202412/11
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FANCA) of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has promoted sustainable forest management and actively introduced the international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification system since 2018. After five years, the national forests under the jurisdiction of FANCA’s eight regional branches have finally all received obtained the FSC certification. Taiwan has almost 1.6 million hectares of certified forest land, accounting for 71.5% of the country’s forest area—the highest certification ratio among countries in Asia. The FANCA held a results presentation today (12/11). Special guests included Cindy Cheng, FSC Regional Director for Asia Pacific, Tsao Chi-Hung, former Director of the Council of Agriculture, Tien Chiu-Chin, member of the Control Yuan, and representatives of the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, who attended the event in person, opening a new chapter for sustainable forest management in Taiwan.
Lin Hwa-Ching, Director General of the FANCA, said that Taiwan once relied on imports for more than 99% of its timber consumption, of which at least 30% came from natural forests in tropical countries. However, since Taiwan actually has quite a large area of plantation forests, domestic production can be improved with proper management, thus increasing timber self-sufficiency and reducing reliance on natural tropical forests. This can also lower energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with trans-oceanic transportation of timber. However, with many members of the public showing reservations about logging, it was necessary to first gain the trust and support of society before the management and harvest of plantation forests could begin. Therefore, after Director General Lin took office, he followed the policies of former director Tsao Chi-Hung and actively introduced the most rigorous international standards—the FSCTM certification system. Based on the 10 principles and 70 guidelines formulated by the FSC, the standards ensure that forestry production is carried out on the basis of environmental sustainability, including pre-evaluation and post-monitoring of all forest operations to prevent irreversible damage to the local ecosystem. At the same time, the standards dictate that operations must respect the culture and interests of local indigenous people and protect labor rights, take into account the opinions of stakeholders, publish social and environmental monitoring data every six months, and listen to the opinions and needs of all sectors to review and revise the forest management plan, striving to comply with the spirit of sustainability.
Tsao Chi-Hung recalled that when he was the director of the Council of Agriculture, he proposed the policy of "sustainable utilization of forestry resources." This included promoting production forests to comply with international FSC standards, and deepening the spirit of the Satoyama Initiative to move towards "small and beautiful" forestry development, taking into account both conservation and sustainable utilization. Timber is not the only forest product produced under sustainable forest management, which can also include non-wood forest products, such as mushrooms and forest honey. These are all forest products and have been proven to come from sustainably-managed forest lands, which is more in line with the trend of international forestry management.
Cindy Cheng, FSC Regional Director for Asia Pacific, who came specially from Hong Kong to attend the event, said that the FSC is one of the most rigorous forest management systems recognized internationally, with a strong emphasis on the balance between environment, society, and economy. The 10 principles and 70 guidelines formulated by the FSC establish a set of globally recognized forest management standards that can correspond to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, 160 million hectares of forest land around the world have obtained the FSC certification, while Taiwan has 10 forest management units with about 1.58 million hectares of forests that are FSC certified. In the future, the purchase of FSC-labeled forest products is also encouraged to support responsible and sustainable forest management.
Lin Hwa-Ching emphasized that the full FSCTM certification of all national forests signifies a pivotal moment, ushering in a new chapter for Taiwan's forestry sector. Based on this, the FANCA has launched a number of new sustainable forest management strategies including timber and non-timber production. In addition to continuing to promote FSC-compliant forestry production, the FANCA will also provide guidance and incentives for private forests to participate in the certification, as well as promote the use of construction-standard domestic timber and the full utilization of wood. Furthermore, it will promote the revitalization of the bamboo industry, expand the under-forest economy and the high-value utilization of non-wood products, and forest therapy to promote the development of diversified forest industries. In addition to encouraging the public to purchase Taiwan Wood-labeled timber and FSC-labeled forest products, the FANCA is also actively promoting the introduction of desks and chairs produced from domestic wood into schools, developing wood education in elementary and junior high schools, thus enabling the concepts of carbon reduction and sustainable plantation forest management to take root and integrate into daily life.