FSC hosts side event at tenth UN Forum on Forests
On 12 April 2013, FSC hosted an official side event at the 10th Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests in Istanbul, Turkey. The event was entitled ‘Certification as a screening tool for investment in the forest sector,’ and key organizations in attendance included governments, academics and development co-operation agencies. The event was moderated by John Hontelez, FSC’s Chief Advocacy Officer, who gave a general introduction to FSC. That was followed by a presentation on ‘FSC and smallholders: a tool for access to finance’ by Joachim Meier-Dörnberg, manager of FSC’s Smallholder Support Project. “About a quarter of the world’s forests are owned and managed by smallholders, which makes them a high priority for FSC,” said Mr. Meier-Dörnberg, before going on to discuss how using FSC certification as a screening tool for financial investment in small forest enterprises (SFEs) highlights the complex issues involved in smallholder support. Mr. Meier-Dörnberg drew...