AbitibiBowater stops logging at Grassy Narrows

AbitibiBowater has announced its decision to stop logging on the traditional territory of the Grassy Narrows First Nation. Rainforest Action Network welcomed the decision.

A note on the FSC certification of forests in Laos

Ben Hodgdon send me this paper: “A note on the FSC certification of forests in Laos” and asked me to post it on this blog.*

Laos: What did SmartWood know when it issued the certificate?

By Chris Lang. Published in WRM Bulletin 111, October 2006.

A leaked report earlier this year indicated serious problems in an FSC certified logging operation. FSC’s certifier, SmartWood, was oblivious to the problems – at the time the report was written, they hadn’t visited the forests they’d certified for three years.

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FSC certification in Savannahkhet, Laos – reply from SmartWood

From: Richard Donovan
To: Chris Lang
Cc: Jeffrey Hayward (SmartWood), Loy Jones (SmartWood Asia Pacific Regional Manager), Hubert Bonafos (ASI), Heiko Liedeker, FSC
Date: 24.10.2006 00:04
Subject: FSC certification in Savannahkhet, Laos – response from SmartWood

FSC certification in Laos

From: William Magrath (World Bank)
To: Chris Lang
Cc: Björn Roberts (Tropical Forest Trust), Christian Sloth (Rainforest Alliance/SmartWood), Harri Seppänen (Ramboll Finnconsult), Heiko Liedeker (FSC), Hugh Blackett (Tropical Forest Trust), Hilary Thompson (Tropical Forest Trust), Jeffrey Hayward (Rainforest Alliance/SmartWood), Loy Jones (Rainforest Alliance/SmartWood), Marko Katila (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland), Rod Taylor (WWF Indonesia), Simon Greenaway (Tropical Forest Trust), Scott Poynton (Tropical Forest Trust), Tensie Whelan (Rainforest Alliance/SmartWood), Richard Donovan (Rainforest Alliance/SmartWood), Bouahong Phanthanousi (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, SUFORD National Project Coordinator) Jussi Viitanen (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland) Matti Junnila (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland)
Date: 19.10.2006 17:07

TFT response to Laos article

Scott Poynton, Executive Director of Tropical Forest Trust responded yesterday to my article in last month’s WRM Bulletin about the certification of logging in Laos.

FSC response to Laos article

FSC has responded to my article in last month’s WRM Bulletin about their certification of logging in Laos. SmartWood will carry out an audit of the operations in October 2006.

Illegal logging in Laos

Voice of America reported in September that “Illegal logging remains a serious problem in Laos, even though the government has banned timber exports for the past fifteen years”. Only processed wood can be legally exported from Laos.

Logging is bad

“There is a growing consensus that the traditional concession-based industrial logging model does not generate the desired economic, social and environmental benefits.”

Logging in Laos

This leaked report about logging in Laos appeared in my e-mail a few weeks ago, in the virtual equivalent of an unmarked brown envelope.