Certification of good forest management is a relatively new procedure, which is not well known in Pacific Island countries. However, it is becoming increasingly important for the marketing of forest products, in particular timber, in Europe and North America. There are signs that it will also become a useful marketing tool in Australia and New Zealand in the medium term. Timber producers in the South Pacific are attempting to diversify their markets in an attempt to reduce their dependence on East Asia, following the economic crisis of late 1997 and certification might contribute to this.
Until now, the main forces behind the growth of certification have been the market pull of consumers and companies in Europe and North America; and the push from environmental NGOs who want forest managers to demonstrate that they are good stewards of the forests in their care. Many of the stakeholders in the region, including many Government officials and community representatives, have not been made aware of the different approaches to certification, their relative merits and demerits, benefits and costs. This workshop was organised under the auspices of FSPI_x0019_s EC funded South Pacific Community EcoForestry Project to bring as wide a group of stakeholders together as possible from within the region, in order to examine the different approaches to certification; evaluate the experience of two contrasting certified organisations; identify opportunities, constraints and problems with certification; and recommend future steps in the development of certification in the region.
