Openness and transparency of forest certification is one of its basic principles aimed at finding a balance of environmental, economic, and social interests of different stakeholders. Participation of these parties in forest certification, on the one hand, is considered as an opportunity to exercise the rights of citizens to a safe and quality environment, and on the other – as a powerful institution of expert and advisory support in implementing FSC standards.
The webinar brought together a wide range of representatives of public organizations, educational and scientific institutions, certification bodies, executive authorities, and forestry enterprises. All of them are interested in ensuring that knowledge on specific issues of the FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard is made use of by certificate holders, ensuring responsible forest management.
A proactive position of potential experts and consultants is the key to improving forest management practices in accordance with FSC requirements, increasing confidence in enterprises, and improving the quality of forest certification. This was confirmed by the experience of public organizations, in particular, WWF Ukraine, Forest Initiatives and Society, that has been presented during the webinar. Proper communication is the first step towards effective interaction between stakeholders and forestry enterprises as holders of FSC certificates.
Pavlo Kravets, Director of FSC Ukraine, emphasized: "The expert community has enjoyed the opportunity to understand how their knowledge and skills can be conveyed to forestry enterprises and accounted for in everyday practice as the best available information to effectively ensure compliance with the requirements of the FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard".