(56) Forest Certification: Threat, Opportunity, or Illusion?

Michael Dunn, Richard Vlosky, and Priyan Perera, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.

Session: Concurrent session C4:  Forestry

Forest certification continues to generate promise, discussion, and debate.  To be successful in the southern U.S., certification systems must be acceptable to private, non-industrial forest (PNIF) landowners.  These landowners hold 71% of the forestland. 

We surveyed 1) 1,000 randomly selected PNIF landowners each in Louisiana and Mississippi, and 2) the top 500 home center retailers in the U.S. to determine their attitudes toward forest certification.  We then conducted multiple workshops in both Louisiana and Mississippi to update forest landowners on forest certification, its acceptance by major home retail centers, and compared various certification systems.  The goal was to help landowners make informed decisions about forest certification and its application on their property.

One-third of the home center retailers responding to the survey sell certified wood products.  Of those who do not sell certified products, 19% plan to do so in the future.  For those selling certified products, FSC and SFI are the certification programs accepted and preferred by most retailers.   Of those selling certified wood products, 69% feel that sales of certified forest products in the next 5 years will increase either somewhat or drastically.

Seventy-seven percent of landowners surveyed would not pay to become certified, and an additional 13 percent would spend $0.50 to $1 per acre.  Most landowners felt that certification would improve the forestry profession.  Private landowner organizations and approved professional foresters are the most trusted parties by PNIF landowners to administer forest certification. NGOs were the least trusted.

Workshop evaluations revealed that participants benefited from the workshops and left with a better understanding of certification.  Many planned to become certified, and Tree Farm was the certification program most preferred.  

On balance, we conclude that forest certification represents a real opportunity to PNIF landowners interested in various benefits from forestland while maintaining maximum access to timber markets.

H. Glenn Hughes
Mississippi State University Extension Service
P.O. Box 348
Purvis, MS  39475, USA
Phone: 601-794-0671
Fax 601-794-0676
E-mail: ghughes@ext.msstate.edu