Abstract
The Forest Stewardship Council initiated a Forest Certification for Ecosystem Services (ForCES) project from 2011 to 2017 to improve and promote sustainable forest management addressing a range of ecosystem services. Three sites in Indonesia were included in the pilot. Whilst the development of the certification standard was largely the result of a partnership between the certification standard organization, civil society and research organizations, implementation and monitoring of the impact of this sustainability standard will entail interactions with state regulations. This study examined how voluntary certification, other market-based approaches and state regulations concerning ecosystem services in Indonesia interplay, particularly in the agenda setting and negotiation stage. Using the conceptual lenses of transition theory and state and non-state market-based governance, interrelationships between ecosystem services certification and regulations were found to be complementary and antagonistic. The majority of interrelations were complementary and supporting. However, antagonism exists where regulations do not address multiple land uses and when there are contradictions in how state regulations define ecosystem services. There was limited state involvement in developing the ecosystem services certification standard, with no substitution between the voluntary standard and regulations occurring. To scale and transition this innovatory standard from a niche to a sociotechnical regime level, it is recommended that market-driven governance arrangements at farm, forest concession and landscape level are developed in collaboration with national and local governments. Collaboration can create synergies to incentivize the acceptance, adoption and effectiveness of non-state market driven instruments to positively enhance the conservation of ecosystem services.
Highlights
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organization providing a system for voluntary accreditation and independent third-party certification
The results of the document reviews combined with interviews provide a picture of how ecosystem services are dealt with in state regulations and in non-state market-based standards
Law No 41 defines forests as “a unity of ecosystem in the form of landscape containing biological resources dominated by trees in the natural alliance of its environment, which one cannot be separated”
Summary
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organization providing a system for voluntary accreditation and independent third-party certification This system allows certificate holders to market their forest products and services as the result of environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management. FSC sets the standards for the development and approval of FSC Stewardship Standards, based on the FSC Principles and Criteria and sets standards for the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies ( known as certification bodies) that certify compliance with FSC’s standards. Based on these standards, FSC provides a certification system for organizations seeking to market their forest products as FSC certified. FSC certification recognizes responsible “sustainable” forest management through independently verified compliance with a set of underlying principles, criteria and indicators that delineate the ecological, social, economic and policy impacts resulting from forest management for specific objectives [2]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
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
