Regional Forest Stewardship Standard for Central America Published

The standard becomes effective on 15 May 2023.

The Regional FSC Forest Stewardship Standard for Central America (RFSS) has now been approved by FSC. The standard applies to all categories of Management Units operating in natural forests and/or plantations, as well as to small and low intensity managed forests (SLIMF) and community forests in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The RFSS is aplicable to rough wood and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), see section ¨A.2 Alcance¨ in the standard for more details. 
 

A chamber-balanced regional standard development group (with representation from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) conducted the revision following a multi-stakeholder engagement process with NGOs, Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and smallholders from the four countries. The approved RFSS was passed through field testing to ensure its applicability. 

The development process of this version of the RFSS for Central America mainly focused on: 

• The adaptation to the FSC Principles and Criteria version 5-2 (using International Generic Indicators as a starting point); 
• The inclusion of achievable indicators relevant to the circumstances of management units of all sizes, including smallhoders; and 
• The inclusion of indicators related to Indigenous Peoples´s and Local Communities´s rights. 

For any queries on the standard, please contact Luis Pereira, FSC Standard Development Group Coordinator: l.pereira@gt.fsc.org or conesforgua@gmail.com. 

The RFSS for Central America (Spanish version) can be consulted in the FSC Document Centre.