Small producers can join forces to share costs and documentation
In order to obtain a forestry management FSC certification, which brings a series of benefits to the producer, a few important stages must be completed and the property must also be organized, as shown in this article. According to the CEO of FSC Brazil, Daniela Vilela, the farmer must strat to think about it well before hiring a certifying company, since there will be direct and indirect costs that may affect a small property. For small farmers, with up to 480 hectares of effective planting area, and a thousand hectares of total area (also calculating the permanent preservation and legal reserve areas), she suggests joining forces with other small farmers.
“We have seen that, for this group, strength lies in numbers, with the possibility of joint certification. The small farmers get together, form a group and obtain a single certificate for the whole group, instead of individual certificates for each of them. In this way, they can share documents, grow in scale for a consultancy company, and if they need a service provider, they can share the costs, easing access. This, in addition to fostering the sharing of knowledge, also leeds to the professionalization of the whole group, resunting in an interesting collective construction”, she states. FSC Brazil has already certified several groups, even in Paraná, which included Klabin suppliers. “Of course, in this case, there is a greater level of responsibility, since if one fails to comply, all the others will be affected. But it also generates a very nice sense of responsibility, since you know that what you do has a direct impact on the group”, she explains.
Costs and time until receiving the certification vary on a case-to-case basis. “There is the direct cost, when the producer calls one of the four certifying companies authorized by FSC in Brazil, and that company goes out on the field to check all the details. The certifying company is going to assess, together with the producer, the size of the area, what they have there, the areas of permanent protection (APPs), and the entire scope of the property”, she explains. Everything has impact on the cost, since it depends on the size of the area, the number of auditors required, the time spent, and if there are indigenous populations and preservation areas that may be affected. “Between hiring the certifying company and obtaining the seal, a period of six months to a year is required, with variable costs”, Daniela explains.
However, the time and direct costs are of tow impact on the process, according to the director. What takes place before that has a greater impact on the process. “If it is not a well-organized, consolidated property, with all adaptations implemented, the producer will first need to assess if all the employees comply with the labor obligations, if their medical exams are all up-to-date, the status of the environmental issues of the property, of the legal reserve, in other words, he will need to make sure all the assessment items are compliant before the visit of the certifying company. This period is usually slightly long, since it depends on the current status of the property, and therefore, the cost will also be proportional. If there is work on adapting and constructing the property being performed throughout the years, the cost will surely be lower. But if all the work must still be developed, both the cost and the timeframe will be higher”, she explains. According to her, this fact may discourage some people. “Mainly small producers, since it is very costly to comply with everything straight away – there are many issues that must be adapted, and complied with”.
The good news is that FSC International wants more certified producers, and that they do not get scared away with all the costs involved. And that is why it is developing a process referred to as Continuous Improvement Procedure, which must start to be implemented from 2022 in the whole world. “The forest handling standard has 10 principles, which are broken down to 70 criteria, with each criterion having several indicators. In order to obtain the certification nowadays, all items must be met in the audit. What FSC International is proposing, especially for small producers, is a kind of staged strategy. First the essential requirements are identified, which are the base of the certification. If the producer complies with those requirements in the first year, he will receive a certificate and can start trading his certified product. And throughout the cycle, he must comply with the other requirements. An action plan is defined, 20% in this year, another 10% in the next year, and in that way, the financial burden is reduced, as well as providing maturity for the producer, so that he may grow together with the process”, Daniela completes.