Revised SLIMF and Community Forest Eligibility Criteria Published

FSC-STD-01-003 V2-0 SLIMF and Community Forest Eligibility Criteria standard has undergone a revision and is now approved and published. This standard for small or low intensity forest (SLIMF) criteria now includes community forest criteria as well, allowing standard developers to include distinctions for communities in FSC standards so they can more easily access benefits from certification.

The SLIMF and Community Forest Eligibility Criteria defines the international concepts of ‘small or low intensity managed forests’ (SLIMF) and ‘community forest’ for consistent application across the FSC system.

The revised standard maintains the original intention of providing SLIMF operations the opportunity to benefit from streamlined certification procedures to save costs and avoid disproportionate burdens. The innovative features that this revised version brings are:

• defining and adding ’community forest’, to benefit from the mentioned streamlining;
• a local adaptation process to allow for flexibility at regional or national levels; and
• a change in the scope of the standard so the application of the SLIMF and community forest concept across the FSC system is better regulated.

The revision took place from 2021 and was  guided by the FSC Global Strategy goal 1.2 (Streamline policies and standards towards outcome orientation) to ensure high integrity and credibility while balancing global consistency with local adaptability. The standard was approved by FSC’s International Board of Directors on 21 March 2023.

The standard will be effective on 1 January 2024 and can be downloaded in the Document Centre here.

For more information about the revised standard or the roll-out plan, please contact the Community and Family Forests at communityfamilyforest@fsc.org.