FSC is seeking to partner with organizations that have experience of using gradual processes to introduce certification for small-forest owners. As part of its approach to the Asia-Pacific region, FSC continually engages with stakeholders to create awareness of FSC smallholder certification and market links in Asia-Pacific, to expose stakeholders to group certification models and to identify challenges and opportunities.
At a stakeholder workshop earlier in August, Kobrat Sawasdivorn, representative of the New Approaches project team in Asia-Pacific, met with a representative from the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) to share experiences of working with a stepwise approach to smallholder certification.
BCI has seven years’ experience of scaling up its voluntary standards taking a market-friendly approach to encourage measurable and continuous improvement at the local level. BCI brings together farmers, ginners, traders, spinners, millers, manufacturers, and retailers that are committed to developing ‘Better Cotton’ as a sustainable mainstream commodity.
This latest exchange of ideas provided a fruitful exploration of simplified approaches to smallholder certification, and FSC invited BCI for further discussion in late August 2017. The results of the workshop will be shared with FSC members in a smallholder information session at the FSC General Assembly 2017, which members are encouraged to attend.
About the New Approaches project
The New Approaches project team is entrusted to carry out the activities related to smallholders set out in the FSC Global Strategy 2015–2020. Within the context of the FSC normative framework, the New Approaches project team aims to:
- Explore existing flexibility in the FSC policy and standards system (i.e. the FSC normative framework)
- Revise relevant standards for clarification and simplification of requirements related to smallholders
- Ensure smallholder representation in processes related to policy and standards
- Explore new areas for smallholders (e.g. contractors' certification or a simplified smallholder standard).
Contact
For questions regarding the New Approaches project team’s activities, please contact team lead, Vera Santos at v.santos@fsc.org.
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