Also in this section:

Derogation Applications

Methodology for the Revision of the FSC-US Standards

FSC-US Regional Meetings, Summer ’07 – Summary of discussions

FSC-US Draft Guidance on the Controlled Wood Standards Released for Public Comment

Principles and Criteria

U.S. Regional Standards

Family Forests Program

In 2004, FSC launched its new requirements for small and low intensity managed forests seeking FSC forest certification. These requirements enable eligible forests to be evaluated for FSC certification under a modified set of procedures. With these new procedures, a wider range of landowners will be able to receive the benefits of FSC certification and sell their products under the FSC label.

Known at the international level as SLIMF, for Small and Low Intensity Managed Forests, in the U.S. it is called the Family Forests Program.  Worldwide, this policy applies to forests that are 100 hectares or less.  However, in the U.S., this policy applies to all forest management certifications covering less than 1,000 hectares (approximately 2,470 acres). 

These procedures for small-scale forest owners, non-timber forest product producers and forest operations practicing low-level harvesting, streamline the technical requirements for FSC certification assessment. These include sampling levels that better reflect the size and management activities of the operation, greater emphasis on local rather than national stakeholder consultation, and a reduction in the number of required peer reviews.

Small-scale, indigenous peoples’ and community forests form a significant part of forestry worldwide. In the U.S., 6.4 million forest landowners have forest holdings smaller than 40 hectares, while in Japan 2.25 million households own forest holdings less than 2 hectares. In Mexico and Papua New Guinea, indigenous and local communities own 80% and 90% of the forests, respectively. However, in the past, many of these groups have found it difficult to obtain forest certification, in part due to technical and financial requirements.  The purpose of the Family Forests Program is to help bring these communities into the FSC system.

In the United States, the FSC Family Forests Alliance is actively working to increase the capacity for certification of small woodlands. The Alliance is comprised of landowner associations, resource managers, and other advocacy organizations that work collectively on policy advocacy and the development of tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of individual participants. For more information contact the Alliance secretariat, Kathryn Fernholz at 612-333-0430.

Find out more about this program on FSC International’s website: www.fsc.org/slimf