FSC accredits National Initiatives in Nepal, Norway and Honduras
The National Initiatives in Nepal, Norway and Honduras have achieved FSC accreditation and will lead forest certification efforts in their countries. The accreditation verifies that they meet FSC’s strict requirements and will guide forest owners and companies in the supply chain to support responsible practices and purchasing.
In Nepal, FSC accredited Contact Person Mr. Kumud Shrestha, has already begun the process of establishing a Working Group. The interim group brings a common purpose amongst social, environmental and economic members. It is gathering momentum and undertaking awareness-raising activities.
In Norway, FSC accredited Contact Person Mr. Christian Pedersen is also in the process of establishing an FSC Working Group. Consulting with neighboring FSC Sweden and WWF Sweden to build on their experiences, the interim Working Group is in the process of developing a national standard for Norway. Currently, there is one community managed certified forestry operation and 13 chain of custody certificates in Norway.
In Honduras, the newly accredited FSC Working Group will facilitate the adaptation of FSC’s internationally credible Principles and Criteria to nationally applicable forest management standards. With its 74 individual and organizational members, the Working Group is equitably balanced between the social, environmental and economic chambers.
Established in 1993, the Working Group in Honduras has been active in promoting FSC certification and organized numerous workshops for communities, companies and NGOs. It is particularly active on the grass-roots level, working with forest communities and defining indicators for Small and Low Intensity Managed Forests (SLIMF) in the national context.
One of the first FSC forest management certificates was granted to an operation in Honduras. Over the past decade, tropical Honduras suffered the greatest deforestation rates of any country in Latin America, according to the UN FAO ‘State of the World’s Forests 2007’. Today, 16’175 ha of forests are certified to FSC standards and 7 operations are chain of custody certified.
National Initiatives promote FSC in their countries. They can be a Contact Person or Working Group. They are vital to supporting standard development by engaging stakeholders from the environmental, social and economic interests in active dialogue to find consensus on national definitions of responsible forest management.
To date, FSC is represented in more than 50 countries around the world including in Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America. The contact details for all accredited FSC National Initiatives are available here.
