A working meeting that brought together FSC Ukraine staff and experts and representatives of the SFE "Forests of Ukraine" responsible for forest certification once again demonstrated the importance of cooperation between stakeholders in developing and promoting best practices in responsible forest management. These practices are related to the requirements of the FSC standard for Ukraine regarding representative sample areas of native ecosystems and high conservation values (see more about the project https://ua.fsc.org/ua-en/newsfeed/best-practices-in-responsible-forestry-developing-integrating-and-disseminating). Maintaining, conservation and enriching environmental values are considered an integral part of the priorities of FSC certificate holders and an element of responsible forestry practices.
Having sufficient grounds for understanding the directions for improving key processes in accordance with the requirements of the FSC standard for Ukraine in terms of identifying the specified elements of environmental values, their assessment, development of management activities for them, and monitoring, FSC Ukraine experts have prepared draft procedures necessary for the proper formation and implementation of these processes. The experience gained by FSC certificate holders, which they shared as part of the FSC Ukraine-initiated study of the management system and forest management practices of the SFE "Forests of Ukraine" (Phase 1 of the project – 2023), has been taken into account in the development of draft procedures. Their content indicates the necessary improvements in the current practice of FSC certificate holders in terms of:
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diversifying the sources of the best available information and specifying the sequence of steps for identifying environmental values in accordance with a scientifically based methodology (covering both desk and field work);
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adjusting the processes of assessing and monitoring environmental values based on the recommended methodology with its specific indicators;
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systematizing, supplementing, and strengthening the rationale for measures aimed at achieving environmental values objectives.
The elements of process documentation proposed by experts – a component of procedural projects – will help prevent formalities in the implementation of FSC standard requirements for Ukraine and strengthen the justification of environmental values within each process.
Extensive testing based on the joint work of the Berezne and Kolomyia forest management units in the form of draft proposals for meeting the FSC standard requirements for representative sample areas of native ecosystems and high conservation values (project phase 2 – 2024) confirmed their practical focus and importance for systemic changes in forestry, taking into account the values of FSC certification.
The dissemination of expert knowledge in the form of draft procedures as examples of best practice in accordance with the requirements of the FSC standard for Ukraine will contribute to the further integration of environmental values into the management system and forestry practices (Phase 3 of the project – 2025).
Pavlo Kravets, Director of FSC Ukraine, noted: "We owe the successful implementation of the project to the involvement of both managers and specialists from the SFE "Forests of Ukraine" at all levels. We hope that the implementation of the developed procedures into the forest management system will help unleash the creative potential of foresters and establish best practices for maintaining environmental values".