Forest Certification in South Africa

The South African forestry industry is predominantly based on plantation forestry. More than 80 percent of the plantations were certified in a market-driven certification process during the late 1990s and early 2000s. As a net exporter of forestry products, South Africa’s procurement of new markets and securing of existing markets were critical. The forestry industry saw certification as a marketing tool and accepted it fairly easily. What makes this certification effort even more remarkable was that it took place without a national FSC standard and with very little government intervention. Certification audits are conducted according to certification body generic checklists, while government is still developing a set of minimum standards for sustainable plantation management. Some of the constraints to certification include the large number of small-scale timber growers (who find it difficult to cope with the costs of certification and to comply with the management standards set by certification), the absence of a national standard, and high HIV/AIDS infection rates that could influence the future sustainability of forestry operations. The positive impacts of certification are manifest in more environmentally sustainable forestry operations and a heightened social awareness amongst foresters. The forestry industry has accepted certification as a selfregulatory tool to ensure the sustainability of its operations and foresters are increasingly embracing certification and incorporating it in their management systems. forest certification in south africa yale school of forestry & environmental studies 479