GreenLink Forest Stewards - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

About This Presentation
Title:

GreenLink Forest Stewards

Description:

GreenLink Forest Stewards Landowner Guidelines For FSC Group Membership * * * * * * * * What If You Are Interested? Understanding this presentation is Step #1, ask ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:113
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 36
Provided by: ChedK
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: GreenLink Forest Stewards


1
GreenLink Forest Stewards
  • Landowner Guidelines For FSC Group Membership

2
Concern for the Environment
  • Wealth effect --- Affluence allows one to be
    concerned about things other than filling ones
    stomach.
  • Health effect --- Concern about where the
    products we consume come from, organic food has
    now trickled over into organic wood.
  • Population effect --- Concern about whether our
    planet can sustainably support continue
    population growth what will be the impacts on
    the overall environment and aesthetic qualities
    of life.

3
What is GreenLink?
  • GreenLink Forest Resources LLC was founded by
    Chester Kearse Jr. to serve as the group entity
    or group manager for the GreenLink Forest
    Stewards Group, a Forest Stewardship Council
    (FSC) certified group.
  • The GreenLink Forest Stewards group offers cost
    effective FSC certification and chain-of-custody
    for small and medium size landowners.
  • GreenLink offers truly independent FSC Group
    Certification because there is no direct
    affiliation whatsoever with any industry,
    conservation, or forestland management
    organization.

4
Who is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)?
  • Established in 1993 in response to concerns about
    global deforestation especially tropical
    hardwoods.
  • World Wildlife Fund (UK) unhappiness with the
    Earth Summit of 1992 in Rio.
  • Disappointment with world wide governments to
    reach consensus led to an independent,
    non-governmental, not-for-profit type structure.
  • Worldwide with a Democratic structured General
    Assembly. (Environmental, Social, Economic
    chambers, equal representation between Northern
    Southern Hemispheres)
  • FSC has few employees. It sets standards and
    authorizes certifiers. Landowners hires
    Certifiers or 3rd Party Auditors.
  • 361 million acres certified worldwide.

5
Why FSC Certification?
  • Our regions paper mills need FSC certified fiber
    to maintain market share. FSC is unique from SFI
    with FSC holding a 4 to 1 advantage in
    marketplace.
  • Brand identification for forest commodity
    products. GreenLinks certifying body is
    Smartwood (Rainforest Alliance) so FSC and RA
    trademarks are available.
  • FSC is a worldwide recognized forest stewardship
    standard, particularly by conservation groups.
  • Independent 3rd party audits assure landowners
    that their property is well-managed, provides
    strong back-up for land managers.
  • Certification can be useful for conservation
    easements or entering new markets such as carbon
    credits.

6
Certified Acres by Region 2011
Region Total Forest Ac. SFI Certified Tree Farm Certified FSC Certified
Minn., Wis., Mich. 52.2 mil 16.0 mil 3.6 mil 17.0 mil
Maine, NH, New York 41.2 mil 7.6 mil 1.8 mil 6.6 mil
La., Ark., Miss. 52.7 mil 7.9 mil 4.1 mil 1.8 mil
Ga., SC, NC 56 mil 4.7 mil 3.4 mil 17,320 ac total !!!
7
The Power of Branding
  • Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
  • Rainforest Alliance Smartwood Program

8
October 10, 2011 Kimberly-Clark Becomes First
U.S. Branded Consumer Tissue Maker to Adopt
Forest Stewardship Council's Sustainable Fiber
Sourcing Standards Kleenex and Scott Naturals
Brand Consumer Products Carry FSC Label DALLAS,
October 10, 2011-Kimberly-Clark Corporation
(NYSE KMB) today announced it is the first U.S.
tissue maker to offer branded consumer tissue
products that meet the rigorous sustainable
sourcing requirements of the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC). Kimberly-Clark's Kleenex brand
facial tissue and Scott Naturals brand products
sold in North America now include fiber sourced
from suppliers who have been independently
certified to follow the highest standards in
forestry management while also protecting high
conservation-value forests and habitat. Consumers
can now identify FSC-certified Kleenex and Scott
brand products by the FSC label on every
package. "This action is a major milestone in
K-C's sustainability journey and a significant
step forward in the consumer adoption of
FSC-certified fiber for bathroom tissue, facial
tissue and paper towels," said Suhas Apte, vice
president - global sustainability. "K-C's
commitment to FSC certification for its Kleenex
and Scott Naturals brands will grow the demand
for sustainably sourced fiber and will encourage
more suppliers to practice responsible forest
management."
9
Why Group Certification?
  • Because of the cost to hire third-party auditors,
    group membership is the only cost effective means
    for a small landowner to become certified
  • The group manager and his personnel are available
    to offer advice and make recommendations to aid
    in compliance with FSC principles and criteria.
  • Recordkeeping and auditing is managed at the
    group level saving landowners/managers time.
  • Potential exists in marketing efforts as the
    GreenLink Forest Stewards Group that is part of
    the Smartwood program.

10
How does GreenLink Function?
  • GreenLink Forest Resources LLC is Group Manager
    and FSC Group Certificate holder. (SW-FM/COC
    005677)
  • Group manager acts only as the gatekeeper or
    liaison with the Certifying Body (Smartwood) and
    FSC.
  • Landowner and/or resource professional are
    responsible for their own individual forestland
    management.
  • Group manager informs, advises, and inspects to
    make sure standards are being met by landowners.
  • Group manager maintains the group records, pays
    for audits and provides the chain-of-custody to
    the members of the GreenLink Forest Stewards
    Group.

11
What Benefits does a Landowner Receive?
  • Inexpensive FSC Chain-of-Custody certification
    may or may not command a premium in the
    marketplace.
  • Detailed record keeping archive by GreenLink.
    Harvest monitoring and management activity
    reports required yearly.
  • Third-party review by GreenLink personnel and
    independent FSC auditors continuous improvement
    and peer reviewed back-up for land managers that
    is strictly confidential.
  • Access to a region specific forest management
    reference document that smaller landowners can
    refer to for detailed information regarding
    topics such as growth yield, integrated pest
    management, silvicultural procedures, BMPs, soil
    type determination, as examples.

12
What Landowners Does GreenLink Serve?
  • GreenLink is approved to operate in the Coastal
    Plain and Piedmont regions of Georgia, South
    Carolina and North Carolina.
  • GreenLink is divided into 2 subsets for auditing
    and management purposes. 1) Small Family Forests
    lt1000 ha (2470acres) and 2) Large Landowner
    subset, 2470 acres up to 20,000 acres. 70 acres
    is the minimum size forest eligible for
    membership.
  • Only forested acres are certified on a property
    and each legal entity is considered a unique
    forest.
  • All forms of private ownership are eligible.
  • The forest must be a working forest.
  • GreenLink reserves the exclusive right to
    determine membership.

13
What does membership cost?
  • One time initial enrollment, assessment and
    certification fee of 1.00 per forested acre.
  • Annual management fee (currently .35/acre) that
    is fixed for a five-year period following
    enrollment.
  • Example 650 acre tract has a GIS map showing
    600 acres of timberland and 50 acres of fields,
    pond and cabin. Therefore 600 acres are FSC
    certified.
  • Year 1 600 acres X 1.35/acre 810
  • Year 2 600 acres X .35/acre 210
  • Year 3 600 acres X .35/acre 210
  • Year 4 600 acres X .35/acre 210
  • Year 5 600 acres X .35/acre 210
  • Total Cost over first 5 years 1,650/5yrs/600ac.
  • Average Annual Cost .55/acre/year

14
What Does the Group Manager Do?
  • Organizes and maintains the Group to FSC
    standards
  • Develops and maintains the procedures for Group
    operation.
  • Maintains the records of the group and
    specifically archives the monitoring reports of
    individual members.
  • Assists and trains landowners and their forestry
    professionals with compliance issues.
  • Arranges and pays for third-party audits, group
    certification.
  • Assists in broad marketing efforts for the group.
  • Monitors individual group members compliance.

15
What are the Landowner Responsibilities?
  • Manage his/her property to FSC standards.
  • Contact the Group Manager for clarification if
    uncertainties arise about the appropriateness of
    a forest management practice.
  • Make their property and forest management records
    (non-proprietary information only) available to
    GreenLink and/or third-party auditor(s).
  • Sign required membership participation documents.
  • Remit membership fees in a timely manner.
  • Assess and formally report management activities
    on at least a yearly basis.

16
How is FSC different from Tree Farm or SFI
Certification?
  • Because FSC was developed with the third-world
    tropical forests in mind, it places more emphasis
    on the social aspects of forest management. Ie.
    outside stakeholders, benefits to the community,
    labor.
  • Monitoring is a major component of the FSC
    system.
  • Proof of sustainability, ie. allowable cut
    determination and implementation is very
    important.
  • Plantation forestry is tricky with FSC,
    covertype conversion not allowed in most cases.

17
FSC has 10 Principles of Forest Stewardship
versus Tree Farms 8 Standards of Sustainability
  • FSC
  • Compliance with Laws, FSC
  • Tenure Use Rights
  • Indigenous Peoples Rights
  • Community Relations, Workers Rights
  • Benefits from the Forest
  • Environmental Impact
  • Management Plan
  • Monitoring Assessment
  • Maintenance of HCVF
  • Plantations
  • Tree farm
  • Commitment to Sustainable Forestry
  • Compliance with Laws
  • Reforestation Afforestation
  • Air, Water, and Soil Protection
  • Fish, Wildlife and Biodiversity
  • Protection of Biological Biodiversity
  • Protection of Special Sites
  • Forest Aesthetics

18
How are the FSC Principles analyzed for
compliance?
  1. Each Principle has numerous criteria that are
    used to judge whether a Principle is being met.
  2. For each criterion, then there are indicators or
    specific variables that tell whether a criterion
    is met in a regional context and that also
    specifically states desired management outcomes.
  3. Finally a verifier is an example of a way in
    which a forest management condition can be
    assessed to determine whether an indicator has
    been met.

19
Example of a Principle being met.
  • Principle 5 Benefits from the Forest (Forest
    Management operations shall encourage the
    efficient use of the forests multiple products
    and services to ensure economic viability and a
    wide range of environmental social benefits.)
    Focus is on making efficient use of harvested
    resources and maintaining the capacity of the
    forest to provide long-term economic, social and
    environmental benefits.
  • Criterion 5.6 The rate of harvest of forest
    products shall not exceed levels which can be
    permanently sustained.
  • Indicator 5.6a Sustained Yield harvest level
    documented in management plan. Verifier Mgmt
    plan, is info correct?
  • Indicator 5.6b Average annual harvest levels,
    over 10 year rolling periods, do not exceed
    calculated sustained yield. Verifier Audit of
    yearly activity reports to calculate harvest
    levels.

20
Things you must know.
  • FSC Principles
  • Audit Process
  • Management Plan requirements
  • Monitoring requirements
  • Chain-of-Custody requirements
  • Leaving the Group
  • Corrective Action Request Process (CAR)
  • Suspension or Expulsion
  • Complaints Process

21
FSC Principles
  1. Compliance with Laws and FSC Principles
    Forest Management shall respect all applicable
    laws of the country (USA) in which they occur and
    international treaties to which the country (USA)
    is a signatory, and comply with all FSC
    Principles and Criteria.

22
  1. Tenure and Use Rights and Responsibilities
    Long term tenure and use rights to the land and
    forest resources shall be clearly defined,
    documented and legally established.
  2. Indigenous Peoples Rights
    The legal and customary rights of
    indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their
    lands and resources shall be recognized and
    respected.
  3. Community Relations and Workers Rights
    Forest management operations shall maintain or
    enhance the long-term social and economic well
    being of forest workers and local communities.

23
  1. Benefits from the Forest
    Forest management operations shall
    encourage the efficient use of the forests
    multiple products and services to ensure economic
    viability and a wide range of environmental and
    social benefits.
  2. Environmental Impacts
    Forest management shall conserve
    biological diversity and its associated values,
    water resources, soils, and unique and fragile
    ecosystems and landscapes, and, by so doing,
    maintain the ecological functions and integrity
    of the forest.

24
  • Management Plan
    A management plan appropriate to
    scale and intensity of operations shall be
    written, implemented and kept up-to-date. The
    long-term objectives of management, and the means
    of achieving them, shall be clearly defined.
  • Monitoring and Assessment
    Monitoring shall be conducted appropriate
    to scale and intensity of management to assess
    the conditions of forest, yields of forest
    products, chain-of-custody, management
    activities, and their social and environmental
    impacts.

25
  1. Maintenance of High Conservation Value Forests
    (HCVF)
    Management activities in high conservation
    value forests shall maintain or enhance the
    attributes which define such forests. Decisions
    regarding HCVFs shall always be considered in
    the context of a precautionary approach.
  2. Plantations
    In addition to compliance with
    the above principles, plantations should
    complement the management of, reduce pressures on
    and promote the restoration and conservation of
    natural forests.

26
Audit Process
  • Auditing for compliance is the key aspect of any
    forest certification scheme.
  • Forest Stewardship Council sets out Principles
    and Criteria while independent certifying bodies
    approved by FSC actually perform the auditing.
    GreenLink uses Smartwood.
  • You must allow GreenLink and Smartwood access to
    your property for audit inspections.
  • Properties selected for audit in the GreenLink
    Forest Stewards Group for a particular year are
    random and based on a statistical sampling model.
  • Information collected during an audit is strictly
    confidential and auditors or GreenLink personnel
    have no legal rights or jurisdiction over a
    landowner whatsoever.

27
Management Plan Requirements(Appropriate to
Scale)
  • Management Objectives
  • Description of forest resources land use and
    ownership status, socio-economic conditions,
    profile of adjacent lands
  • Detailed stand maps including protected sites.
  • Calculation of growth, annual harvest rates,
    species selection
  • Silvicultural systems and harvest method
    justification.
  • Provisions for monitoring growth and activities.
  • Environmental safeguards required, ex. BMPs.
  • Plans for identifying and protecting
    rare,threatened or endangered species. Also
    protection of cultural sites.

28
Monitoring Requirements
  • Internal Group Monitoring vs. Property Level
    Reporting
  • Internal Group Monitoring is conducted by
    GreenLink personnel to verify compliance, educate
    and advise, so that potential problems are
    avoided during the formal audit process. Large
    Landowners are visited yearly while the smallest
    landowners will be visited at least once over a 3
    year period.
  • Property level monitoring and reporting is done
    by Landowners or their Forestry Professionals. A
    yearly forest activities report is required and a
    harvest report/checklist must be filed with
    GreenLink after each individual harvest
    operation.

29
Chain - of - Custody
  • Chain-of-Custody (COC) refers to the process of
    tracking forest products from individual forests
    into the production process so that end-users can
    be assured the wood products they purchase are
    from sustainable, certifed forests.
  • You will be entitled to use the GreenLink Forest
    Stewards (COC) number.
  • However, you must follow exactly the rules
    involving contracts and/or purchase orders as
    outlined in the GreenLink Member Handbook to
    assure the integrity of the process.

30
If You Wish to Leave the Group
  • You may choose to leave the Group at any time
    with no obligations whatsoever. However
    membership and management fees will not be
    refunded by GreenLink.
  • If you choose to move to another FSC group then
    GreenLink will assist in file transfers.
  • If you choose to leave, then a letter stating the
    reasons for withdrawal and the date of effective
    withdrawal is required

31
Corrective Action Request (CAR)
  • This is a formal process to address landowner
    deficiencies found by a GreenLink Internal
    Monitor or Certifying Body Auditor.
  • GreenLink Manager follows 3 Steps 1)
    Formally record the problem and communicate with
    the landowner or representative. 2) Follow-up
    with Landowner to see that he has studied the
    problem and has a plan for resolution. 3)
    Confirmation that the problem has been resolved.
  • A CAR Form is issued to the Landowner so that all
    the details of the problems are outlined and the
    process followed correctly.

32
Suspension or Expulsion
  • Failure to correct a CAR, failure to pay fees,
    improper use of the chain-of-custody number are
    examples of issues that may warrant suspension or
    expulsion.
  • Member will be notified by certified letter and
    60 day suspension starts immediately. Manager
    has option to extend suspension longer than 60
    days. Chain-of-Custody cannot be used while in
    suspension.
  • If a member cannot rectify the problem then
    expulsion occurs.

33
Complaints
  • If a Group Member has a complaint against the
    Group Manager then he/she can submit the
    complaint in writing and with a follow-up phone
    call.
  • The Group Manager will respond within 30 days.
  • If the Member is not satisfied with the response,
    then the Member and Manager will abide by the
    decision of the Complaint Resolution Committee, a
    committee made up of 3 retired forestry
    professionals not affiliated in any other way
    with GreenLink.
  • The Complaint Resolution Committee will also be
    called upon for consultation should outside
    parties file a complaint against the entire Group

34
What If You Are Interested?
  1. Understanding this presentation is Step 1, ask
    questions !!!!
  2. Show you can meet the pre-enrollment criteria
    including a management plan that meets FSC
    requirements.
  3. Review the GreenLink Handbook understand and ask
    more questions about how the group operates.
  4. Finally, there is an on-the-ground inspection of
    the property by the GreenLink Group Manager to
    assess eligibility before sign-up.

35
In Summary
  • If you are a good Land Steward, do not mind
    paperwork, and would like peer review of your
    forest management, then FSC certification may be
    something to consider.
  • It seems to be the way the world is going and our
    paper companies need to source more and more FSC
    wood fiber in a region with little currently
    available.
  • GreenLink Forest Stewards offers a cost effective
    and independent way to obtain FSC certification.
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com