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.