DEVELOPMENT OF FOREST

CERTIFICATION IN ASIA
PACIFIC & REVISION OF PEFC
REQUIREMENTS FOR FOREST
CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS

16-18 June 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 Stakeholder Dialogue
Development of Forest Certification in Asia Pacific &
Revision of PEFC Requirements for Forest Certification Systems

Dear PEFC members and stakeholders,

The most recent PEFC Stakeholder Dialogue held on 16-18 June 2010 in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia focused on the revision of PEFC‟s core documentation and requirements for
sustainable forest management and forest certification schemes, and on forest certification
initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region.

We are indeed pleased that so many people were able to accept the joint invitation from PEFC
International and MTCC to attend this stakeholder dialogue, which is the first such dialogue
organized under PEFC in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Asia-Pacific region is not only home to some of the most complex, but also the most
threatened forest ecosystems in the world. As the world's largest forest certification system and
the certification system of choice for hundreds of thousands of small- and family-forest owners, it
is our collective responsibility to support the development of sustainable forest management
practices and forest certification in the region with standards that integrate best practices, new
scientific knowledge, stakeholder and customer expectations, as well as practical experiences on
the ground into standards that are globally relevant and locally applicable.

Accordingly, the speakers, whose presentations you will find later in this document, came from
different Asia-Pacific countries to present and share their experiences, challenges and successes
in developing their certification initiatives.

As PEFC is currently comprehensively reviewing and revising its benchmarks, this Stakeholder
Dialogue also enabled stakeholder input for the ongoing Standards Revision process. While
market and societal expectations as well as sound scientific knowledge are relevant, stakeholder
participation and input is crucial to establish viable and pragmatic standards.

The Dialogue builds on the work of multi-stakeholder working groups comprising representatives
from a broad range of sectors including forest owners, industry, customers, the scientific
community, environmental groups and trade unions. Their work has been complemented by a
series of workshops involving specialists on a wide range of areas.
This Stakeholder Dialogue provided an ideal opportunity for over one hundred and thirty
stakeholders to participate in person to learn about and exchange views on forest certification in
the Asia-Pacific region and to share with us their opinions and suggestions on critical issues
concerning the PEFC Standards revision process, including amongst others:

 how to ensure balanced stakeholder representation and participation in developing

national standards,
 how to deal with the concept of group certification, including meeting the requirements for
participation covering size and type of forest area (natural forest or forest plantation) and
forest ownership (state-owned or privately-owned),
 structure of PEFC requirements for sustainable forest management,
 ensuring basic labour, health and safety standards in all forestry operations, as well as
 how to deal with the issue of forest conversion.

Our continuing success in delivering certified sustainable forest management globally depends
upon stakeholder participation, and the resultant requirements will apply to over two thirds of the
world‟s certified forest area.

The Dialogue concluded with a field visit to a PEFC/MTCS certified forest, and this enabled
participants to appreciate the results of certified sustainable forest management in practice.

The next Stakeholder Dialogue will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 10 November and we
look forward to welcoming you there.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Gunneberg Chew Lye Teng

Secretary General Chief Executive Officer
PEFC International Malaysian Timber Certification Council

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Day 1 – Forest Certification in Asia-Pacific region

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 Agenda

Day 1, 16 June 2010: Forest Certification in Asia Pacific Region

Welcome Dr Hans Drielsma (PEFC International Dato' Dr. Freezailah Che Page 5
Board Member) Yeom, MTCC Chairman
Presentations – Page 7
Day 1
PEFC Linking National Certification Systems to Mr Ben Gunneberg, Page 8
International the Global Community PEFC International
Secretary General
Malaysia Implementation of the Malaysian Timber Mr Chew Lye Teng, Page 12
Certification Scheme - Progress and MTCC Chief Executive
Challenges Officer
China Status of Forest Certification in China Mr Wei Wang, State Page 16
Forest Administration,
China
Indonesia Certification on Tropical Forests: LEI Mr Agus Setyarso, LEI Page 22
Perspective Chairman
Australia Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) Dr Hans Drielsma, AFS Page 26
Board member

Day 2, 17 June 2010: Revision of PEFC requirements

Plenary session
Dr Hans Drielsma, PEFC International Board Member Page 31
Welcome
and Dato' Dr. Freezailah Che Yeom, MTCC Chairman
Statement of Convention on Dr Hans Drielsma on behalf of Mr Ahmed Djoghlaf,
Page 32
Biological Diversity CBD Secretary General
Revision of PEFC
Requirements for Forest
Dr Hans Drielsma Page 38
Certification Systems – The
Process
PEFC Standard Setting –
Mr Ben Gunneberg Page 40
Requirements
Group Forest Management
Mr Ben Gunneberg Page 42
Certification Requirements
Draft Requirements for
Mr Jaroslav Tymrak, PEFC International, Head of
Sustainable Forest Page 44
Technical Unit
Management (SFM)
Roundtables Page 50
Standard setting Chaired by Mr Jaroslav Tymrak
Group Forest Certification Chaired by Mr Ben Gunneberg
SFM – Boreal, Temperate
Chaired by Dr Hans Drielsma
Forests and Plantations
SFM – Natural Tropical Forests Chaired by Mr Harnarinder Singh, MTCC
Plenary session
Presentation of Roundtables Results & Discussion

Day 3, 18 June 2010: Field Trip Page 52

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 Welcome Speech

Welcome speech by Dato’ Dr. Freezailah Bin Che Yeom,

Chairman of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC)
At PEFC Stakeholder Dialogue, 16 June 2010

Dr. Hans Drielsma, member of the board of directors of PEFC, Mr. Ben Gunneberg, Secretary
General of PEFC International, Mr. Chew Lye Teng, Chief Executive Officer, MTCC, friends and
supporters of the growing PEFC family in China, Japan, Indonesia and India, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning,

On behalf of the board and the management of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC), I
wish you all, distinguished participants, “selamat datang” or “welcome” to this important stakeholder
dialogue, particularly to our overseas participants. The response from stakeholders is most
encouraging and augurs well for certification and sustainable management of the region‟s forest, an
objective that unites all of us.

We are indeed pleased that so many of you are able to accept the joint invitation from PEFC
International and the MTCC to attend this stakeholder dialogue, which is the first such dialogue
organized under PEFC in the Asia-Pacific region. For your information, a total of 108 participants are
registered for the dialogue, with 39 participants from outside Malaysia. Let me also not forget to thank
PEFC for entrusting MTCC to co-organise this event. It is indeed a special honour for MTCC.

At this juncture forest or timber certification is still relatively new to many countries in the asia-pacific
region, although the region is home to some of the world‟s richest natural forests and biological
diversity. The Asia-Pacific region is also the most populous region in the world and needless to say
the sustainable management of its forest resources is of vital importance to the lives and livelihoods
of billions of people.

The MTCC has attempted, in its own small way, to promote and encourage the implementation of
timber certification in this region at the Asian level, through the working group on a pan-Asian timber
certification initiative. Through this working group, the Asian member states have developed a set of
criteria and indicators for legality of timber as well as guidelines for chain of custody (coc) of legal
timber and sustainable timber. It is hoped that the experience gained from the development of their
national standards for legal timber will be helpful in assisting the individual Asian member states to
develop their respective national standards for forest certification.

The countries in the Asia-Pacific region are mostly developing countries which need to manage and
utilise their forest resources in order to implement socio-economic programmes for the benefit of their
people. The practice of sustainable forest management therefore provides the balanced approach

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that is needed to enable us to utilize our forest resources without undue negative impacts on the
environmental and social functions of the forests as well as on its future productivity.

MTCC will do its utmost to fully support PEFC‟s efforts to assist the countries in this region to
implement forest certification as one of the key measures to ensure the sustainable management of
their precious forest resources. Planning and implementation of certification entails a steep learning
curve and cooperation and working closely with each other is certainly the path to make progress.
There is no room for rivalry because our shared commitment and objective is the sustainable
management and certification of our forests.

As part of the programme of the stakeholder dialogue, we have included a field trip to enable
participants, especially our overseas friends, to visit an MTCS-certified forest in the Selangor FMU.
We hope that you will find the stakeholder dialogue and field trip to be beneficial in providing a better
understanding of the challenges faced in efforts to achieve sustainable forest management in the
Asia-Pacific region.

Thank you.

Dato' Dr. Freezailah Che Yeom, MTCC Chairman

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 Presentations – Day 1

Forest Certification in Asia-Pacific Region

Mr Ben Gunneberg, PEFC

PEFC Linking National Certification Systems to
International Secretary Page 8
International the Global Community
General
Implementation of the Malaysian Timber
Mr Chew Lye Teng, MTCC
Malaysia Certification Scheme - Progress and Page 12
Chief Executive Officer
Challenges
Mr Wei Wang, State Forest
China Status of Forest Certification in China Page 16
Administration, China
Certification on Tropical Forests: LEI Mr Agus Setyarso, LEI
Indonesia Page 22
Perspective Chairman
Dr Hans Drielsma, AFS
Australia Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) Page 26
Board member

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Linking National Certification Systems to the Global Community – Mr. Ben Gunneberg, PEFC
International Secretary General

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Mr Harnarinder Singh, MTCC, speaks on behalf of MTCC’s
Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Chew Lye Teng

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Implementation of the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme – Progress and Challenges -
Mr Chew Lye Teng, MTCC Chief Executive Officer

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Status of Forest Certification in China - Mr Wei Wang, State Forest Administration, China

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Mr Wei Wang, State Forest Administration, China

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Certification on Tropical Forests: LEI Perspective - Mr Agus Setyarso, LEI Chairman

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Mr. Agus Setyarso, Chairman of LEI

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Dr Hans Drielsma, AFS Board member

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Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) - Dr Hans Drielsma, AFS Board member

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 Day 2 Seminar

Revision of PEFC Requirements

Welcomes and statements

Opening remarks Dr Hans Drielsma Page 31
Convention on Biological Diversity
Mr Ahmed Djoghlaf Page 32
(CBD) Statement
Presentations
Revision of PEFC Requirements for
Forest Certification Systems – The Dr Hans Drielsma Page 38
Process
PEFC Standard Setting –
Mr Ben Gunneberg Page 40
Requirements
Group Forest Management
Mr Ben Gunneberg Page 42
Certification Requirements
Draft requirements for sustainable
Mr Jaroslav Tymrak Page 44
forest management
Summary of roundtables Page 50

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 Welcome and CBD Statement

Chairman’s Opening Remarks

Dr Hans Drielsma

Welcome to you all this morning.

Today we wish to focus on the PEFC requirements for national forest standards, or what we refer to
as sustainability benchmarks. My role today is as Chair of the Revisions Working Group considering
these requirements.

Standards revisions is a challenging task. We need to ensure that:

 Standards are robust enough to ensure Sustainable Forest Management and provide
confidence to key markets and stakeholders
 Sustainability benchmark requirements are flexible enough to meet the diverse needs
of differing national circumstances
 Resulting national standards are feasible, realistic and cost-effective

Our objectives today are to:

 Inform you of the results of the work of the Revisions Working Group to date
 Receive feedback on the „enquiry‟ drafts, especially that for the SFM requirements for
tropical forest standards
 Encourage you to participate in the public consultation, and provide comments on the
drafts.

Our task is to find the right balance.

We were to be joined today by Mr Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on

Biological Diversity. He has been called to more pressing duties, but has provided a statement, which
I have the pleasure of now reading to you now.

Thank you

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Revision of PEFC Requirements for Forest Certification Systems – The Process - Dr Hans
Drielsma, AFS Board Member

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PEFC Standard Setting – Requirements – Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General, PEFC
International

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Group Forest Management Certification Requirements – Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General,
PEFC International

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Draft Requirements for Sustainable Forest Management – Jaroslav Tymrak, Head of Technical
Unit, PEFC International

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 Dr Hans Drielsma, AFS Board Member, with participants at the
Revision of PEFC Requirements for Forest Certification Systems roundtable

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 Summary of Roundtables

Standard Setting Roundtable (PEFC ST 1001:20XX, ED)

Roundtable discussions focused on the four critical issues identified in the Standard revision
process (PEFC ST 1001:20XX, ED):
 the scope of the standard;
 ensuring balanced representation in the process;
 incorporating disadvantaged & key stakeholders; and
 the requirements for building consensus and decision making.

In general, participants suggested that the requirements presented in the enquiry draft would
encourage a robust, inclusive standard setting process. The discussion also outlined the
importance of recognizing various constraints (such as financial resources, language and the
actual time needed to become familiar with the issue and negotiations) that some stakeholder
groups would face in participating.

Group Certification Roundtable (PEFC ST 1002:20XX, ED)

The roundtable on group forest certification discussed the enquiry draft (PEFC ST 1002:20xx, ED).
The discussion here was mainly focused on the importance and need of a cost efficient option for
certification of small-holders and community forests as well as the capacity needed to establish
functioning group certification. The working group also discussed group certification in relation to
type of forest (natural and plantation forests) and forest ownership (state owned or privately owned
forests).

SFM Roundtable – Boreal and Temperate Forests (PEFC ST 1003:20XX,

ED)

The roundtable on sustainable forest management discussed the enquiry draft on boreal and
temperate forests and plantations (PEFC ST 1003:20xx, Part 1 ED). Due to time restrictions
priority was given to those issues of the most importance to the stakeholders present:
 Conversions: There was significant discussion around this issue. Many participants
recognised the need to make strong statements about conversions, as this was a matter of
significant concern in many markets. It was also noted that conversion was an important
element in national development plans of many countries, and that some recognition of this
position was desirable. The conditions for such circumstances outlined in the draft were
discussed and many participants considered them to be reasonable.

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  Indigenous People: Participants raised the issue of minorities and local communities and to
what extent their interest might be similar to indigenous peoples‟. Migratory peoples were also
considered to be relevant in certain contexts. It was noted that customary rights are undefined.
 Species: Discussion focused on Rubberwood and Oil Palm plantations and whether such
species would be eligible for coverage in certification schemes. In this regard it was noted that
there may be issues surrounding the definition of “Forest Management Unit.” Non-forest fibre
sources in some regions are an important component of fibre supply chains and products, and
consideration needs to be given to this issue.
 Non-Timber Forest Products: This was raised as a concern, but it was noted that there are
already many instances where non-timber forest products are recognised and certified under
PEFC systems, and there was no discrimination with regard to the PEFC sustainability
benchmark requirements.
 Plantations: The role of plantations was raised. It was noted that biodiversity within a
plantation was not negligible, and should be considered. Chemical use was to be a vital
component of successful plantation management and it was recommended that this be
recognised by certification systems.

SFM Roundtable – Natural Tropical Forests (PEFC ST 1003:20XX, part 2,

ED)

The roundtable on sustainable forest management in tropical natural forests discussed the enquiry
draft (PEFC ST 1003:20xx, Part 2 ED) and mainly focused on the structure of PEFC sustainability
benchmarks and the two main details:

 whether the requirements for Sustainable Forest Management Standards should entail two
separate documents (one for Temperate, Boreal and Plantation forests, and the other
specifically for Tropical Natural forests), or whether there should only be only one standard for
all forest types, or whether there should be one standard for natural forests and another for
forest plantations,
 how detailed the SFM sustainability benchmark standards should be and how they ought to be
structured, i.e. whether to reflect principle and criterion levels, or criterion and guideline levels,
or should a third level (an indicator level) also be included (developed).

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 Field Trip – Day 3

Depart for Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve, Selangor

0730

Arrive at Compartment 18, Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve

0830

Briefing by the Selangor Tengah District Forest Officer on the management of Compartment 18, Bukit
Lagong Forest Reserve – a mixed Dipterocarp forest that was first logged under the Malayan Uniform
System (MUS) in the mid-1950s, and relogged under the present Selective Management System
(SMS) in 2002.

Visit to see residual forest stand and management activities conducted.

1000 Depart for Kanching Recreational Forest

Briefing by Selangor State Forestry Department on Forest Management in Selangor FMU

1115 Visit Compartment 7, Kanching Forest Reserve

Briefing by Hulu Selangor District Forest Officer on the management of Compartment 7 –a

regenerated, mixed Dipterocarp forest that was logged under the MUS in the mid-1950s.

Visit to see the Regenerated Forest

1200 Lunch at Kanching Recreational Forest

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Participants from the Stakeholder Dialogue participating at the Selangor Forest Field Trip

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Malaysian Timber Certification Council
C-08-05, Block C, Megan Avenue II
No. 12, Jalan Yap Kwan Seng
50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +603-2161 2298
Fax: +603-2161 2293
E-mail: info@mtcc.com.my

PEFC International
World Trade Centre
10 Route de l’Aéroport
1215 Geneva
Switzerland

t +41 22 799 45 40
f +41 22 799 45 50
e info@pefc.org
www.pefc.org