Below are several links to documents directly or indirectly related to forest certification. These documents are only a starting point for understanding certification and forest management issues; they are not endorsed by YPFC. If you would like to add or change a link or file to the website, please contact ypfc@yale.edu

A First Look at Logging in Gabon. Global Forest Watch, 1999.
Provides an overview of logging activities in Gabon, summarizes its forestry law and tax system, and showcases the work of two government agencies and a logging company that have each utilized new management tools to bring about more sustainable use of the resource.

A Sustainable Forest Future? D. Pearce, F. Putz, and J. Vanclay. 2000. (Under revision for inclusion in D.W. Pearce and C.G.Pearce, Case Studies in Environmental Valuation: Volume 1 - The Developing World, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2002).
Reviews the available literature so as to cast some light on the issue of the type of forest management regime that is best suited to the overall aim of slowing the rate of loss of the world’s forests and biodiversity, with the understanding that the concept of ‘sustainable
forestry’ as the most preferred option has recently come under criticism from those who argue that it is neither profitable nor necessarily environmentally preferable to conventional logging.

Analysis of the Status of Current Certification Schemes in Promoting Conservation. Conservation and Community Investment Forum 2002.
This study aims to provide private foundations with a highly pragmatic decision framework for their future support of certification efforts.

Beyond Sustainable Forest Management: Opportunities and Challenges for Improving Forest Management in the Next Millennium (Summary Paper). C. Ljungman, R. Martin, and A. Whiteman. FAO 1999. A summary of recent reports prepared for the FAO Forestry Department as an input to the World Bank Forest Policy Implementation Review and Strategy.

Bridging the gap: communities, forests and international networks : synthesis report of the project 'Learning lessons from International Community Forestry Networks.' CIFOR 2003.
Compiles the main lessons learned from the emergence of international networks of NGOs supporting community forestry in terms of: advocacy effectiveness, communications techniques, network governance, relations with donors, and linkage to social movements. Reviews seven countries and ten networks.

Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management and Implications for Certification and Trade in Africa. FAO African Forestry and Wildlife Commission, Lusaka, Zambia, 27-30 March 2000.
Describes the various international and regional processes and initiatives that are developing criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management and discusses the relationship between these and certification efforts. Highlights the complementarities that exist between them and indicates the implications they have for trade in forest products.

Does forest certification conserve biodiversity? R. E. Gullison. Oryx. April 2003. Article examines how and whether forest certification leads to the protection of biological diversity on-the-ground, especially in tropical regions. Although forest certification as a general tool is examined, this paper explores the potential and actual impact of the Forest Stewardship Council in particular.

Forest Certification and Communities: Looking forward to the next decade. Forest Trends, 2003.
An assessment of community experiences with certification to date, an evaluation of the range of direct and indirect impacts on communities in different geographic regions, and an examination of the strategic issues that certification will likely face in the future, suggesting refinements to increase the effectiveness of this instrument for communities.

Forest Certification: Forging Novel Incentives for the Environment and Sustainable Forest Management. M. Simula, E. Rametsteiner, A. Blåsten, T. Green and B. Pajari (editors). Proceedings of the International Workshop Brussels, Belgium, 6–7 September 2001.
The workshop sought to examine the scope and options for possible validation or endorsement of certification schemes to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of forest certification as a tool to promote sustainable forest management globally. Contributed to the on-going international dialogue on exploring the need for, and possible mechanisms of, mutual recognition between certification schemes

Forest Certification: Pending challenges for tropical timber. ITTO 2002.
Served as background information for an ITTO workshop on certification held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 3–4 April 2002, updating the current situation and clarifying the issues of comparability and equivalence. Includes the recommendations of the ITTO workshop.

Forest certification: Understanding Ecolabel Usage Requirements. R. Anderson, E. Hansen. Oregon State University.
Explains the broad concept of forest certification and then focuses on describing two components of third-party forest certification schemes – ecolabel usage and the steps that must be taken in order to use the label – discussed among the four forest certification schemes that are most relevant in North America and Europe.

Policy that works for forests and people: real prospects for governance and livelihoods. J. Mayers and S. Bass. IIED 1999.
Contents include: Forest problems - is policy really to blame? Understanding policy in practice; Lessons learned from country studies in Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, India, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Costa Rica; key policy developments in Portugal, Scotland, China, Australia, Scandinavia, West Africa; Corporate influences on policy for forests; Certification and buyers groups; Global change and international games; Factors that affect forest decision-making and policy outcomes; Policy processes that work; Policy instruments that work: What can be done.

The Role of Standard-Based Approaches in Community Forestry Development: Findings from Two Case Studies in Southeast Asia. Prepared by Matthew D. Markopoulos for Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asian and the Pacific. October 2004. Based on two case studies, this report analyses the effects on local forest management capacities of two community-oriented Standard-Based approaches: (1) Certification of village forestry associations in Lao PDR; and (2) Environmental Performance monitoring of community-based forest management in the Philippines.

Seeing the Wood from the Trees. An edited version was published in The Ecologist 31(6): 2001.
Critiques that the “ideological foundations of the present environmental and social crisis has been replaced by a search for technical solutions in collaboration with government and industry.” Uses Precious Woods Amazon to analyze the myths often used to defend certified logging in primary forests.

State of the World’s Forests 2003. FAO 2003.
The State of the World's Forests reports every two years on the status of forests, recent major policy and institutional developments and key issues concerning the forest sector. This is the fifth edition of the publication, the purpose of which is to provide current and reliable information to policy-makers, foresters and other natural resource managers, academics, forest industry and civil society.

Trading in Credibility: The Myth and Reality of the Forest Stewardship Council. S. Counsell and K. Terje Loraas. The Rainforest Foundation 2002.
A critical analysis of the effectiveness of the FSC, investigating of the main interests involved in the FSC, as well as issues of democracy and accountability of the organization. Nine case studies are used to illustrate problematic issues.

Tropical Forest Management Techniques: A Review of the sustainability of forest management practices in tropical countries. FAO 2000.
Describes the extent of the tropical forest resource and discusses some of the issues that are currently being raised in the debate about sustainable forest management; describes experiences from tropical countries around the world with sustained yield management and considers forest management for objectives other than wood production; appraises experiences to date and discusses the scope for improving forest management in the future; makes recommendations about how forest management might be improved.