Stakeholder engagement in a Forest Stewardship Council Controlled Wood assessment

Forest certification has become an important element in the trade of forest and wood products in many countries worldwide. We reviewed the Controlled Wood audit process under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which is one of the world's largest forest certification schemes. We analysed an FSC Controlled Wood audit of logging operations conducted by VicForests (a government owned logging business operating in the Australian state of Victoria) within the Upper Goulburn Water Supply Protection Area. Areas >30° in slope within the catchment are deemed to be High Conservation Value Forests and they are not allowed to be logged. We: (1) analysed the level of performance required to demonstrate compliance with the FSC Controlled Wood Standard; (2) identified conflicts in the interpretation of standard; and (3) assessed the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement. Using a Digital Terrain Model, we found that 160 cutblocks or 75 % of the 214 areas logged between 2004 and 2019 in the Upper Goulburn Water Supply Protection Area were characterized by slopes >30°. Hence, they were steeper than the limits specified under state-based regulation. However, the FSC accredited certification body auditing VicForests claimed that logging was allowed on these slopes. This contradicted the regulatory authority's interpretation of compliance. It is therefore critical that accredited FSC certification bodies verify evidence submitted in audits, particularly where that evidence is contested by the applicant forest management enterprise. Where state-based regulation is used, consistency in the interpretation of compliance is needed between accredited certification bodies and regulatory authorities. This case study highlights the important role that stakeholders, including those in civil society and academia, can play in certification schemes such as FSC.