forest certification, and only 17.6% were involved with forest certification at the time of the survey. Another 17.6% did express interest in becoming involved within the next five years. Low levels of knowledge and awareness regarding forest certification and a perceived lack of consumer demand for certified forest products were identified as factors contributing to the significant lack of interest in adopting certification. Although uptake remains limited, a cluster analysis identified a sizeable segment of manufacturers (43.5%) that has a "wait and see" attitude towards forest certification pending future developments in consumer markets. Logistic regression indicated that manufacturer interest in forest certification is linked to both awareness of chain of custody certification and a belief that certification can act as a competitive differentiation tool. Canadian value-added wood products manufacturers that are currently engaged or interested in forest certification tend largely to be ethically motivated and expressed concerns about the future health of forests and sustainable forest management. However, these same respondents were generally doubtful about the ability of forest certification to provide short-term financial gains. Key words: forest certification, chain of custody, value-added wood products manufacturers, Canada