New opening in the relationship between the Polish State Forests and FSC

Cooperation between the State Forests in Poland and FSC International was the subject of a meeting at the headquarters of the Directorate General of State Forests. Representatives from both institutions, as well as the Ministry of Climate and Environment, discussed the return to FSC certification.

The meeting, held on 29 February 2024, was attended by Mikołaj Dorozala, Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment, Jerzy Fijas, Deputy Director General of State Forests, and Kim Carstensen, Director General of FSC International.

“I am very pleased that we were able to organize this meeting at such short notice,”  said Minister Mikolaj Dorozala. “This is in line with the government's policy in the area of sustainable forest management that strengthens the natural and social functions of the forest, while increasing the competitiveness of the Polish timber sector.”

Currently, four out of seventeen regional directorates of the State Forests (RDSF) – Katowice, Szczecin, Szczecinek and Zielona Góra – hold FSC certificates, proving that the timber was harvested as a result of responsible forest management. The first two have used the derogation and are in the process of auditing with the intention of continuing to use the FSC certificate. If the audit is successful, the two RDSFs will be given the opportunity to do so till the end of August.

“We are leaving the past behind and starting a new dialogue on certification. I assure you of our openness to discussions. We are conducting them with all stakeholders in forest management. We pay great attention to the voices of all our partners who raise the expectation that the State Forests should use the FSC label. Openness and transparency are the priorities of the current leadership of the State Forests,” says Director Jerzy Fijas.

Work on the revision of the national standard is nearing completion. Its final version is likely to be published in May this year. After a transition period, the new standard will replace the current one in December 2025 at the earliest. The standard, and particularly those elements of it against which the most comments were made, was the subject of a presentation by FSC Poland. FSC representatives also reported on the modernization of risk assessment tools in the context of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

The provisions of the licence agreement, which is the basis for the use of the FSC trademark, were discussed, including those on FSC inspections of certified entities, publication of audit reports and unilateral implementation of some of the changes to the agreement.

“The meeting demonstrated the State Forests' strong commitment to sustainable forest management and openness to cooperation. I believe that there is a solid foundation to continue FSC certification in Polish forests, and after the meeting I am confident that together we can quickly achieve the desired results. For our part, we assure full commitment to further discussions”, says Director Kim Carstensen.

The meeting ended with the establishment of a working team. The team has already started working today on detailed solutions aimed at restoring FSC certification on a nationwide scale. The first step is to seek the restoration of the certificate for the RDSF in Bialystok, responding to the expectations of the timber industry, local governments, and environmental and social organizations in the region. The next meeting, summarizing the work, is scheduled for two weeks from now.

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The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification has been a vital component of sustainable forest management in Poland for over 25 years. Until recently, approximately two-thirds of the total forest area of 9.2 million hectares in the country were FSC-certified.

Unfortunately, last year the Polish State Forests (RDSFs) opted to discontinue FSC certification in their respective regions. This loss represented an area of roughly 5.6 million hectares in addition to the loss of competitiveness of Polish timber products due to the decrease in supply of FSC-certified timber.

Last week has seen a breakthrough in the negotiations between FSC Int and State Forests which had been at stall since 30 July 2023, leading to a clear roadmap to a solution, desired by both parties.

Read the original article in Polish here.