The Canadian commercial forestry perspective on certification: National survey results

Certification has rather quickly emerged to become an important element within the response amalgam to public concerns about the sustainability of commercial forestry. This paper presents the results of a national survey designed to examine the attitudes of Canadian forest companies toward the various certification vehicles and the underlying basis for those attitudes. Included are the ISO 14001, CSA, FSC and FORESTCARE vehicles. The results, which include responses from 117 companies, confirm a recognized need to achieve forest certification and that the appropriate certification vehicle remains unsettled. It is also clear that the forest industry does not expect a price premium to accrue from any of the vehicles. Instead, the main reason for certification is to secure continued access to public forest lands through improved public acceptance of forest management and reduced pressure from environmental groups. Key words: forest certification, sustainable forest management, criteria and indicators