Home arrow Network News arrow Network News arrow FSC Plantations Certification - Many Wrongs make a Right?
FSC Plantations Certification - Many Wrongs make a Right?
In South Africa, more than a million hectares of high impact, industrial
timber plantations have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC) as 'responsibly managed forests'. This despite the fact that these
certified plantations consist of exotic monocultures, (primarily
eucalyptus and pine) and exerts un-natural pressures on the local water,
soil and biodiversity resources - leading to growing water scarcity /
vulnerability, soil erosion / nutrient depletion and dramatic loss of
biodiversity.,

The FSC rewards responsible 'forest' management through certification  -
which in turn provides certified companies better access to
'environmentally sensitive' markets. In order to qualify for
certification, plantation estates are assessed according to the FSC
Principles and Criteria - which is applicable to real forests and the
environmental / social services and benefits that 'real forests'
provide.

How the FSC certifying agents managed to squeeze Cinderella's shoe onto
the foot of the biggest, ugliest sister remains a puzzle. Relating to
the environment,  industrial high impact timber plantations are directly
in breech of FSC Principles 1, 5, 6,  9 and 10.

With reference to principle 5:
Plantation management operations destroy the grasslands multiple
products and services - thereby undermining economic viability and a
wide range of environmental and social benefits.

With reference to criterion 5.5:
 Plantations management operations do not recognize maintain and, where
appropriate, enhance the value of karst and grassland services and
resources such as watersheds and fisheries.

With reference to Criterion 5.6:
The rate of harvest of timber exceeds levels, which can be permanently
sustained. The monoculture model impoverishes the soil, leading to
medium / long term deficiencies in essential elements such as nitrogen,
phosphor and potassium. In addition, the loss of ground cover
dramatically increases soil erosion.

With reference to principle 6:
Plantation management negatively affects biological diversity and its
associated values, water resources, soils, and unique and fragile
ecosystems and landscapes, and, by so doing, destroys the ecological
functions and the integrity of the natural environment.

With reference to criterion 6.2:
Safeguards does not exist which would protect rare, threatened and
endangered species and their habitats (e.g. nesting and feeding areas).

With reference to criterion 6.3:
 Ecological functions and values are not being maintained intact, nore
enhanced, or restored. The natural grassland, which provides ecological
functions have been fragmented to the extreme.  Natural cycles that
affect the productivity of the grassland ecosystem - such as fire - has
been dramatically altered to suit the industry, not the environment. .

With reference to Criterion 9.3:
The precautionary approach is not being followed in relation to the
potential threat to local karst systems.

With reference to Criterion 10.2:
The design and layout of plantations threatens degrades and exploits the
natural Karst landscape and primary grasslands.   The scale and layout
of plantation blocks are not consistent with the patterns of forest
stands within the natural landscape - which used to consist primarily of
climax grassland (a vegetation type which is the worlds 'most
threatened' - with estimates of approx. 80% irrevocably destroyed).

With reference to Criterion 10.3:
Diversity in the composition of plantations is not being achieved, so
economic, ecological and social stability is being eroded. The
'grasslands which these monoculture plantations have replaced contains
an estimated 4000 plant species - none of which can survive in a exotic
timber plantation compartment.

With reference to Criterion 10.4
The selection of species for planting was not based on their overall
suitability for the site and their appropriateness to the management
objectives (unless the ONLY management objectives is to make money). The
exclusive use of fast growing high yielding exotic species has
undermined the conservation of biological diversity and contributes to
the degradation of local ecosystems.

With reference toCriterion 10.6:
Soil structure, fertility and biological activity is being degraded, not
improved.. The techniques and rate of harvesting, road and trail
construction and maintenance, and the choice of species results in long
term soil degradation and adverse impacts on water quality, quantity and
substantial deviation from stream course drainage patterns. In contrast
to the indigenous grassland vegetation, fast growing exotics have much
more formidable and deep rooting systems, capable of fracturing rocks -
accelerating the pace of natural erosion.

With reference to criterion 10.8:
Soil structure, fertility and biological activity is being degraded.
Experience has shown that the large scale exotic pine  plantations are
not ecologically well-adapted to the site, that they are aggressively
invasive, and do have significant negative ecological impacts on other
ecosystems.

Citing above mentioned 'non conformances', GeaSphere South Africa has
recently submitted a complaint to the 'Soil Association' who were
responsible for certifying the Sappi Sudwala plantation.  According to
GeaSphere - the timber plantation compartments above and closest to the
Sudwala caves in Mpumalanga, South Africa are having a negative impact
on the cave by contributing to the un-natural and excessive drying out
of the system. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has
instigated a 'ground water study' to determine how deep rooting timber
plantations affect the complex groundwater systems in order to
facilitate understanding and wise management decisions. Unfortunately it
will still take several years before enough research data will be
available to draw conclusions. GeaSphere urges FSC, the Soil Association
and Sappi to follow the precautionary approach and remove the trees as
soon as possible and allow the grassland opportunity to rehabilitate.
For more information about this situation please visit
www.geasphere.co.za.

Furthermore,  the South African national FSC initiative draft document
does not provide any motivation for plantation companies to move towards
a more sustainable form of 'forestry'.  The national initiative will
continue to endorse the high impact monoculture model - to such extreme
that even GE trees may be acceptable - excluding only the use of GE
biological control agents.

We accept the value of a certification system which rewards good land
stewardship and management - but believe that a entirely new set of
principles and criteria should be developed. The fact that exotic timber
monocultures are ecologically destructive should be recognized, and
incentives and methodology should be provided to restore ecological
integrity to the region.

Philip Owen
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www.geasphere.co.za 

 

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