Public Consultation Process -UPDATE
IFCI Ltd. is running the public consultation of the third draft National Forest Standard for Ireland.
The aim of this Standard is to promote responsible management of forestry in Ireland.
The period of consultation of this third draft finished at the end of February 2007. IFCI appreciates greatly the considerable commitment
in time and effort that Stakeholders have put into reading the draft Standard in detail and into putting submissions together.
The Technical Group (organised by the IFCI Steering Committee) is currently going through the content of the submissions.
We will try over the coming months to draw as much from the diverse opinions expressed as possible, and to incorporate them into the
Standard.
Some of the submissions received have been posted here on a separate page.
A brief overview of IFCI
The Irish Forestry Certification Initiative Ltd. (IFCI), is a Company established to develop a national forest management standard, which is based upon the principles and criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The main objectives of IFCI as outlined in the Memorandum and Articles of Association are:
· To advance sustainable forest management in Ireland
· To develop a certifiable forest management standard for Irish forests based upon the principles and criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
· To engage the general public and relevant interest groups in the development of the Irish FSC forest management standard
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
There are numerous certification schemes in the international arena today of which the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme is probably the best known. The FSC is an international network to promote responsible management of the world's forests, which has developed ten principles and associated criteria that cover a wide range of issues relevant to social, economic and environmental concerns. The FSC process for developing forest management standards includes stakeholders from all sectors involved in forestry. National standards for forestry management are formulated and agreed by consensus by participating forestry stakeholders.
Forest Certification
Forest certification is the process of evaluating forests or woodlands to determine if they are being managed according to an agreed set of standards. Certification enshrines the principles of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and strives to ensure best practice in certified forests. It is a voluntary process that takes into account national and international legislation. Certification involves the certification of forests to a management standard and verifies that adherence to a certifiable standard has been achieved and maintained, including the establishment of a chain-of-custody from the certified forest to the consumer.
FSC Chain of Custody
Chain of custody is the path taken by raw materials from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution. From a customer perspective, the FSC label represents a promise that is being made to them. Chain of custody standards are the mechanism FSC has to ensure that 'promise' is delivered. It provides a guarantee about the production of FSC-certified products. Operations that have been independently verified for FSC chain of custody certification are eligible to label their products with the FSC logo.
Certifying Bodies
It is important to note that both forest certification and chains of custody must be verified by independent, third-party certifying bodies (CBs). The CBs are in turn verified by FSC. The Soil Association, SGS and Control Union Certifications are CBs that currently operate in Ireland.
Certification companies and Chains of Custody currently working on forest certification in the Republic of Ireland:
CERTIFICATION COMPANIES:
Coillte is certified by the Soil Association (SA) - UK.
Private Sector Forests are certified (1) by SGS - UK and (2) by Control Union (CU) - Holland.
CHAINS OF CUSTODY (COCs):
The companies involved in Forest Certification above certify COCs in ROI together with BT Trada - UK, and Smartwood - US and Europe.
All forest and COC certification available in ROI is ratified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
IFCI Structures
IFCI is structured and administered according to procedures laid down in its M&AoA and the Companies Act (1963). In order to represent constituent stakeholders, IFCI is divided into three chambers each representing the principle sectors of the forest industry, i.e. economic, environmental and social.
For further information the following documents may be downloaded:
IFCI Memorandum and Articles of Association(M&AoA)
IFCI 2008 Membership form
IFCI: Further reading
Article entitled 'Forest Certification in Ireland', by Declan Little, outgoing Chairman, which appeared in Irish Timber and Forestry, Vo. 14, No. 5, September/October 2005.
Accreditation Documents for FSC International. The following documents were submitted to the FSC Accreditation Unit as part of the accreditation process for FSC International.
Accreditation Report Overview - Executive Summary
Chronology of meetings and events associated with IFCI since its initiation in 1999 to 2004
IFCI Accounts
Membership of IFCI
IFCI is a membership based organisation. Membership is open to all individuals and organisations that have an interest in SFM. However, any stakeholder - whether an IFCI member or otherwise - can make written submissions based upon the draft forest management standard. Members are affiliated to the chamber which most closely represent their views, i.e. either economic, environmental or social. Membership provides an opportunity to become directly involved in the process, to elect representatives to the SC, and/or serve on the SC. Downloadable membership form
Irish Forest Certification Initiative - IFCI Ltd.: Company and Contact Details
Directors: Pat Neville and Declan Little
Company No. 332495.
C/O No 4,
Enterprise Centre (Phase 2),
Ballintogher,
Co. Sligo
To contact IFCI:
Geraldine O'Sullivan, Correspondence Secretary
Email: ifci at irishforestcertification dot com
Sasha Bosbeer (Chair)
phone: 087 6685836 (Monday - Friday, business hours only; please leave a message if not available)