Challenges for Sustainable Timber Production and Export for Tropical Countries: Perspectives from th


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Challenges for Sustainable Timber Production
and Export for Tropical Countries Perspectives
from the Asia-Pacific Region

• ____________________________
• Nirmal Andrews
  Regional Director and Representative
  UNEP-ROAP

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Forests and Forest-Based Trade in
Asia-PacificSome Facts and Figures

• State of the Forests
• 18.8 of worlds forests in Asia-Pacific
• Average per capita availability of forest area in
  the region _at_ 0.2 hectares average of 0.65 ha/person
• Within Asia deforestation rates highest in SE
  Asia with 23 million ha lost in the past decade
  almost half of all forested land
• Driving forces of deforestation include
  population pressure heavy dependence on
  fuelwood timber and non-timber forest products
  as well as conversion to agricultural industrial
  and urban land
• Forest-Based Trade
• Forest-based trade contributes 2 of GDP of world
  economy (4 or higher in tropical exporting
  countries)
• Indonesia and Malaysia the only tropical
  countries ranked among the top 10 exporters of
  Timber and other Forest Products (FAO 1997)
• Increasing shift in production and export of
  timber sourced through sustainably managed
  forests in conformance with the ITTOs Year 2000
  objective

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Sustainable Forest Management and Trade
Evolution and Application

• Origins of certification and establishment of the
  FSC
• Growing acceptance of the concept and objective
  of certification as a voluntary means to identify
  timber / timber products from sustainably managed
  forests
• Growing dissatisfaction among tropical timber
  exporting countries on the criteria and process
  by which certification is granted
• The irony While the impetus for certification
  arose from concerns over tropical deforestation
  certification is mostly expanding in the
  developed countries

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Snapshot Status of Global Forest Certification
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Snapshot Status of Regional Forest Certification
Total Certified Area by Land
Type
Communal
Public
2.1
Private
Type
Plantation
72.6
Plantation
/ Natural
7.2
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Certification Some Key Issues and Concerns for
Developing Countries

• Domination of FSC and its influence on market
  demand for certification according to its own
  criteria and standards
• Multiple requirements of different markets and
  buyers on the type of certification acceptable
• Lack of progress towards mutual recognition of a
  growing number of certification schemes in both
  developed and particularly developing countries
  (e.g Indonesia Malaysia PNG)
• Potential threat to certification posed by WTO
  rules Discrimination b/w sustainably and
  unsustainably harvested timber regarded as a
  trade restriction

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Particular Challenges Faced by Small Forest
Enterprises (1)

• Two basic challenges
• A) getting certified and
• B) getting certification to work in their
  favour
• A) Constraints faced in order to get certified
• High cost of certification
• Compliance with rigorous standards
• Access to certification services
• Certification Success Stories
• Deramakot Forest Reserve in Sabah Malaysia
• Community based forest cooperative in Philippines

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Particular Challenges Faced by Small Forest
Enterprises (2)

• B) Getting certification is the lesser challenge-
  Reaping the benefits of certification is the far
  greater challenge
• Proportion of timber exports from certified
  forests increasing much more rapidly in developed
  countries resulting in no significant increase in
  market share for developing country producers
• Research indicates that there is little
  willingness to pay price premia for certified
  timber amongst consumers in developed countries
  the demand is generated primarily from bulk
  buyers and retailers to green their image and
  thereby gain a competitive edge
• Reluctance by the tropical timber industry to
  increase the cost of (certified) timber as this
  may encourage further substitution by temperate
  timber and non-timber substitutes

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Conclusion and Recommendations (1)

• Bottom line
• Certification appears to be a necessary but not
  sufficient condition for the tropical timber
  trade to benefit from improved market access and
  price premia where applicable

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Conclusion and Recommendations (2)

• Suggested Next Steps
• Support should be provided for tailored capacity
  building to exporting developing countries
  including institutional strengthening
  stakeholder participation auditing systems
  training and better understanding of the
  benefits/limitations of certification
• Major internationally recognized certification
  schemes (such as FSC) should actively promote
  mutual recognition of other schemes particularly
  national schemes from developing countries which
  take into account country-specific and realistic
  guidelines for sustainable forest management

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Conclusion and Recommendations (3)

• Suggested Next Steps
• Dialogue and cooperation should be intensified
  between producer and buyer groups in developed
  and developing countries with a focus on
  educating all stakeholders and particularly the
  consumers about the principles and complexities
  of SFM and certification
• Developing countries should also shift some of
  their focus on high-growth markets for timber
  such as Brazil China Japan and South Korea
  where certification may not be required but
  could provide a competitive edge in the
  longer-term

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Thank You for your kind attention !!