The Mandatory Forest Certification Scheme as a Tool for Sustainable Forest Management in Russia

Strakhov, V.V. & Miettinen, P. (2001). The Mandatory Forest Certification Scheme as a Tool for Sustainable Forest Management in Russia. IIASA Interim Report. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: IR-01-022

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Abstract

The Certification Law in the Russian Federation regulates both voluntary and mandatory forest certification. The Mandatory Forest Certification Scheme (MFCS) was developed observing the principles, criteria and indicators of the Helsinki and Montreal processes, as well as the Russian list of criteria and indicators. Also the principles of the Forest Stewardship Council and the International Organization for Standardization Standard 14001 were used as reference. The scheme has been tested in five regions, and an auditing of a large North-American forest company will be carried out during the summer of 2001 in Karelia.

The mandatory scheme differs in some respects from the certification systems developed elsewhere. One of the major distinguishing features is that the set of criteria are presented in the form of 24 normative documents, including the Forest Code. In addition, the applicant of the MFCS certificate is the forest user, instead of the forest owner, which is the state in the Russian Federation.

The scheme is aimed to cover the ecological, economical, social and cultural aspects of sustainable forestry, and an independent certification body issues the certificate. The scheme includes third party auditing and provides the possibility for the state or public organizations to supervise forest loggings, and request non-scheduled auditing from the Forest Certification Center if deemed necessary.

The scheme is aimed to complement the Helsinki and Montreal processes by putting the general forest policy into action at the operational level in the leskhozes.

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