Use of Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management

Presented by

Bhagya Karunathilaka

Forests are managed for maintaining a healthy forest compatible with the owner objectives to maximum utilisation of the land ensuring the continuous outcome. In 1992 the Earth summit, the United Nations Conference Environmental Development focused on the importance of Sustainable Forest Management as a key component of sustainable development under its Chapter 11: Forest Principles for Sustainable Development in Agenda 21

Sustainable Forest Management addresses forest degradation and deforestation while increasing direct benefits to people and the environment. Criteria and Indicators are powerful tools in promoting Sustainable Forest Management by defining, guiding, monitoring and assessing the progress towards Sustainable forest management in a given context. In 1990, International Tropical Timber Organization initiated these Criteria and indicators

A criterion is a standard that a thing is judged by and an indicator is any variable can be used to infer performance which indicates the change in a direction of a criterion. Indicators can be defined in Quantitative, Qualitative or Descriptive manner. Present global initiatives of Criteria and Indicators are ITTO, Pan-European Forest, Montreal, Tarapoto, Dry Zone Africa, Near East, ATO and Central American processes.

Roles of criteria and indicators can be identified in International and/or regional scale, National and sub-national level and in Forest management unit level such as Supporting international forest policy deliberations and negotiations on issues related to Sustainable Forest management; Providing a basis for collecting, categorizing, analyzing, reporting, and  representing information the state of forests and their management; Describing, monitoring and  reporting on the national forest trends and changes; Assessing progress towards Sustainable Forest Management and identify emerging threats and weaknesses; and A basis for developing forest certification systems, etc.

There are seven common themes of Criteria and Indicators as Enabling Conditions for Sustainable forest management; Forest Resource Security; Forest Ecosystem Health and Conditions; Flow of Forest Products; Biological Diversity; Soil and water and Economic, social and culture aspect.

In the Asian context, Bhutan Has formulated general principles to guide its forest management plans but has no yet developed detailed Criteria and Indicators. China, A member of both ITTO and the Montreal process, is actively developing national and sub-national-level Criteria and Indicators. In India, The Institute of Indian Forest Management lead in developing Criteria and Indicators and Launched the Bhopal-India process in 1998 Collaboration with other international organizations, such as ITTO and CIFOR. Mongolia uses “environmental reporting indicators”.

Sri Lanka has prepared Management Plans for each natural forests consistency with international Criteria and Indicator processes. By the Forestry Sector Master Plan 1995, the Main former objective of the Forest Management: Wood production was replaced by current management strategies tending towards sustainable forest management for multiple purposes while Incorporating input from local communities. The Forest Department monitors a traditional array of basic forestry indicators in Sri Lanka because proper criteria and indicators have not been prepared in the national level.

Role of Conservation Perspectives in Commercial Forestry

Presented by

Samurdi Dias

Commercial forestry aims obtaining maximum production of timber, fuel wood and other forest products as a business. Even though it aims on maximum benefits, conservation is also a major requirement. Conservation is the “practice of planning and maintaining forest areas for the benefit and sustainability of future generations”. It is important because forests provide versatile ecosystem services such as hold water, prevent erosion, ensure quality of surface and groundwater, High carbon reserve, clean the air, protection from storm damages, as a buffer against desertification, produce food, offer recreational possibilities, improve mental well-being and protects biodiversity. Also conservation is important to preserve natural beauty, increase recreational value, provide additional income sources, increase total economic value, for social benefits, to get forest certificates.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is one of the major forest certification bodyin the world. FSC certification ensures that products come from well managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits. It provides benefits such as access to new markets and there are 10 FSC principles; Compliance with laws and FSC Principles, Tenure and use rights, Indigenous peoples’ rights, Community relations and worker's rights, Benefits from the forest, Environmental impact, Management, Monitoring and assessment, Maintenance of high conservation value, Plantation. Principle 3, 5, 6, 9 are related to conservation. Principle 9 tlaks about high conservation value forests, which can be defined as the forests possesses one or more of the following attributes. forest areas containing globally, regionally or nationally significant concentrations of biodiversity values (e.g. endemism, endangered species) and / or large landscape-level forests, forest areas that contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems, forest areas that provide basic services of nature in critical situations (watershed protection, erosion control), forest areas fundamental to meeting basic needs of local communities and/or critical to local communities' traditional cultural identity.

Conservation can be done by sustainable forest management. Seven thematic areas of sustainable forest management are extent of forest resources, biological diversity, forest health and vitality, productive functions and forest resources, protective functions of forest resources, socio-economic functions and legal, policy and institutional framework. 

Other practices are less-destructive methods of logging such as make a forest inventory and map prior to logging, use of less impact machinery in logging, reduce machine operating time, train loggers in proper logging techniques, exclude clear cutting. Establishing stream buffer zones and watershed protection areas, specially design roads for transport, use fertilizer and pesticides in less harmful manner, protect fire prone areas, combined plantations, protect wildlife and nature based tourism.

Conservation practices use in Sri Lanka; in up country of Sri Lanka there is no complete removal of vegetative cover in site preparation, arrange roads along contours, avoid uprooting plant species which help to prevent soil erosion (Eg: Mana), Pine and Eucalyptus tree felling is prohibited. In intermediate zone no tree felling in some of the plantations due to water quality issues.

Another method is nature based tourism this is currently practiced in government Khaya plantation in Sigiriya. Part of the plantation is giving as camping site for tourists. The land was leased to private owner under 30 year agreement and the owner pays rental for forest department. This has high demand from tourists due to high recreation value.

Practical issues of conservation in commercial forestry are high demand for timber, illicit felling, lacks of knowledge about conservation and its importance and less concern on conservation.

Recommendations to improve conservation are law implementation, offer income tax benefits to owners of plantations, offer insurance scheme for plantations, Carbon trading, introduce value addition methodology for plantations, develop ecotourism activities in plantations located in areas like Nuwara Eliya, Knuckles, Kanneliya as there is high aesthetic value and urge private forest plantations to do conservation activities.

NeemLife Plantatinon: Establishment of a Neem Plantation

Abstract of the presentation of

Sashi Dayarathne

NeemLife Plantation is willing to establish a plantation in Horowpathana area which is located in Anuradhapura district by using Azadirachta indica as the species. Plantation extends to 25.5 ha and it is going to be carried out in three phases. The plantation is adding value to its premises by intercropping with chili as a cash crop. The vision of this plantation is to be the pioneers of supplying Neem raw material to the local and international Neem based manufacturers and their mission is to provide good quality Neem leaves, seeds, fruits, bark to the Neem product manufacturers and provide high quality, durable timber to the sawmills and furniture manufacturers.

When it comes to the A. indica it is one of the multipurpose trees available in the country which provide a path to the commercial industries like cosmetics, aurvedic and biopesticies. One of the best thing is that Neem does not require highly fertile soils, can be grown even in barren lands. It does not support, however, marshy or acid lands. The tree physiology requires temperature that varies between 8º and 40º C. The more hot and humid climate, the faster is the growth. And also for an economic exploration it must be planted on sites in which rainfall is in between 800 and 1,500 mm per year. In very favorable conditions, the Neem can reach 10 m height in eight years and 12 m in ten years, and produce fruit up to 60 kg per year by one tree. The Neem tree contains a thousand of chemical components. It is remarkable the occurrence of the so-called “Limonoids”, which are very rare. They appear in Neem in more than one hundred types.

Neem is going to be planted with 5x5 m spacing under plantation establishment. Therefore 400 Neem seedlings will be planted per ha and can be maintained by providing organic fertilizer and proper irrigation system. Thinning can be carried out two times in its plantation rotation. One is at the age of 10 when the mean top height is up to 10-15 m and other one is when the age is 25 where the mean top height is up to 20 m.The first flowering of trees occurs in the 4th year. The production of fruits starts with only 10 kg per tree (4.0 tons per ha), going up to 60 kg per tree (16.0 tons per ha) in the 10th year. Each tree produces 2 tons per year up to 7 tons per year of leaves, produce 60 m3 volume of timber per ha.

Plantation can be benefited by obtaining tradable carbon credits for removing CO2 from the atmosphere, according to the cycle of cutting and harvesting of the plantation to be considered within the concept of green carbon. The Neem plantation is indeed an interesting tool for promoting sustainable plantation in Sri Lanka while providing high return rates to investors and social development in rural areas. As it can support organic agriculture in large scale for removing agro toxic from the traditional agriculture.

An open-grown neem tree

Green Wood Plantation: Establishment of Microcorys Plantation

Abstract of the presentation of

Sachindrika Wijesinghe

Eucalypts are 20% of major reforestation plantings for timber and fuelwood. Advantages include adaptability to a wide range of altitudes; climates and sites; high growth rate; tolerance of low fertility. Undergrowth is less (particularly in the dry zone). Reforestation with eucalypts in Sri Lanka has a long and important history. Eucalypts were among the first of three exotics introduced early this century to be raised as a forest plantation species.

Eucalyptus microcorys, a fast growing tree with clear cylindrical bole growing to 40 m, occasionally to 70 m. It is distributed in upcountry wet zone and mid country intermediate zone. Density of Unseasoned timber is 1230 kg/m3 and Seasoned timber is 1,000 kg/m3. It is Special Class timber according to the Sri Lanka State Timber Corporation classification. Sapwood is not durable without proper treatment and susceptible to powder posting beetle attack. The heartwood is very durable, highly resistant to decay and termite attack and ranges from pale to dark yellow-brown.

The textures of the timber is moderately coarse, generally with an interlocked grain relatively free of gum veins, has a distinctive lustre and greasy appearance. Relatively easy to work with hand tools due to the timber’s natural greasiness .Readily accepts paint, stain and polish.

E. microcorys timber is widely used in a variety of applications including decking, flooring, domestic structures, heavy commercial construction, sleepers, marine structures, poles, piles and bridges. Eucalyptus are also planted as windbreaks and shelter belts in certain locations particularly in the upcountry. Extraction of essential oils from leaves and beekeeping is another common practice in some areas where eucalypt plantations are raised.

Green wood plantation is in Badulla with an extent of 30 ha and it is selected based on the unique climatic and soil conditions, which are conducive for the growth of Eucalyptus microcorys. Planting objective is to obtain sawn timber mainly to cater the local market with construction timber.

Value addition can be done through proper silvicultural practices, planting superior clones of hybrids and genetically modified high yielding; disease-free, non-splitting trees which would improve timber quality and quantity within the plantation. Practicing agroforestry In order to obtain short-term income Lemongrass is inter-cropped. And promoting related industries such as beekeeping, extraction of Eucalyptus oils would generate additional income to the company and it maximizes the land use of the area.

Adding organic fertilisers, managing plantations for longer rotational periods, fire management and trench management are some of the eco-friendly management practices that add values to the plantations.

Eucalyptus microcorys plantation at Bambrakele, Sri Lanka

Establishment of a forest plantation company using Michelia champaca (Gini Sapu)

 Abstract of the presentation of 

A. Jayaweera

Michelia champaca (Gini Sapu) is a large evergreen tree with a long, clean cylindrical bole (with 60-70 feet/14m-20m height; 1.8 m trunk diameter). Required rainfall varies from 2250 – 5000 mm and it performs well in an altitude of 500 -1500 m above mean sea level. It is well suited for sandy loam soil and also it grows well on moist deep, well drained, good quality soil. It is a light demander and coppices well up to a fair size and it does not produce root suckers.  

Michelia champaca is not native to Sri Lanka. Especially people used to plant this species around Hindu temples due to the sweet smell of its flowers. Now it’s being extensively planted in the wet zone and the hill country. Now it’s getting wild in our forest areas in wet and intermediate zones and can be found in home gardens also. No pure plantations have been established   for M. champaca in Sri Lank at present.

Champwood Lanka (Pvt.) Limited is a hypothetical company established with a vision to provide a helping hand in saving our rain forests. And its mission is to meet future demand for timber in Sri Lanka by using sustainable forest management. The selected area to establish the plantation is Kegalle with a land of 50 ha.

Management prescriptions and Business model consists with several steps as site preparation and establishment of a nursery, planting in the field and weed controlling, prunning and thinning and harvesting. There are various options for value addition such as proper management activities (fertilizer regimes, harvesting schedules), Carbon crediting, forest certifications, good quality seed collection and measures for soil erosion control. Intercropping is done for maximum land utilization.

End product manufacturing consist of logs, sawn timber, essential oil from flowers and seeds, some parts for ayurvedic treatments, fuel wood (through thinning and pruning) and plants and seedlings for reclamation and ornamental purposes. Dealing with customers in a responsible and faithful manner is the basis of been successful in the sector. However, there are considerable strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which can be presented through a SWOT analysis.

Establishment of hypothetical forest Plantation Company for (Swietenia macropylla) AirForest Plantation Limited

Abstract of the presentation of

Sampath Bandara

S. macrophylla is one of the most valuable furniture timbers in the world due to the decorative and attractive timber with good technical characteristics. In agro forestry systems it is used for shade and fuel wood. In 1840, Mahogany was first planted in Jaffna as an avenue tree. According to the 2010 data of   FAO there were 5505 ha of Mahogany cover in SL, mainly in the intermediate zone and low country wet zone of Sri Lanka.

AirForest Plantation Limited was established in 1998, and the head office located in No-6, Glenaber Pl, Colombo 03. This company provides numerous benefits to the investors such as Deed of the land, money back guarantee, right of transfer, providing maturity value of the plantation and free maintains facilities with online monitoring facility.

Though AirForest entered into forestry and agricultural plantation industry only 15 years ago (1998), the management of AirForest has decades of experience and knowledge in the field of plantation management. Currently, the company is managing plantations at Kurunegala, Monaragala, Galle, Udawalawa, Badulla, Kegalle and Beragala. (over 250 ha, island wide). AirForest is one of the forestry management companies which use Drip Irrigation System. This ensures a higher and rapid growth and a maximum harvest as each and every tree gets sufficient nutrition by drippers.

AirForest Plantations ensures continuous monitoring and improvements by forestry consultants and experts in the industry and over 15,000 delighted clients in Sri Lanka. It provides harvest-purchase back guarantee, with many additional offers with exclusive premier membership benefits

This value addition is also a very important aspect in the plantation sector because it is eventually a business, and the increasing of profit becomes underlying target. The value addition to a plantation can be done in several aspects. It can be either by increasing the quantity of the timber produced from the plantation or by improving the quality of the mahogany produced and also especially by increasing the utility of the plantation land. Company exporting the Mahogany fruit (Sky Fruit) as a byproduct obtains from the plantation.

There are some difficulties of the Mahogany plantation sector; lack of suitable lands for establishment of plantations, shoot borer attacks, problems related to site quality, competition, problems of the labors, problems related to accessibility, lack of previous informations, political influences. 

Currently company is planning to expand the land area of the plantations and the plantation species verities. And Carbon fixing value is identified as a new business opportunity.

Mahogany sapling in a plantation of Sri Lanka

Obtaining organic certification for man-made forests

Abstract of a Seminar presentation

Sanduni Samarasekara

Forest Certification is being practiced in the industry since the 1990’s and presently, there are more than one standard or certification process that govern more than 3.2% of the world’s forest lands.

In the last decade, Forest Certification has acted as one of the most effective ways of promoting Sustainable Forest Management. It clearly addresses three issues; deforestation, maintaining the biodiversity and forest degradation. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) are some of the main Forest Certification systems in the lime light today.

Although, the present certification criteria address most of the issues in forestry, when considering man-made forests and plantations, they have not been able to put an end to the chemical usage in forestry, as in fertilizer, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides etc. Usage of these can offset the reduction in Carbon Foot Print that one hopes for by planting more and more trees. Additionally, there are the health problems caused by the heavy metal ingredients and other toxic matter. This scenario has provoked the need of an Organic Certification for man-made forests as well.

Organic Certification is not new to the globe or to Sri Lanka; it has been amongst in the form of Organic Certification for Agricultural Products and other food types. Since, no fixed criteria have still been derived for the Organic Forest Certification, one has to consult the prevailing Agricultural Organic Certification criteria and the FSC guidelines to obtain a clear picture. In this study, the candidate has chosen to make reference to two Organic Agricultural Standards, one from Sri Lanka and the other from India.

The possibility of obtaining Organic Certification for man-made forests is not only about deriving the guidelines. Further, a well defined market should be maintained in order to avoid market failures of this important non-governmental market instrument of Sustainable Forest Management.

Current status of forest certification in Sri Lanka

Abstract of a Seminar presentation

Lanka Rathnayake

“Forest certification is the process of inspecting particular woodlands to verify if they are being managed according to an agreed set of standards’

There are several certification systems in the world. The forest stewardship council certification is one of them in Sri Lanka. The Forest Stewardship Council is an international non-profit organization founded in 1993 to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial & economically viable management of the world’s forests”. There are ten Forest Stewardship principles. It accredits certification bodies. It is a system for independent forest certification. It has introduced an international labelling scheme.

Center for the promotion of imports from developing countries has problems to promote non Forest Stewardship Council certified products. Sri Lanka will lose market share if it is not obtained. With Forest Certification new markets can be found, a higher price will be paid (around 3%) and forests will be saved for future generations. So, the main objective of this certification system is to establish a healthy and steady export environment for the wood processing industry of Sri Lanka.

There are several certification systems in forest certification as Forest Management Certification, Chain of Custody Certification and group certification. Control Union, SGS, SCS are the current accreditation bodies in Sri Lanka. Instead of national Forest Stewardship Council standards currently interring standard have been developed using generic standards in Sri Lanka.

There are thirty five Forest Stewardship Council certification holders in Sri Lanka. Forest Stewardship Council certified forest area in Sri Lanka is 31,657 ha. Fourteen Forest Stewardship Council Chain of custody certificates have been issued.

For Forest Management/Chain of Custody certification Kotagala plantation, Agarapathana plantation, Elpitiya plantation, and Kahawatta plantation are at final stage of inspection. Also two teak projects, one mahogany project and coconut project have been proposed for Forest Stewardship Council certification. To obtain Chain of Custody certification two printing companies are also proposed.

Current status of forest certification in Sri Lanka is at considerable level when comparing with other countries. At present, Forest Stewardship Council certification is confined mainly to the private sector in Sri Lanka. Demand for FSC certified products are also increasing. Group certification should be encouraged to fulfill the demand.

Status and possibilities on forest certification in Sri Lanka

Status and possibilities on forest certification in Sri Lanka

Abstract of a seminar presentation

Manuri Gamage

Forest certification found its roots in the concern over rapid tropical deforestation in the 1980s and the 1990s. It is a process which results in a written certification being issued by an independent third party, attesting to the location and management status of a forest which is producing timber. Forest certification also provides consumers with a credible guarantee that the product comes from environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable sustainably managed forests.

Sri Lanka has adopted only FSC certification by an independent, non-profit organization, formed in an effort to establish a global system for certifying that products come from well-managed forests. Only three multinational certification bodies accredited by FSC are currently issuing certification in Sri Lanka.

At present, certification is confined mainly to the rubber plantation sector in Sri Lanka. Only four such companies currently hold FSC forest management certification, out of large-scale plantation companies in Sri Lanka. Forty-two percent of the country's plantations are owned by small holders. Therefore, this group plays a key role in the rubber industry as well as in supplying raw materials to wood-based industries. None of the small-scale rubber plantations in Sri Lanka are certified. Out of the many manufactures only nine companies have obtain the chain of custody certification.

Facilitating group certification for small rubber plantation owners to obtain forest certification, encouraging certified plantation owners to focus on high-end species such as teak and mahogany where there is great potential to capture price premiums, building awareness among plantation owners of advantages of obtaining the certification other than price premiums, seeking new export markets for the certified timber and timber products, obtain approval for the FSC National standards and implement within the country, encouraging local organisations to obtain accreditation from FSC as a certification body, developing an internal certification scheme with its own standards can be mentioned as some of the potentials in forest certification in the country.