PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 4: Forest Management
Monday, August 8, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 514 A, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Does FSC certification make a difference?
Foster, Bryan*,1, Wang, Deane1, Keeton, William1, 1 University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
ABSTRACT- Forest certification is a rapidly growing program that forest managers often endorse or eschew with little evidence on how certified forests compare ecologically and economically to uncertified forests. This case study compared changes in forest structure on three Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified and three uncertified (conventional) forester-supervised uneven-aged harvests in central Vermont, USA. Comparisons between stump-reconstructed and harvested sites showed that both certified and conventional treatments were light harvests that reduced basal area (23% mean reduction in certified, 30% in conventional) but not tree density. Economically, there were no differences in carbon storage value between the sites. However, certified harvests retained significantly more merchantable Acer saccharum (80% merchantable Acer retained in certified on average, 60% in conventional) for future harvests and snag recruitment. This could lower economic returns, yet reported management efficiencies, coupled with modeled future returns, nearly offset these losses. Ecologically, each of the harvested properties was compared to adjacent uncut reference stands to evaluate down and standing dead wood. Certified stands tended, in some cases significantly, to retain more snags greater than 25 cm dbh for animal habitat and add more coarse woody debris greater than 10 cm diameter for small animal habitat, nutrient recharge and detrital food chains. Overall, the certified properties tended to provide ecological benefits at minor economic cost, but some exceptions to these findings make certification a situation-specific decision.
Key words: Forest certification, Sustainable forestry, Acer saccharum , Forest structure