Certification bodies (CBs), existing forest management (FM) certificate holders (CHs), prospective CHs, progressive farmers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), consultants and senior forest officers attended the workshop in large number. The workshop was inaugurated by Dr CS Reddy, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Telangana State Forest Development Corporation. Mr G Ramalingam, Chief Conservator of Forests, Telangana Forest Department was the Guest of Honour. Ms Cindy Cheng, FSC Regional Director Asia-Pacific delivered the keynote address virtually.
On this occasion, talks were delivered by Dr Suresh Gairola, FSC India Country Director on 'The FSC and India Standards for Forest Management Certification', by Mr Ashutosh Mahana, Manager (Plantations), JK Paper Ltd on 'Engagement with smallholders: The JK Paper experience', by Mr Joachim Meier-Dörnberg, Social Policy Manager, FSC International on standard operating procedure for the pilot test' and by Mr Thesis Budiarto, FSC Policy Manager Asia-Pacific on 'Pilot test roll-out: The Indonesia and Vietnam experience'.
A lively panel discussion was held on 'Forest certification as a tool to sustainability and access to markets: Challenges and opportunities for smallholders in India'. It was moderated by Dr Suresh Gairola, FSC India Country Director. The panelists included various CBs and Consultants. This was followed by the suggestions and opinions of the participants.
These sessions were then followed by more intensive, thread-bare discussion coordinated by Mr Thesis Budiarto, FSC Policy Manager Asia-Pacific on principles, criteria and indicators of The FSC FSS for smallholders in India: FSC-STD-RAP-IND-01-2022 Plantations EN. Among other issues, he highlighted applicability notes, explanatory notes, non-normative nature of annexes, comparison of India NFSS and India RFSS, definition of Management Unit, and applicability of principles 3,4 and 9. He, along with FSC India Country Director, responded to the participants' questions. The process for initiating the pilot test by CBs and prospective CHs was explained in detail.
Dr Suresh Gairola, FSC India Country Director made a detailed presentation to the CBs, CHs, NGOs and other participants on 'The FSC Forest Stewardship Standard for India: FSC-STD-IND-01-2022' and answered to the queries of the participants. He explained that this standard has become effective on 01 September 2022, and it has been prepared specifically considering Indian conditions. Other FSC solutions like Ecosystem Services Procedure (ESP) and Continuous Improvement Procedure (CIP) were explained.
The participants thanked FSC for organizing this highly successful workshop which provided a platform for all the stakeholders to meet and discuss various issues related to sustainability on natural forests and plantations in India. They suggested that such workshops should be organized by FSC more frequently.
For enquires, please contact FSC India: s.gairola@fsc.org