- The council of Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC),a Geneva-based non-profit organisation has decided to endorse the Certification Standard for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) developed by Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests (NCCF).
- The NCCF was set up in 2015 by representatives of forest-based industries,non-profits,forest auditors and government forest departments with an aim to set standards for certifying India’s forests,their products and their sustainable management.
- The NCCF’s forest certification scheme is aimed to improve India’s forest management regime.The forest regime is often criticized for various issues ailing the sector such as forest rights,forest degradation, biodiversity losses, encroachments and lack of manpower.
- Forest certification is a global movement initiated in 1990s after Rio Earth Summit.It is a market-based non-regulatory conservation tool designed to promote sustainable management of forests and trees outside forests by an independent third party.
- Forest certification has been accepted as an efficient tool for forest management world over.As several developed countries have put trade restrictions on imports of non-certified timber, non-timber forest products and wood-based goods into their countries,getting sustainable forest management certificates has become mandatory for exports.
