FSC® and the Ecosystem Services Procedure

The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) is an independent, non-profit, international, non-governmental organization that was created to ensure that the world’s forests meet the social, environmental and economic needs of the present generation without compromising those of future generations. For this reason, since 1993 FSC has created the best-known and most rigorous responsible forest management certification scheme in the world. What does responsible forest management mean? It means management that is environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically sustainable.

Forests provide a number of essential services including oxygen, clean water, biodiversity, and more: the benefits provided by forests (technically referred to as “forest ecosystem services”) are many and essential to human well-being. FSC has recently developed a new tool – the Ecosystem Services Procedure (FSC-PRO-30-006) – that allows FSC-certified forest owners and managers to identify, measure, and third-party verify the positive impacts of responsible forest management on five categories of ecosystem services.

Capture and conservation of CO2 stored in forests

Biodiversity conservation

Soil conservation

Maintenance or improvement of water quality and watersheds

Conservation or improvement of recreational services

Positive impacts, after being identified, measured and verified by a third-party auditor, can be translated into “verified impact statements“. These impact statements, in turn, can be used to promote responsibly managed forests and communicate the benefits of stewardship. The process also gives citizens, companies or other organizations the opportunity to invest in forests where the benefits have been verified in order to communicate their contribution to combating the climate crisis. The support given by companies and citizens is published on the FSC database, which then acts as a registry and ensures the transparency of the operation.

But what is the usefulness of this procedure?
Why verify the positive impacts of responsible forest management?

To understand how verifying positive impacts can be an opportunity for forest managers but also for companies and organizations outside the sector, it is necessary to first understand what happens outside the forests.

Faced with the effects of the climate crisis, which have become increasingly concrete and tangible, many entrepreneurs have realized that it is now time for everyone to do their part to combat this emergency and at the same time public opinion has begun to demand a change of course. This, together with the public declaration of the European Commission to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent, has pushed many companies and organizations to set themselves the goal of climate neutrality.

Some companies have gone even further, not content to become climate-neutral, but aspiring to become climate-positive (i.e., companies that capture and store more CO2 than they emit). But how do companies become climate-neutral or climate-positive? They do it by taking steps to measure their impacts, reduce them and ultimately support projects that take advantage of the capacity of natural ecosystems (such as forests) to capture and store the CO2 that they physically cannot avoid emitting in the course of their activities. That’s where forests and the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure come in. 

The FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure – a tool available only to organizations with a valid FSC forest management certificate – was created with a threefold objective:

  • Define requirements for managers of FSC-certified forests to credibly demonstrate the impacts of their activities in maintaining, conserving, restoring, or enhancing ecosystem services;
  • Provide FSC-certified forest managers with better access to emerging ecosystem services markets through the use of promotional FSC ecosystem services claims based on verified impacts;
  • Improve access to funding for verified ecosystem service restoration/improvement impacts.

After outlining a whole series of requirements that must be met in order to apply this tool, the procedure describes the steps that the forest manager must follow in order to demonstrate the impacts of management activities on ecosystem services as a pathway consisting of 7 steps:

At the heart of the impact demonstration, lies the so-called theory of change (defined by the procedure itself as the “detailed description and illustration of how and why a particular change must occur in a particular context”). This is a crucial point because it is this theory of change that identifies and makes explicit the cause-and-effect relationship that exists between management activities and positive impacts on ecosystem services. In other words: if management activities had not been implemented, the impact in terms of conservation or improvement of ecosystem service would not have been achieved.

In order to understand whether the management activities carried out have actually produced the desired impact, the manager is now required to select one or more outcome indicators (an outcome indicator is defined by the Procedure as a “field assessment of ecological or social conditions”) consistent with the results of the theory of change developed.

To measure outcome indicator values, the manager must select an applicable methodology from the appropriate Guidebook (FSC-GUI-30-006) or may propose a methodology that meets the eligibility criteria, i.e., a methodology:

  • Suitable for the local context and the outcome indicator to be measured;
  • Scientifically Credible and based on the best available information;
  • Objective and replicable.

This ensures the soundness of the demonstration. For example, in the case of carbon sequestration and storage (which coincides with CO2 capture and storage) one of the suggested methodologies is the IPCC methodology (“2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories”, the methodology par excellence for measuring and quantifying carbon sequestration and storage).

Finally, the Procedure outlines how forest managers and their clients, stakeholders, and sponsors can use FSC-verified ecosystem services impact statements.  all sponsorship on FSC ecosystem services must be reported to the certification body, which will then publish an updated summary on the public FSC database, thus ensuring transparency of the operation.

Images from “Ecosystem Services Procedure: demonstration of impacts and market instruments (FSC-PRO-30-006 V1-0 EN)”

Are you a forest owner or manager and need support to create or improve your natural area?

Some companies combine climate objectives with other objectives aimed at improving nature or the welfare of society: here it is important to verify not only the positive impacts in terms of capture and conservation of CO2, but also the positive impacts on the conservation of biodiversity, soil and water resources, as well as on the tourist-recreational use of natural areas. In fact, the FSC Procedure on Ecosystem Services is the tool that will allow you to enhance the value of good forest management, helping you to give a value to those activities for which, until now, you struggled to find an economic recognition.

In summary, the steps to follow to benefit from the use of this tool are as follows:

  1. Manage forests responsibly by complying with the standard and obtaining FSC certification
  2. Complete a verification of the positive impacts of responsible forest management on ecosystem services (using the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure)
  3. Seeking sponsors to support stewardship activities

In the search for sponsors, there are intermediaries and/or tools that can simplify the message and facilitate dialogue and encounters between the different needs of forest managers and potential sponsors (public or private organizations), “creating a bridge” between subjects that often speak “different languages”. In other words, these intermediaries can – thanks to their skills, competences and tools – facilitate the connection between potential sponsors and forest managers.

An example of tools able to facilitate this contact is the WOWnature® platform, managed by Etifor, which, thanks to the involvement of companies and citizens has already allowed the creation of many new urban green areas as well as the recovery of several forests damaged by the storm Vaia, also attracting considerable media attention that inevitably benefits both companies and area managers.

It is important to emphasize that this system mitigates risks associated with rights of use or ownership: the sponsor does not become the owner or manager of the forest, nor can he or she make demands for use or ownership of what the forest produces. Instead, the sponsor simply bears part of the costs incurred in carrying out the management activities that contribute to the generation of positive impacts. ETIFOR can help you to identify, measure and verify the positive impacts of your activities and – thanks to the use of the WOWnature platform – to find people and companies that want to contribute to the implementation of specific activities in the field aimed at improving your forests.

For responsible forest management, FSC means a management that is environmentally conscious, socially beneficial and economically sustainable. In particular:

  • An environmentally conscious management ensures that the harvesting of wood and non-wood products maintains the biodiversity, productivity and ecological processes of the forest concerned.

  • A socially beneficial management helps the local population and society at large to enjoy long-term benefits.

  • Economically sustainable refers to forest operations that are structured and managed to be sufficiently profitable, without generating financial gain at the expense of forest resources, the ecosystem, or affected communities.

FSC certification is based on the 10 Principles and 70 Criteria defined at international level by FSC with the participation of numerous members from different interest groups. Following this internationally valid Principles and Criteria, each national FSC office can develop a standard adapted to its national context. The FSC Italy office, based in Padua, has developed the FSC National Forest Management Standard, which came into force in 2018.

It means that the certification body authorised to verify that the operator applies the FSC standard is accredited by an accreditation body. The process by which the accredited certification body carries out these checks is called audit. In turn, the accredited certification body is audited by the accreditation body.

The accreditation body is ASI, Assurance Services International.

There are two types of FSC forest management certification:

  1. Individual, meaning that the individual owner or manager applies the FSC standard and calls a certification body for verification (audit). The certificate refers only to his area.

  2. Group, meaning that several owners from a group and apply for certification. The certificate refers to several properties simultaneously.

FSC has developed a definition to facilitate this category: Small and Low Intensity Managed Forests (SLIMF). In practice, for FSC in Italy, Management Units can be classified as "small" when they have an area of 100 ha or less. If the area exceeds 100 ha, then the criteria to be referred to are the following

- areas are classified as low management intensity when the cut rate is less than 20% of the average annual increment of the productive forest area and the annual cut is less than 5000 m3 in the whole productive forest area

OR

- the average annual harvest is less than 5000 m3 in the whole productive forest area during the period of validity of the certificate.

The definition of this SLIMF category has been developed to facilitate the certification of small forest owner. In this way, certification costs are reduced and the requirements and procedures to meet the FSC Principles and Criteria are simplified.

Once it has been established whether you fall under this definition you can decide whether to join a certification group or pursue certification individually. Etifor is available to provide the applicant with all relevant information on FSC requirements and participation in Group Certification.

Yes, Etifor can help you identify the appropriate group of smallholders to join.

The time frame varies depending on the ability and speed of obtaining the information required by Etifor's technicians. Certification is not only strictly a field activity, but also an office activity!

In general, if the basic information is easy to find, if there are reports, studies, management plans, the certification could be achieved in about 6 months. Etifor technicians can support you in understanding what kind of documents you need to find. They can give you guidelines on how to set up your work and arrive prepared for the audit.

No, not necessarily. Certification can also be requested by the operator provided there is a written management agreement between the operator and the owner. The agreement between the two parties does not have to be for certification only.

Certification lasts for 5 years, after this time it must be renewed.

As far as certification groups are concerned, the costs are divided into:

- one-time start-up cost (preparation of documents, obtaining information for the FSC Management Plan)
- annual cost for a five-year certificate period, which varies according to the number of hectares certified (the unit cost per hectare decreases as the number of hectares increases).

It is the main tool of the FSC Standard and it is essential to draw it up including documents, reports, records and maps that describe and regulate the management activities carried out by all personnel working within the Management Unit being certified. It is not, however, synonymous with the Forest Management Plan (FMP) or an equivalent document at administrative level. The FSC management plan contains, for example, details of social issues (employees, contractors, suppliers, local community) and the assessment of positive and negative environmental, social and economic impacts, which are not normally contained in forestry sector planning.

For the FSC certification, a FMP or equivalent document is considered valid if approved or at least deposited with the competent bodies responsible for approving or reviewing it. However, it remains fundamental to integrate the elements required by the FSC certification into the management document.

No, the certification management plan does not change what has been established in the planning of the area. The FSC certification checks compliance with existing law. If there is a forest plan approved by the relevant authorities, the certification will verify that the activities carried out in the forest are in accordance with that plan and then this will be sufficient to demonstrate

A person will be identified as the FSC contact person. The FSC contact person will be in direct contact with Etifor (and consequently with the certification team) who will give support to keep the certification information up to date. For example, monitoring will be important (key indicators will be chosen together, e.g.: if I do a planting, one indicator could be the health status of the new seedlings) and information will be recorded in the monitoring log. The contact person will have to note down any public events involving stakeholders and will have to record special events in the certified areas (e.g. natural disasters, fires, ...). We will provide all necessary support for the compilation of these registers.

The FSC certification is a forest management certification and therefore applies to forests. However, if there are non-forest habitats in the managed areas, in addition to forests, they can be included in the certification if they are important as ecosystems that complete and connect the ecological network supported by the forests themselves.

Ecosystem services are defined as the benefits provided by ecosystems to mankind. Through their management activities, forest managers can contribute to preserving or increasing the capacity of forest ecosystems to generate these benefits, such as CO2 absorption, biodiversity protection, water quality conservation, soil erosion reduction, etc.

FSC has created a tool - the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure - which allows the credible verification of these positive impacts, after an audit carried out by an external certification body. The audit carried out by the certification body is therefore aimed at assessing whether the ecosystem service - e.g. CO2 absorption capacity - has actually been preserved or improved, as demonstrated by specific result indicators that can quantify this result.

To demonstrate the positive impacts generated, the forest manager must:

1) comply with the FSC Responsible Management Standard
2) apply the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure

The Procedure identifies, measures, and verifies the impact of forest management activities on the conservation or enhancement of ecosystem services. The forest manager will then prepare the Ecosystem Services Certification Documents, which will explain and detail, among other things, the following key elements:

  • The way in which the forest management activities applied affect the conservation or improvement of ecosystem services, following a cause-and-effect logic illustrated in the "Theory of Change"

  • The indicators that allow us to understand if and to what extent the result has been achieved ("result indicators")

  • The methodologies by which these result indicators are measured

Once the Ecosystem Service Certification Documents have been prepared, they are sent to the Certification Body, the body responsible for verifying compliance with standards and procedures. The certification body conducts an audit (i.e. an independent assessment aimed at obtaining evidence and evaluating it objectively in order to establish the extent to which the criteria have been met or not), either documentary or field-based.

The FSC Procedure applies to 5 categories of ecosystem services:

  1. CO2 capture and conservation

  2. biodiversity conservation

  3. soil conservation

  4. maintenance or enhancement of water quality and watersheds

  5. conservation or improvement of recreational services

The activities required to restore or enhance ecosystem services are varied and may vary depending on the specific needs of the forest. For example - and this is not exhaustive - these activities may include: planning, monitoring, patrolling, planting and maintenance of new trees, forest improvement interventions (clearing, thinning, etc.), targeted interventions to favour certain species or habitat (e.g. management, restoration or improvement of grasslands or wetlands), improving forest roads necessary to carry out forest management activities, stakeholder consultation and involvement, risk reduction activities (creation of firebreaks, removal of felled trees to avoid the spread of pests), activities aimed at improving the tourist-recreational use of forests (installation or maintenance of paths and/or rest areas), etc.

Impacts on ecosystem services can only be verified once they have occurred; it is not possible to verify an impact that has yet to occur. For example, if you want to verify the positive impacts generated by reforestation on "Biodiversity Conservation" and "Carbon Sequestration and Storage", you will not be able to obtain verification of these before the reforestation project has been completed (i.e. the plants have been planted and have taken root), but you will have to wait until the benefits in terms of increased natural forest cover and increased forest carbon stock have at least begun to materialise.

In the case of the identification of an impact related to the restoration of an ecosystem service, where management activities have only recently started and therefore this cannot be demonstrated yet, it is possible to use a validation through an assessment by an accredited certification body. This will verify that the organisation has met all the requirements of this procedure and established a credible plan that is likely to lead to verification of impacts at the next inspection visit.

Yes, the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure gives the possibility to select one of the scientific and internationally valid methodologies described in the Guidance (FSC-GUI-30-006 "Guidance for Demonstrating Ecosystem Services Impacts"), or to propose a methodology not included in the Guidance as long as it meets the following eligibility criteria:

  • The methodology is suitable for the local context and for the result indicator to be measured;

  • The methodology is credible, and is based on the best available information (e.g. there are publications that support the use of the methodology; or it has been validated through previous uses; or it has been approved by experts);

  • The methodology is objective and replicable, e.g. it produces similar results when applied by different observers at the same site and under similar conditions.

The cost is related to the extra audit days needed to check the Ecosystem Services Certification Documents. Usually, in the cost related to joining the certification groups, the application of the Ecosystem Services Procedure is already included. In addition, there is only the support activity for the preparation of the Ecosystem Services Certification Documents.

The FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure aims to "improve access to finance for verified impacts of restoration/improvement of ecosystem services". In this sense, sponsorship represents a type of financing that allows the forest manager to initiate or continue implementing responsible management activities that enable the restoration or improvement of ecosystem services.

The company can financially support the positive impact generated by becoming a "Sponsor" of the positive impact generated on the ecosystem service. The sponsorship given by the company is recorded in the FSC database by the forest manager using the appropriate form (Annex D of the Ecosystem Services Procedure).

Yes, sponsorship of ecosystem services is published, using Annex D of the Procedure ("General information on sponsorship"), on the FSC international database, among the documents of the forest manager receiving the sponsorship.

Generally speaking, the value is not quantifiable a priori because it is a market value that strongly depends on the context, the promotion and marketing strategies implemented, and the propensity and interest of sponsors to invest.

An impact is associated with only one sponsor, and there is a system to avoid so-called "double counting" (see next question).

The Ecosystem Services Certification Documents, as well as Annex D of the Procedure ("General information on sponsorship") and the audit and surveillance reports, are made available and publicly accessible on the "FSC Certificates Public Dashboard Database" on the page of the forest manager holding the certificate who received the sponsorship. All these documents provide all the necessary information (e.g. coordinates of the location of the sponsored forest, description of the activities carried out to conserve/restore ecosystem services, explanation of the methodologies adopted, etc.).

No. A carbon credit can be transacted, and the owner can claim a property right. When a company offsets its CO2, water footprint or similar, it is essentially supporting a forest owner or manager who can demonstrate that, with the financial resources received, they able to generate a positive impact in terms of avoidance (avoidance of emissions, e.g. through protection and improvement of existing forests) or removals (removal of CO2, typically achieved through planting new trees and reforestation).

Today, climate change mitigation actions around the world can be demonstrated through a variety of instruments among which:

- financing the planting of new trees, without using certification standards;

- including forests to be protected or planted in the company's assets (e.g. the company buys land and carries out reforestation which becomes a company asset);

- purchase of carbon credits generated according to international standards, such as VERRA, Gold Standard, etc;

- purchasing carbon credits or similar instruments from domestic markets such as Woodland Carbon Code in the UK, Label Bas Carbone in France and perhaps soon (2023) with Carbon Farming in Europe;

- sponsoring positive international impacts on ecosystem services certified to standards such as FSC®.

The FSC system, following the instructions of its members and stakeholders, has deliberately developed a different tool from carbon credits, with some fundamental differences. For example, the positive impacts verified through the FSC Procedure on Ecosystem Services are not "resalable" and the support to the forest manager is not configured as a purchase of an asset, but rather as a "financial sponsorship".

This aspect is a strength of the FSC system because forests are not photovoltaic panels, which have only one function, but perform several functions at the same time (CO2 capture, water production, timber and firewood, hunting, mushroom picking, etc.). The procedure allows the correct balance of these functions of the forest without one overpowering or compromising the others.

WOWnature® is the platform, owned by Etifor, that facilitates and encourages contact between forest managers, people, and organisations that want to create new forests or improve existing ones. The climate crisis we are experiencing has led - and is leading more and more - people and companies to invest in projects aimed at enhancing nature.

Over the years, we have perceived a preference on the part of companies to invest in FSC-certified areas. This is probably because the certification represents a solid guarantee of responsible management and is also perceived as an indicator of the quality of the project being sponsored. In addition, by holding a licence to use the FSC trademarks for promotional purposes, sponsoring companies have the opportunity to use promotional statements and the FSC trademark - a trademark that is highly appreciated by the general public - as well as to obtain registration of positive impacts in exchange for their sponsorship.

Since its launch, the WOWnature platform has succeeded in involving thousands of citizens and more than a hundred private companies, institutions and associations who have decided to support reforestation or forest improvement projects. Project partners include small businesses, from the profit and non-governmental world and associations, through to large organisations and companies. Thanks to the support of these partners and citizens, WOWnature has managed to initiate and/or complete more than 35 projects in 6 Italian regions and 4 project in other states in 3 different continents, in partnership with private or public forest owners.

The WOWnature® platform can represent a further element of transparency and promotion of the positive FSC impacts. In fact, on the platform it is possible to make publicly visible and linked both the sponsor and the sponsored forest (both can have a dedicated page) and the geolocation of the intervention area. Etifor, through WOWnature and the communication channels linked to it, provides further elements of transparency, such as photographic and video documentation (illustrating and testifying the pre- and post-activity status, sometimes even the actual management activities), information panels at the single intervention areas, possibility to participate in person to the planting and/or inauguration events, etc.

Are you an organization that wants to support
the creation and improvement of forests?

If you have decided that it is time for everyone to do their part, and you are ready to align yourself or even anticipate the objectives of the European Commission – making Europe the first climate-neutral continent – then you have found a tool that suits your needs. The FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure, can be part of a path to combat the climate crisis (learn more about our MARC approach) and can help you achieve your goals. How?

By supporting those who take care of the forests in the best possible way, namely forest owners and managers who comply with FSC responsible management standards. These managers are constantly engaged in activities – creating or improving forests –  have generate positive impacts on the forests and the benefits they generate including CO2 capture and biodiversity conservation. The positive impacts of the activities carried out thanks to your support are then measured according to the terms dictated by the FSC Procedure on Ecosystem Services and subsequently verified with third party control before they can be used to achieve your corporate objectives of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

A company that wants to improve its environmental performance should follow industry best practices that include the application of the Mitigation Hierarchy concept. One method that draws on the Mitigation Hierarchy and makes it operational is Etifor's MARC (Measure, Avoid, Risk, Capture & Communicate) method.

The company wishing to use MARC must:

• measure its environmental impacts

• avoid and reduce their environmental impacts as much as possible

• understand and manag physical and reputational risks; and

• only finally communicate its positive impacts achieved through the support of forest areas.

For each stage of the MARC method there are specific and dedicated standards that can be used. Etifor helps companies identify the best standards and harmonise them to achieve their environmental objectives. For example, in a climate strategy, Etifor will help the company to measure its climate impact by choosing between standards such as ISO 14064, ISO 14069, Carbon Tust, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) certification, etc. Once the company has set up the measurement, emission reduction and risk management steps, Etifor will help the company to support field activities ranging from establishing new forest areas to improving existing ones. By certifying the forest management according to FSC standards, it is possible to demonstrate that the forests in question are managed in a responsible manner. In addition, the Ecosystem Services produced by the management of these forests can be verified through an FSC procedure. Verified positive impacts can contribute to climate change mitigation and further reduction of measured business impacts. 

The equation "measured emissions - reduced emissions - offsetting = neutrality" is one that is made by the company itself, or possibly with the support of specialist consultants such as Etifor. There are some international protocols that certify neutrality (e.g. LA PAS or DNV Carbon Neutrality), but it is always preferable to choose the best industry standards for the individual MARC phases. It is important that the results and trends of the individual MARC phases are reported in the communication phases. Certification bodies operating according to standards such as ISO, LCA EPD, FSC or others only certify the conformity of processes linked to individual steps, and not the neutrality process. For example, the FSC certification through the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure verifies the impact generated by forest management activities on the conservation or improvement of ecosystem services provided by the forest (such as the capture or conservation of CO2 ). The robustness of any climate strategy and the eventual achievement of climate targets is responsibility of the company and of the tools and approaches it chooses to adopt with the support of Etifor for its implementation.

No. A carbon credit can be transacted and the owner can claim a right of ownership. 

When a company offsets its CO2 , water footprint or similar, it is essentially supporting a forest owner or manager who can demonstrate that, with the financial resources received, they are able to generate a positive impacts in terms of avoidance (avoidance of emissions, e.g. through protection and improvement of existing forests) or removals (removal of CO2 , typically achieved through planting new trees and reforestation). Today, climate change mitigation actions can be demonstrated through a variety of tools including:

• finance planting of new trees, without using certification standards;

• including forests to be protected or planted in its corporate assets (e.g. the company buys land and does reforestation which becomes a corporate asset);

• purchase of carbon credits generated in accordance with international standards such as VERRA, Gold Standard, etc;

• purchase of carbon credits or similar instruments from domestic markets such as Woodland Carbon Code in the UK, Label Bas Carbone in France and perhaps soon (2023) with Carbon Farming in Europe;

• sponsoring international positive impacts on ecosystem services certified according to standards such as FSC®.

The FSC system, following the indications of its members and stakeholders, has deliberately developed an instrument that is different from carbon credits, with some fundamental differences compared to the latter. For example, the positive impacts verified through the FSC Procedure on Ecosystem Services are not "resalable" and the support to the forest manager is not configured as a purchase of an asset, but rather as a"financial sponsorship". This aspect is a strong point of the FSC system because forests are not photovoltaic panels, which have only one function, but they perform several functions at the same time (capture CO2 , production of water, timber and firewood, hunting, mushroom picking, etc.). The procedure allows the correct balance of these functions of the forest without one overpowering or compromising the others.

Ecosystem services are defined as the benefits provided by ecosystems to mankind. Forest managers can, through their management activities, contribute to the preservation or increase of the capacity of forest ecosystems to generate these benefits (which include for example: absorption of CO2 , protection of biodiversity, preservation of water quality, reduction of soil erosion, etc.). FSC has made available a tool - the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure - which allows, following an audit carried out by an external certification body, credible verification of this contribution. The audit carried out by the certification body is therefore aimed at assessing whether the ecosystem service (e.g. CO2 absorption capacity) has actually been preserved or improved, as demonstrated by specific result indicators that can quantify this result.

In order to demonstrate the positive impacts generated, the forest manager must:

1) comply with the FSC Responsible Management Standard

2) apply the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure

The Procedure makes it possible to identify, measure and verify the impact of forest management activities on the conservation or improvement of ecosystem services. The forest manager will then prepare the Ecosystem Services Certification Documents, in which the following key elements, among others, will be explained in details:

  • The way in which applied forest management activities affect the conservation or improvement of ecosystem services, following a cause-effect logic illustrated in the "Theory of Change";

  • The indicators that show whether and to what extent the result has been achieved ("result indicators");

  • The methodologies by which these result indicators are measured.

Once the Ecosystem Service Certification Documents have been prepared, they are sent to the Certification Body, the body responsible for verifying compliance with standards and procedures. The certification body conducts an audit (i.e. an independent assessment aimed at obtaining evidence and evaluating it objectively in order to establish the extent to which the criteria have been met or not), both documentary and field-based.

The company can financially support the positive impact generated by becoming a "sponsor" of the positive impact generated on the ecosystem service. The sponsorship given by the company is registered in the FSC database by the forest manager using the appropriate form (Annex D of the Ecosystem Services Procedure).

The FSC system is an independent, third-party certification system. This means that, in order to increase the robustness of the system and reduce potential conflicts of interest, roles and responsibilities are divided between the different actors involved:

  • FSC is the standard-setting body, i.e. the body that 'sets the rules of the game' by defining and publishing standards;

  • The certification body is a third party, other than FSC, responsible for conducting audits to verify compliance with the standards and procedures. Only accredited certification bodies (see next point) are authorised to conduct these audits;

  • The accreditation body is the body that certifies the competence, independence and impartiality of certification bodies. In the FSC system, this role is performed by ASI (Assurance Services International).

So, in conclusion, impacts on ecosystem services are verified by the certification body (which, in turn, is accredited by the accreditation body) through audits aimed at verifying compliance with the standards and procedures published and approved by FSC.

Impacts on ecosystem services can only be verified once they have occurred; it is not possible to verify an impact that has yet to occur. For example, if one wants to verify the positive impacts generated by reforestation on "Biodiversity Conservation" and "Carbon Sequestration and Storage", it will not be possible to obtain verification of these before the reforestation project has been completed (and therefore the plants have been planted and have taken root). Instead, one must wait until the benefits in terms of increased natural forest cover and increased forest carbon stock have at least begun to be realised.

In the case of the identification of an impact related to the restoration of an ecosystem service, where management activities have only recently started and therefore it cannot be demonstrated yet, validation through assessment by an accredited certification body can be used. This will verify that the organisation has met all the requirements of this procedure and established a credible plan that is likely to lead to verification of impacts at the next inspection visit. 

One of the objectives of the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure is to improve access by FSC-certified forest managers to funding for verified impacts to restore and/or enhance ecosystem services. As specified in the Procedure, the "sponsor financially supports an FSC-certified forest management company by providing funds to finance or remunerate impacts on ecosystem services". In other words, sponsorship is used to reward the manager for the positive impacts generated by its management activities on ecosystem services and/or to enable (or continue to enable) the generation of those positive impacts. It follows that if a forest manager has already implemented management activities whose positive impacts have already been verified, then the sponsor can potentially already benefit from those impacts and - through its sponsorship - reward the manager for what they have done so far and help it to continue implementing these activities. If the forest manager has not yet implemented the management activities and/or had the impacts verified, then the sponsor can provide funding to the forest manager to enable them to undertake the activities and complete the impact verification (only when the verification has been conducted can we speak of verified positive impacts). The FAQ "What interventions are supported through my sponsorship?" describes the specific activities that can be sponsored. 

Yes, the FSC Procedure is internationally valid and can be used anywhere in the world without the need for national adaptation. The procedure stems from a five-year international test with the Global Environmental Facility's ForCES (Forest Certification of Ecosystem Services) project.

Yes, the FSC Procedure on Ecosystem Services gives the possibility to select one of the scientific and internationally valid methodologies described in the Guidance (FSC-GUI-30-006 "Guidance for Demonstrating Ecosystem Services Impacts"), or to propose a methodology not included in the Guidance as

long as it complies with the following eligibility criteria:

  • The methodology is adapted to the local context and the result indicator to be measured;

  • The methodology is credible, and is based on the best available information (e.g. there are publications that support the use of the methodology; or it has been validated through previous use; or it has been approved by experts);

  • The methodology is objective and replicable, e.g. it produces similar results when applied by different observers at the same site and under similar conditions.

Yes, sponsorship of ecosystem services is published, using Annex D of the Procedure ("General information on sponsorship"), on the FSC international database, among the documents of the forest manager receiving the sponsorship.

This depends on the communicative purpose. If it is non-financial reporting, positive impacts can only be declared once they have been certified and registered on the international FSC database. If the purpose is purely communicative, it is possible to communicate once the contracts governing your support for forest areas have been signed. For more details see the questions on communication and reporting. 

With due caution, positive impacts can be communicated once the contracts providing support to the selected areas are signed. It is acceptable to say that the support given to the forest area in question is estimated and/or expected to generate a certain amount of positive impacts in the selected time frame, as long as the communication is clear and not misleading. However, it is not possible to report in your non-financial statements or sustainability reports on positive impacts that have not yet materialised and have not

yet been certified. Please refer to the following question on reporting for details.

Yes, the positive impacts generated can be reported in one's own non-financial statements according to the guidelines of the reporting standard used. This normally includes a clear distinction between the organisation's actual impacts (e.g. climate change emissions), and so-called "offset" impacts. Any positive impact generated, in order to be included in the reporting, must first have been verified and entered into the international FSC database.

The FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure aims to "improve access to finance for verified impacts of restoration/improvement of ecosystem services". In this sense, sponsorship represents financing that allows the forest manager to initiate or continue implementing responsible management activities that enable the

restoration or improvement of ecosystem services. In practice, the activities required for the restoration or improvement of ecosystem services are many and

can vary according to the specific needs of the forest. For example - which should not be considered exhaustive - these activities may include: planning, monitoring, patrolling, planting and maintenance of new trees, forest improvement interventions (clearing, thinning, etc.), targeted interventions to favour certain species or certain habitats (maintaining, restoring or improving the ecosystem services), improvement of forest roads necessary to carry out forest management activities, stakeholder consultation and involvement, risk reduction activities (creation of firebreaks, removal of felled trees to avoid the spread of pests), activities aimed at improving the tourist and recreational use of forests (installation or maintenance of paths and/or rest areas), etc.

The FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure allows the verification of positive impacts not only in terms of carbon sequestration and storage, but also in terms of biodiversity conservation, water regulation services, soil conservation and recreational services.

Only sponsors who have a licence to use the trademarks may use the registered trademarks owned by the Forest Stewardship Council to promote their sponsorship. If the sponsor does not have a licence to use the FSC trademarks for promotional purposes, the sponsor may apply directly to the National Office for a licence fee.

Sponsors who are certified according to FSC forest management or chain of custody standards can use the logo without having a licence to use the trademarks. The FSC Ecosystem Services promotional statement consists of any impact identified in the Ecosystem Services Certification Documents (ESD) that has been verified by the certification body (e.g. "maintenance of water quality") and/or any summary description using the phrase "verified positive impacts" with reference to the ecosystem service for which the impacts have been verified (e.g. "verified positive impacts on carbon sequestration and storage"). Any additional explanation of the impact must be consistent with the DCSE and the promotion must in any case be validated by the FSC Italy office and must specify the ecosystem service indications, the sponsored forest and the duration or year of the sponsorship.

The Ecosystem Services Certification Documents, as well as Annex D of the Procedure ("General information on sponsorship") and the audit and surveillance reports, are made available and publicly accessible on the "FSC Certificates Public Dashboard Database", on the page of the forest manager holding the certificate who received the sponsorship. All these documents provide all the necessary information (e.g. coordinates of the location of the sponsored forest, description of the activities carried out to conserve/restore ecosystem services, explanation of the methodologies adopted, etc.). Etifor can provide a further element of transparency through the WOWnature® platform, where it is possible to make publicly visible and linked both the sponsor and the sponsored forest (both can have a dedicated page) and the geolocation of the intervention area. Etifor, through WOWnature and the communication channels linked to it, provides further elements of transparency, such as photographic and video documentation (which illustrates and testifies the before and after the activity, sometimes also the actual management activities), information panels at each intervention area, possibility to participate personally to the planting and/or opening events, etc.

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ALEX PRA
ALEX PRA