FSC Forest Certification Efforts
Thanh Chuong district is one of the localities that implemented the FSC certification program quite early, and has initially achieved good results.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Dai in Hamlet 5, Hanh Lam Commune, Thanh Chuong District shared: My family has 7.4 hectares of acacia, which has been certified as a sustainable forest since May 2023. Thanks to training to raise awareness and techniques, we now know how to take care of acacia according to the correct process, measure and evaluate wood reserves.
The certified area will be contracted by the enterprise to consume the product, so the family can rest assured, taking care of the acacia for a 7-year cycle before selling, with an expected yield of about 170 - 190 tons/ha. Previously, according to the old method, planting acacia every 4 years and cutting it down to sell once, yielding only about 70-80 tons/ha.
Mr. Dang Huu Hanh - Chairman of Hanh Lam Commune People's Committee said: Since the beginning of 2022, people planting forests in Hanh Lam commune have been guided and supported by relevant departments and agencies with documents and procedures to be granted sustainable forest certificates.
By May 2023, Hanh Lam commune had 3,800/4,000 hectares certified as sustainable forests. Previously, relevant sectors had frankly pointed out the major and minor mistakes of households, and forest planting households had to seriously implement the requirements to achieve FSC certification.
Forest areas granted FSC must meet the following criteria: Must have a land use right certificate, seedlings sown by seeds or cuttings; must not use chemicals and fertilizers banned by FSC; strictly follow the production process from planting, care, to harvesting. In addition, no waste must be thrown into the forest, and no vegetation must be burned after harvest.
Mr. Tran Phi Hung - Head of the Department of Agriculture of Thanh Chuong district added: Since 2021, the district has coordinated with units to implement. Up to now, FSC certificates have been granted to over 6,200 hectares, in Thanh Huong commune, Thanh Thuy commune and Thanh Chuong protective forest management board.
Relevant units have organized training courses to support people in improving their capacity in sustainable forest management according to FSC standards; Reviewing and completing FSC certification assessment records. Thanh Chuong Wood Production and Trading Joint Stock Company also supports forest growers with 500,000 VND/ha for the cost of obtaining the certificate.
All FSC-certified areas in the district are purchased by Thanh Chuong Wood Production and Trading Joint Stock Company, so forest growers do not have to worry about traders forcing down prices. This unit also buys the whole tree, including the trunk and top without peeling the bark, which is beneficial for acacia growers, the economic value will increase by 7-10% compared to selling freely outside.
Que Phong is a district with a large area of natural forest (about 17,000 hectares of forest with developed and growing forest) mainly concentrated in Dong Van and Thong Thu communes. In recent times, the local government and relevant agencies have made efforts to coordinate with international organizations to grant sustainable forest management certificates to 837.2 hectares of forest in the area. Accordingly, the forest area granted sustainable forest certificates is exploited sustainably, preserved and cared for.
The certification of sustainable forest management for 837 hectares of bamboo is very meaningful in developing the legal raw material market, bamboo products will have access to the export market, increasing economic value.
Currently, Que Phong district is continuing to coordinate with departments and branches to obtain a certificate of sustainable forest management for the remaining area of lychee trees to develop lychee trees towards export quality.
There are many difficulties
According to the report of the Provincial Forest Protection Department, from 2022 to present, Nghe An province has had 26,184 hectares of forest granted FSC certification out of a total of 170,000 hectares of raw material forest. Specifically: Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district was granted a Sustainable Forest Management Certificate for 2,886 hectares of acacia forest, Thanh Chuong district 6,200 hectares of acacia forest, Le Duy Nguyen forest planting enterprise (Hoang Mai town) 820 hectares, Yen Thanh district 1,980 hectares, Anh Son district 2,823...
Forest areas granted FSC certificates all have enterprises that guarantee the purchase of products. For example, Thanh Chuong Wood Production and Trading Joint Stock Company has cooperated to guarantee the purchase of acacia wood products for Thanh Son, Ngoc Lam, Thanh Huong, Thanh Thinh and Thanh An communes, Thanh Chuong district; An Viet Phat Company guarantees the purchase of products for Dong Thanh and Thinh Thanh communes, Yen Thanh district; Khanh Tam Forest Products Company signed a commitment to purchase raw materials from Que Phong district...
Mr. Nguyen Khac Hai - Head of Forest Use and Development Department (Forestry Sub-Department) said: Being granted a sustainable forest certificate will benefit people in harvesting large timber forests, increasing economic value, especially being signed by businesses to purchase products at stable prices.
However, the FSC certification in the province is still low compared to the total existing forest area. The reason is that Nghe An has many hills and mountains, high slopes, heavy rain causing erosion in planted forest areas, and small-scale, fragmented forest cultivation practices.
Not to mention the long time it takes to plant large timber forests, plus the pressure of economic needs, risks of natural disasters, and markets; in mountainous areas, life is difficult and there is a lack of capital, so many households have not dared to plant large timber forests and convert small timber forests into large timber forests. Those participating in forest planting are not aware or do not clearly see the benefits of forest certification, and are still concerned about the output of certified timber.
Along with that, the forest products processing industry has not developed synchronously, and the chain linkage in production from planting, caring for, and protecting forests to exploitation, production, and product consumption is not sustainable.
To obtain FSC certification requires a large investment, the cost of hiring experts to organize annual FSC certification assessments is quite high, beyond the capacity of small-scale forest growers. Meanwhile, Nghe An has no policy to support forest owners in implementing FSC certification, mainly businesses that purchase acacia wood products support people from 500,000-1,000,000 VND/ha.
Recently, the Provincial People's Committee has worked with localities, businesses and sectors to speed up progress and remove difficulties and obstacles in the process of forest certification. It has directed localities that are implementing forest certification to review the area of planted forests in the area that meets the conditions to introduce to businesses to implement forest certification.
In addition, promote propaganda and guidance on sustainable forest management and forest certification to households and individuals in the area. Continue to attract domestic and foreign investment capital to invest in forest development in the area, in order to effectively use forest resources and forestry land.
It is expected that by the end of 2023, Nghe An will complete the dossier to issue certificates for an additional 4,500 hectares in Tan Ky, Do Luong and Anh Son districts. By 2025, the province will strive to have at least 50,000 hectares of planted forests certified.
FSC certification is issued by the Forest Stewardship Council to encourage exploitation activities in parallel with sustainable development of forest resources. FSC certification contributes to protecting the environment and natural ecological resources. Economically: FSC helps reduce waste from forest resources. Forest products labeled with FSC have high economic value, with economic value 20 - 30% higher than similar products.
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