Forest Certification for Ecosystem Services (ForCES)

Partners Contact United Nations Environment Programme Hanoi Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Ha Tinh Quang Tri Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) Centre for People and Forests (RECOFTC) For more information please contact Vu Thi Que Anh, Project Manager Vietnam avuthique@snvworld.org SNV Vietnam office 6th floor, building B, La Thanh hotel, 218 Doi Can, Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: (84-4) 38463791 Fax: (84-4) 38463794 Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Project sites www.snvworld.org/redd The Project Activities in Vietnam Forest Certification for Ecosystem Services (ForCES) SNV is the leading implementing partner in Vietnam SNV will focus its efforts on improving and promoting sustainable forest management for a range of ecosystem services through the medium of FSC To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, SNV will pilot test the expanded ES certification in Quang Tri and Ha Tinh Provinces The project aim to focus on delivering the following results: Activities will be focused in both community managed forests and production forests, with an emphasis on exploring the benefits an expanded FSC can bring to local actors in the form of access to national and global markets for these services • community ownership information sharing systems developed The ForCES project will be implemented over four years (2011-2015) through the support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Embassy of Finland, spanning four countries; Chile, Nepal, Indonesia and Vietnam This project will test the expansion of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification standard beyond the certification of ‘sustainable’ timber to include other important ecosystem services (ES) such as carbon, water quality, soil erosion control and biodiversity conservation • scientifically tested and auditable ES indicators for assessing compliance with certification criteria • certification for ES of at least one pilot site • verification of viable FSC business models for marketing ES through certification • FSC and technical agency personnel (e.g certification bodies, development agencies) trained to deliver on ES certification