FSC Family Forests Alliance

Group Certification Resources & Case Studies

Are you trying to develop an FSC Group Certification Program? Or interested in learning more about how group certification works?  Group certification is the leading tool for engaging family forestowners in forest certification.

These resources and case studies about group certfication provide examples and templates for FSC Group Certification for Forest Management. The Alliance is grateful to the organizations that have generously provided access to the materials they developed for their programs.   If you make use of this information, please be sure to acknowledge the use of their materials. If you know of additional materials that could be included here, please contact us at info@dovetailinc.org .

1) Examples of Operation Manuals

2) Examples of Management Plans

3) Guidance Documents and Policies

4) Case Studies

1) Examples of Operation Manuals

These documents provide examples of the overarching guidance document that defines the standard operating procedures for a group certification program.   Typically the manual includes guidance about landowner eligibility, management plan requirements, and record keeping protocols.

Southern Forests Network

A group certificate administered by a nonprofit organization on the behalf of landowners in Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

Community Forestry Resource Center

A group certificate administered by a nonprofit organization on the behalf of landowners in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Michigan.

Homepage for Program: http://www.forestrycenter.org
 

Eastern Ontario Model Forest

A group certificate administered by a government organization on the behalf of landowners in Ontario, Canada.

Forest Certification Policy and Procedures Manual
A Guide to FSC Certification for Community Forests in Ontario

Homepage for Program: http://certification.eomf.on.ca/theproject.aspx

Vermont Family Forests

A group certificate administered by a landowner association on the behalf of its member landowners in Vermont.
Landowner's Guide to Vermont Family Forests Certification

Homepage for Program: http://www.familyforests.org

Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands

FSC Group Certification Program Documentation
1. Group Certification Manual
2. Harvest Plan Template (Maine Master Logger Certification Program)
3. Landowner Agreement Letter
4. Harvest Site Visit Monitoring Form
5. Pesticide Use Policy

Documents are available upon request from rndriver@megalink.net

Aitkin County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD)

A group certificate administered by a local government agency in North-Central Minnesota on the behalf of landowners in the county.

Aitkin SWCD FSC Group Certification Handbook

For more information about the project, click here.

2) Examples of Management Plans
These documents provide examples of management plan templates that have been designed to address certification requirements. Note: Templates may also be included in the Operations Manuals.  

Southern Forests Network

Simple Management Plan Template for properties less than 1000 hectares in size

Detailed Management Plan Template for larger properties and interested landowners:

New England Forestry Foundation

Regional Forest Management Plan For Fee Ownership in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut  

3) Guidance Documents and Policies

These documents provide information about FSC's group certification requirements and the relevant policies.

Group Certification for Forests – A Practical Guide

ProForest 2002

Group Certification for Forests – The Model Documents

ProForest 2002

FSC Forest Management Group Certification Guidebook

Rainforest Alliance 2005

TREES Program

Group Certification Options: Costs and Benefits

Water Smith, Rainforest Alliance 2002

SmartWood Summary for FSC Forest Management Group Certification

Rainforest Alliance, 2005

FSC-STD-01-003 V1-0 EN SLIMF Eligibility Criteria

FSC-STD-01-003a SLIMF eligibility criteria addendum 2006-02-16

FSC-POL-20-001 EN Group Certification - Guidelines for CBs (1998)

FSC SLIMF Initiative

(Small and Low Intensity Managed Forests)

4) Case Studies

These case studies provide examples of certification experiences.

Constance L. McDermott

Yale Program on Forest Policy & Governance

For more information about the FSC Family Forests Alliance and the information on this page, please contact: Kathryn Fernholz, Executive Director of Dovetail Partners and Secretariat for the FSC Family Forests Alliance, info@dovetailinc.org , 612-333-0430.