Centre launches forest certification scheme to counter foreign agencies

A report in The Indian Express, as part of a global investigation into deforestation and greenwashing by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in March this year, had revealed that there were serious questions over the integrity of these certifications, which affected acceptance of Indian products in international markets and resulted in high dropout rates among certified entities. That report had also mentioned that the government was planning to start its own certification scheme for improved regulation of the market.

The launch of the certification follows the development of new standards for forest management that will be mandatory for all forest divisions in the country. “Forests in India are managed according to their respective working plans. These working plans have now been updated with the newly-developed Indian Forest Management Standards that contains eight criteria, 69 indicators and 254 verifiers. These standards will be mandatory for all forest divisions in the country to implement,” Professor Manmohan Yadav of the Bhopal-based

Indian Institute of Forest Management, who was involved in the development of the standards, said. “Getting the certification, however, is not mandatory for the forest divisions, even though they would become eligible if they adhere to these standards. Obtaining the certification would depend on needs,” he said. “But this government-backed certification scheme is a very welcome step. It will bring greater trust and transparency into the processes, and grant greater acceptability to Indian forest-based products in international markets. Right now, it is a government-initiated and government-backed scheme, but eventually it is likely to evolve into an independent entity like the Bureau of Indian Standards or Quality Council of India,” Yadav said.

IFWCS would offer certification for sustainable forest management, sustainable management of trees outside forests like those in plantations, and chain of custody which is a sort of guarantee of the traceability of a forest product throughout its supply chain, from the origins to the market. “Certification may be of use to forest management units, corporations, or wood-based industries, tree growers, timber or NTFP (Non Timber Forest Produce) traders, saw millers, exporters or importers of wood-based and NTFP-based products, and other end-user industries,” the guidelines on the scheme said.

Europe and the United States happen to be the largest export markets for India’s forest-based products, particularly handicraft and furniture. These markets have been tightening the rules for import of forest products because of greater sensitivity around deforestation on climate change concerns. At the Glasgow climate change conference in 2021, over 100 countries had come together in a pledge to halt, and reverse, deforestation by 2030.