The Forestry Bureau's Pingtung Forest District Office Yongzai Forestry Co., which is under its guidance, collaborated in applying to the most credible forest certification organization in the world, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), for forest management certification. The Pingtung Forest District Office passed the stringent audit process and obtained the FSC FM certificate. The certificate award ceremony was held at the Forestry Bureau today (Sept. 27th). The certified forest area totals 8,695 hectares. Not only is this the first public-private partnership in Taiwan to acquire such a certification, it is also the largest area to be accepted anywhere in Taiwan so far. In a single stroke, this achievement pushes the total area of FSC-certified forest land in Taiwan past the 10,000-hectare mark.
The Forestry Bureau said that with climate change and deforestation taking effect, revitalizing the forest industry and increasing timber self-sufficiency rates are our responsibilities as a member of the global village. These are also policies that have been actively promoted by the Forestry Bureau in recent years. However, timber production must be based on the foundation of environmental sustainability. Therefore, the FSC certification engaged a third-party verification process to examine whether forest management is able to comply with the principles and criteria set up by FSC. Not only is this an important part of the domestic forest industry revitalization, it is also one of the long-term goals advocated by many environmental protection groups around the world.
Forestry Bureau Director General Lin Hwa-Ching pointed out that the Pingtung Forest District Office obtaining this certification means that national forest management is gradually reaching internationally-recognized standards. In addition to encouraging and subsidizing private enterprises to participate in forest certifications through the Forestry Sustainable Multi-Guidance Program in the future, the Forestry Bureau will also extend the certification scope to other forest district offices. It is also hoped that through the acquisition of FSC certificates, negative stereotypes and doubts about forestry logging & production will be eliminated, and the market competitiveness of domestic timber will also be enhanced.
Bureau Director Lin also said that the participatory model used in this public-private sector partnership allowed sharing the cost of certification fees. What's more, according to FSC standards, to apply for group certification, a management center must be established to be responsible for management and supervision; and therefore, the assistance and guidance of those who have experience and skills assisting other interested applicants can help reduce technical barriers to application. This is a feasible solution for domestic forest owners with relatively small operation scales; and it can also help to expand the scope of sustainable forest management, creating a win-win for industry and public welfare. In addition, FSC-certified products do not only include wood products; other forest by-products such as mushrooms, honey, and bamboo shoots can also be sold with the FSC label as long as they are produced in FSC-certified forests and processing plants. For example, the world's first batch of FSC-certified bag-grown mushrooms in the world was produced by Yongzai Forestry Co. In April of this year (2019), the Forestry Bureau implemented the policy of “developing the optimal under-forest economy based on forest land”; under this policy, for future planned FSC certifications for other individual forest areas, the potential benefits will be maximized by reviewing and more effectively leveraging the distinctive features of local industries.
Pingtung Forest District Office Director Chang Wei-yi further explained that the scope of this certification is located in the Chaozhou business area of national forest. Based on current forest resource status, the District Office designated the Taiwan acacia and the Formosa ash afforestation on the west side as a forest production area. Logged trees will be immediately replanted, to ensure continuous, sustainable management, and pre- and post-operation environmental monitoring will also be carried out. The east side, which adjoins the Central Mountain Range area, is designated as protected area. There, conservation will be the main focus, to avoid human disturbance. The area outside the scope of the application is adjacent to Indigenous reserved land. The FSC certification mainly examines whether the forest management activities have undertaken proper protection and monitoring of the environment, biodiversity, and cultural resources, and whether they have taken into account the rights and interests of surrounding communities and indigenous peoples. These programs have all received consent. The Pingtung Forest District Office was only able to obtain this certification following a full year of preparation and adjustments to past business practices, and implementation of communication with stakeholders.
In addition, as this year coincides with the 25th anniversary of the FSC, and FSC specially designated Ms. Feng Su-e, Director of the FSC Asia Pacific Office, to award the certification. Ms. Feng remarked that FSC is the most recognized forest certification system in the world. At present, FSC-certified forest all over the world has exceeded 200 million hectares. She stated that there are many celebration events around the world taking place today, the 25th anniversary of the FSC's founding. Furthermore, she was also glad to be a part of Taiwan’s participation in this event, contributing to the certification of forest land and contributing to the global environment.
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Last Update Date：12 10 2019
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