The Potential of Sustainable Forestry Certification for Smallholder Tree Growing - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 206

Much controversy also stems from conflicts over land use (e.g., Van den Top 2003),
particularly between the owners of a plantation and the traditional use of the land
by local people. In absence of land tenure, local people may be displaced, leading
to increased deforestation elsewhere (Barney 2004; Nasreen 2007). Because of the
differences in character between natural forests and plantations and the rather spe-
cific requirements for plantations, FSC in Brazil has developed an independent
standard for plantations.
The criteria set out in principle 10 of the international FSC Principles and Criteria,
can be summarized as follows:
1. The objectives of the plantation should be laid down in a management plan.
2. The plantation should help to conserve or restore the natural forest.
3. The plantation should be diverse regarding tree species, and the age and size of
the trees.
4. There should be a preference for native species; monitoring of exotic species and
their impacts.
5. Part of the plantation should be managed to restore the natural forest.
6. The management of the plantation should aim for soil conservation and good
water quality.
7. The management should aim for integrated pest management.
8. The ecological and social impacts of the plantations should be monitored.
9. The plantation should not have been established in areas converted from natural
forests after November 1994.
Criterion 9 may need some explanation. The date refers to the establishment of the
standard and was included to discourage conversion of natural forests into planta-
tions: such plantations cannot be readily certified.
Next, these criteria are expressed in a number of more specific indicators,
which translate into requirements for practical management. These have not yet
been developed for all regions. For instance, the Malaysian Timber Certification
Council (MTCC) has not included criteria for plantations in its standard, and is
now developing a special standard to this end. In Table 10.2, for each criterion
for plantations of the international FSC Principles and Criteria, the indicators
are presented with the Dutch national FSC standard as example (FSC/NL
2004).
In 2005, the total certified forest area increased to about 200 million hectares,
worldwide. Of this total about 6 million hectares pertains to plantations, and a fur-
ther 17 million hectares to mixed plantation-and-natural-forest, certified under FSC
(FSC 2005). Of the plantations, on average 12 percent is covered by natural forest,
clearly scoring beyond compliance with regard to indicator number five. However,
due to the contentious nature of the plantations under FSC, and the need for further
research in this area, a global process has recently been started under the authority
of FSC-International, aiming at a review of the implementation of the environmen-
tal, social and economic criteria for plantations. The final technical phase of this
review is about to begin (cf. www.fsc.org/plantations).