Posted on July, 30 2004

Brasilia, Brazil - With the recent certification of over 550,000 ha of native forest according to FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) standards, Brazil has surpassed Bolivia to have the largest area of FSC-certified Amazon native forests in South America. The country now has 1,249,204 ha of FSC-certified native Amazon forests and 1,051,669 ha of FSC-certified plantations, making a total of 2,300,874 ha of certified forest.

"This is a milestone to celebrate and a result which reflects the leadership of WWF in the promotion and support of FSC certification in Brazil," says Luis Meneses, Amazon Programme Coordinator at WWF-Brazil.

FSC is an international non-profit organization whose objective is to ensure environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of forests. FSC provides a labelled system that guarantees that timber and non-timber products with the FSC seal come from well-managed forests. 

WWF was actively involved in the creation of the first FSC Work Group was created in  Brazil in 1996, and the creation of FSC-Brazil in 2001. As a result, forest certification in the country has grown steadily, with 42 organizations currently having certified forests, five of which are community managed, and 193 having chain-of-custody certification. 

In addition, three Brazilian members have joined the WWF-supported Global Forest Trade Network, which promotes partnerships between non-governmental organizations and companies to improve the quality of forest management worldwide: the Certified Timber Buyers Group, the Amazon Forest Producers Group and the Acre Community Forest Producers Group. 

WWF-Brazil is currently carrying out several community management certification projects in both the Southwestern Amazonian Moist Forests Ecoregion and in the Amazon River and Flooded Forests Ecoregion. These projects feature multiple use forest management, including timber and non-timber products such as copaíba oil (the first non-timber product to obtain FSC certification under community management), Brazil nut, palm fruits and seeds, wild rubber, and Açaí palm heart. A pilot project on sustainable mahogany management and certification is also underway in the South West Amazon Ecoregion.

WWF also recently concluded a ten-year demonstration project for the development of a model for the sustainable management of timber at the industrial scale, whose results were crucial for the implementation of FSC in Brazil. 

The newly FSC-certified Amazon native forests in Brazil are: 545,535 ha belonging to Orsa Florestal (Jari Group) in the state of Pará; 4,923 ha belonging to Agroflorestal Vale do Guaporé in the state of Rondonia; and the expansion of the Cikel Brasil Verde certified area to 248,899 ha in the state of Pará.
 
For further information: 
Regina Vasquez
Communications Officer, WWF-Brazil
E-mail: regina@wwf.org.br
 
Walter Suiter 
Executive Director, FSC-Brazil
E-mail: walter@fsc.org.br