The Potential of Sustainable Forestry Certification for Smallholder Tree Growing - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 201

of examples of price premiums. The dominance of a small group of large retailers
(see Section 10.3) renders long-term sales agreements very important for the eco-
nomic viability of a forestry company.
There can also be a number of benefits of an even broader nature. These include
an improved business culture leading to higher self esteem in the forestry company,
the option to become a serious player in forest policies and debate, the improve-
ment of forest management by technical or commercial support, improved labour
conditions leading to more safety and better tenure rights for the forest workers, and
the benefit from increased employment (see for instance FSC 2003). And there can
be benefits facilitated by certification for the local infrastructure, like roads, schools
and health centres (Cashore et al. 2006). Interestingly, these additional benefits are
often facilitated by international donor organizations supporting the certification
process. But care is needed not to generalize, because these benefits will not always
be present. For instance, Ahas et al. (2006) found that in Estonia, a consequence of
certification was a decline in hectares available for timber production and a lower
production pro hectare, resulting in fewer jobs.
Finally, new benefits may arise in connection with the biomass-for-energy and cli-
mate policies. Both the US and the EU give much support to the production of ethanol
and biodiesel from biomass, although these programs are increasingly challenged
because of their rather low effectiveness in CO 2 reduction (Farrell et al. 2006; Johnson
and Heinen 2007) and because of their competition with food production and natural
forests. Indeed, it can be observed that palm oil plantations are replacing old growth
forests in Kalimantan on a large scale (http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/oil_
for_ape_summary.pdf). A requirement for biofuels to come from certified plantations
may help to militate against this increasing threat to biodiversity and indigenous peo-
ples. In the current first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012) in the
framework of the Clean Development Mechanism, only timber from afforestation and
reforestation is eligible for carbon emission rights (Manguiat et al. 2005). It must be
ensured that this will only pertain to certified plantations, under the requirement that
reforestation does not replace recently converted natural forest.
We conclude that at the level of forest management, the main effects of certifica-
tion relate to improved market access and sales agreements. Benefits due to price
premiums cannot be generally expected, but this may change with the development
of well-organized niche markets. International donors can help to facilitate the
transition process; they do not provide economic sustainability, but they can pro-
vide a number of indirect benefits. Potentials in the framework of sustainable
energy and climate policy have to be explored.

10.5 Development of Sustainable Forestry Certification

Forestry certification is a process that developed because it was broadly supported
by a number of parties. Although it is first of all a private scheme supported by
stakeholders in the value chain, national governments also provide substantial