The Telangana State Forest Development Corporation (TSFDC) recently in the month of February, 2023 received the approval to use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)’s certification. The certification will be used on the Forest department’s logo on natural bamboo, nuts and round wood. Paper, tetra packs and mixed wood manufactured from forest products have the approval to use the certification, officials told Telangana Forest Minister, A Indrakaran Reddy.
The Forest department can use the certification for a period of five years. The FSC certification is set to boost the brand image of TSFDC products. “Measures will be taken up to increase the revenue further and the same would be utilized in executing measures for effective conservation of forests” said Indrakaran Reddy. The media report indicates that the usage of FSC certification has been approved for the trees being raised in Kothagudem, Paloncha and Sathupally divisions in about 45,000 acres.
It is to be noted that India is a biodiversity rich tropical country with 80.90 million hectares of forest and tree cover, now has a country specific FSC Forest Stewardship Standard. The standard becomes effective from 01 September 2022.This is the first opportunity for Indian forests and plantations to be audited against India-specific indicators of FSC to confirm forests are being managed sustainably with social and economic values considered.
The FSC Forest Stewardship Standard (FSS) for India applies to all categories of Management Units, including small or low intensity managed forests (SLIMFs), operating in all forest types (including natural forests and plantations). It also includes all important plant-based non-timber forest products, as described in section 2.2 ‘Scope’ of the standard. India has 146 million operational land holdings with 86% of these being less than two hectares, including 25 million hectares of agroforestry land mostly owned by smallholders. With the new FSS, these landowners can now access the market with growing demand for FSC timber upon getting certified.
The process for developing India-specific forest management standard started in 2016 with the formation of chamber-balanced standard development group. The FSS for India was developed over a period of more than five years which involved experts from academia, researchers and civil society as well as representative forest managers, wood-based industries, environmental NGOs and smallholders. The standard has gone through two intensive public consultations and elaborate field testing in representative forest areas. It will pave way for internationally benchmarked but nationally adapted standard for responsible forest management in India.
FSC India Country Director Dr. Suresh Gairola stated that India specific standards for responsible forest management will be a watershed for forest management in India because of the benefit to society as a whole by bringing in all forest owners including smallholders in the FSC system so we can support the sustainability of their land. “We are grateful to those who spent years to bring this all into fruition. We are confident that this standard has effectively maintained the delicate balance between delivering on social, economic and environmental values. With this FSS in place, we expect to witness hugely positive change in how forests are managed and utilized in India,” he added.