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International Conference
BUILDING
INSIGHTS OF MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS AND ACCOUNTING TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE FOREST
MANAGEMENT May 17 19, 2007
IUFRO Unit 4.05.00 - Managerial Economics and AccountingIUFRO Unit 4.05.01 - Managerial, social and environmental accounting IUFRO Unit 4.05.02 - Managerial economics |
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Igor Buksha
Laboratory of Forest Monitoring and Certification, Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Forest Melioration, Ukraine
Email: buksha@uriffm.org.ua
Georgiy Bondaruk
Forest Certification Sector of Laboratory of Forest Monitoring and Certification, Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Forest Melioration, Ukraine
Email: bondaruk_georgiy@list.ru
Volodymyr Pasternak
Laboratory of Forest Monitoring and Certification, Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Forest Melioration, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Email: monitoring@uriffm.org.ua
Jan Prins Geert, FORM International, Netherlands
Email: gj.prins@forminternational.nl
The forest certification in Ukraine becomes more important as the efficient tool for sustainable forest management (SFM) and provides the balance between environmental, social and economical requirements of human society to forests. Its promoted with internal national and external factors, particularly the enlarged participation of Ukraine in international forest related processes. In development European countries, particularly in the Netherlands government and municipalities are increasingly promoting the purchase of certified timber. Most demand is either from the government or from timber companies that have a strong environmental policy. Despite the market for this timber amongst private people buying timber for their houses is still very small, but current trends point to assured perspectives of the demand increasing in different market segments on the certified timber.
In 2006 the joint Dutch-Ukrainian Project Promoting Sustainable Forest Management in the Ukraine (www.smuf.com.ua) started. The goals of this project are: a) contributing to the SFM of the forest resources of Ukraine to meet the ecological and socio-economic needs of present and future generations; b) strengthening the Ukrainian wood sector while certification of forests will safeguard the possibility to export Ukrainian wood and wood products to the EU in the future; c) strengthening commercial relations in the wood sector between the Ukraine and the Netherlands. Dutch Project participants are FORM International, PROBOS Foundation, Dutch Timber Trade Association (NTTA / VVNH), and five Timber trading companies. Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Forest Melioration, Horodnytsja (Zhytomyr district) and Huty (Kharkiv district) State Forest Enterprises (SFE) are the participants from Ukraine. The important point is that Huty SFE could become the first FSC certified SFE in the eastern part of Ukraine located in Steppe and Forest zone. It could potentially serve as a model for other SFEs in Eastern Ukrainian regions.
The challenge is to effectively build on the existing knowledge and expertise and tap from it for the benefit of the long-term aim of SFM in the Ukraine. A forester may already consider the forests in Ukraine to be under a regime of SFM, but an ecologist, a local community member or a social expert may hold a different, but still genuine, perspective. The importance of policies and projects towards SFM is to balance forestry, social, economic and ecological aspects in such a manner that there is an assurance that the forests will remain a balanced resource for the people of Ukraine for many, many more years. The certificate is a motivating factor, but it is one thing to get a certificate, it is another to keep it. The people involved in promoting SFM in Ukraine should keep the long-term perspective in mind, and this is not to obtain a certificate, but to enter into a continuous process to further improve forest management within the principles of SFM. Though the common level of forest management in pilot SFEs could be estimate as good, our preliminary assessments point to the necessity to improve such aspects of forest management: availability of important legal documentation at the sites; existing of clear policy statements that the SFEs will apply the principles of SFM; consultation process; monitoring and impact assessment; biodiversity protection; health and safety conditions for field workers.
Keywords: sustainable forest management, forest certification, Dutch-Ukrainian cooperation
