The first meeting of the working group on the development and implementation of national forest certification standards (standard development group) for Ukraine this year was focused on supporting forest certification under martial law. In particular, the situation when forest management units are unable to ensure compliance with the FSC national standard for Ukraine in certain areas affected by the armed conflict (e.g., because they are mined), despite the fact that it remains possible in other parts of the territory, is becoming increasingly relevant. Of course, the reasons for this are outside the control of those responsible for the management, and the impact of the factors is uncontrollable. It is in such situations faced by forest management units in Ukraine that it is necessary to develop national indicators of the excision of areas from the scope of certification in accordance with the FSC policy of excision of areas from the scope of certification FSC-POL-20-003 V 1-0.

Transparency and openness through the involvement of stakeholders at all stages of the development of national indicators for the excision of areas from the scope of certification should be an integral part of this process, which is what the standard development group focused on when considering this issue. The development of such indicators is a tool to support forest certification under martial law, maintain and protect the integrity of the forest certification system.   

Among other issues, the standard development group recommended using the scientific and practical guidance "The role of dead wood in forests and innovative solutions for sustainable forestry" for FSC certificate holders. Presented by one of the co-authors as a result of the project "Promote deadwood for resilient forests in the Romanian-Ukrainian cross-border region (RESFOR)", such recommendations are important for the practical implementation of the FSC national standard for Ukraine on the maintenance of environmental values. This guidance will strengthen the methodological support for the practical implementation of responsible forest management requirements.

Pavlo Kravets, Director of FSC Ukraine, said: "The development of national indicators for the exclusion of areas from the scope of certification is an unprecedented step for Ukraine and the world. We are accumulating a unique experience of responsible forest management under martial law and threats for people and nature due to, among other things, contamination by explosive ordnance. We have the full support of FSC International and the assistance of our network partners."

This article is a machine translation of the original Ukrainian-language article