Davd Martin
Concern has been raised that industrial and commercial interests may dilute the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council and other bodies (such as the Canadian Standards Association) which respond to public demand for "eco-certified" or "sustainably produced" timber and wood products (e.g., White, 1995). Intuitively, there is a financial incentive for dilution to occur (cf. Clark, 1973, French, 1975, Hammond, 1997).
The Canadian Standards Association and analogous bodies in other nation-states (American Standards Association, Deutsche Industrie Norm, Underwriters Laboratories, etc.) have tended to write standards as commodity criteria which can be applied through the measurement processes usual to science and engineering. They seem to be successful in predicting the safety and utility of manufacturers but biased toward production rather than ecology (Hammond and Hammond, 1997).
However, "sustainable forestry" is more a matter of the forest left behind by logging and its care1 than of the visible and measurable characteristics of logs. It is more analogous, and more homologous, to agriculture than to manufacturing; and Forest Stewardship Council standards seemed, on last look in mid-late 1998, to more resemble "organic food" certification than CSA - UL practice.
Concern with avoiding dilution of "organic food" standards has apparently been the basis for a costly, rigid certification process (Anonymous, 199x) Many growers whose practices would probably qualify as "organic" are not certified, including this writer (who has a small commercial herb garden and is beginning an orchard). This is recognized by many local networks of concerned consumers and growers (e.g., Dauncey's Econews).
During the past four years, disappointment with the gap between strict "organic" food production standards and minimum standards for acceptance in general commodity markets [anonymous pm, 1999] has led to interest in an intermediate standard, often referred to as "sustainable agriculture"2 (Letts, 1997, personal communication; cf. Guidetti, 1997; Seattle Times, 1997). No "sustainable agriculture" standard has yet emerged and possibly none will, because it is now practicable to track many foods from producer to consumer (e.g., Kneen; Martin, 1998]
As a regular consumer of food I do not grow at home, I am unlikely to demand strict "organic" standards at all the restaurants and groceries I patronize; but it does impress me to know that a chef can name the troller who catches her restaurant's salmon, or a baker the farm from which his flour comes. Once that much is known, it is obviously feasible, in this age of 5-10 gigabyte hard-drives and 100-megabyte ZIP disks, to file a description of the practices of each of these "known producers" and describe the soil and culture of that wheat and rye, the handling practices and equipment of that troller.
The same can be done with timber.
With computers to help keep the records, it is now possible to:
research the "provenance" or history of specific logs, loads of lumber, etc;
track wood by provenance, from forest to delivery;
describe the practices of growers, with pictures if desirable;
print out that information, and attach it to the wood for the customer.
And all this economically. That is, it is possible to do Provenance Wood Certification.
Distinctive Features of Provenance Certification
All certification implicitly entails maintaining a "chain of custody" [Hammond, 1997], but beyond this gross-category source tracking, provenance wood certification involves identifying timber growers whose practices and disciplined skills yield sound, strong timber and leave healthy forests behind; describing their forests and techniques; then inventorying and tracking their logs, the boards sawn from them and the products made from those boards,3 so that the buyer can actually read about the forests from which wood comes and how they are tended.
The rigorous strictures of "organic certification" seem unlikely to be replicated for timber, if only because major industrial players, many of which have regularly asserted that shareholder earnings come first, are involved in important ways in the FSC and national standards organization processes. Thus, concern in timber and wood-product markets will include bettering the top standard as well as determining practice between the top standard, intermediate standards that may emerge, and the mass minimum.
The distinctive benefit of provenance certification to value-adding and merchandising customers is a clear knowledge of what their "certified wood" means, which allows them to tell final customers more than a trademarked word can tell. For example, outside the realm of sustainability, geographic source ("Rocky Mountain Pine," "Oregon Myrtlewood," "Lake Superior canoe Birch," "Québec sugar maple,") may be of importance to some customers; and where sustainability implications may be in dispute, some may favour salvaged ("beachchombed") timber while others prefer to avoid it.
The public benefit is that standards demanded can be verified, and while outright lying is still imaginable, it also becomes detectable. If a bad operation manages to get some kind of certification despite destructive practices, demand for a provenance statement puts it on the hot seat--either admit what it's doing or risk damage suits when buyers find out the statement was a fraud.
Who Should Provide Provenance Certification Service?
Certification of provenance is not necessarily a bureaucracy's work. Fine art, a non-commodity in whose trade provenance certification has been important for over a century, is normally certified by dealers or non-profit societies. Hammond (1997) specifies the certifying body be at arm's length from industry, which government may not be, given its interest in stumpage income and various hearsay (Anonymous, 199x, Mahood, 1999).
"Provenance Foods," a small business designed (but not yet started) to market food from growers to consumers with provenance description attached, has the format of a worker-owned co-operative business such as made the Basque (Mondragon) region of Spain duly famous. A co-operative or "society" controlled neither by grower nor user and free to choose a particular mix of foods or woods in which to deal, seems likely to be more efficient than an encompassing bureaucracy and more accurate than a subsidiary of producer or consumer interests. A group of 5-25 members enjoys the social efficiencies of a "primary group" and this is likely to be the optimum working size of organizations not constrained (as are airlines and railroads) to be larger.
An expert collegium such as the Ecoforestry Institute may be especially suited to this work; the work consists basically of observation, description, and accurate record keeping, and the observation and description call for just the skills likely to "collect" in the Institute.
Complications do exist for both food and wood provenance-certification; the most visible is "bulking together" small amounts of material from different sources. When two or more provenances are not identical, how shall the combination be described and "rated?" Ideally, a set of two or more standards will emerge such that the set constitutes an "ordinal variable;" imaginably, more than one such "ordinal variable" will be involved. Lumber-grading experience indicates that pooling grades downward, with a few pieces of higher standard being bulked with a lower one, is the most usual procedure.
Summary
"Sustainable" timber and "organic" food both represent an implicit provenance from grower to final consumer [cf Hammond, 1997]. Neither has the detail producers might wish to provide (especially those producers whose practices rise above the standard which would be applied to them under present systems) and consumers might like to know.
Explicating a provenance and detailing the grower's practices permits much more sensitive evaluation of wood and growers and while it would not have been feasible when "organic food" certification began, it is now. In a timber market where certification bodies may be subject to big-industry pressure, and money incentives may tempt some to cheat, provenance certification appears to be a valuable way to defend as well as to clarify standards.
Davd Martin (PhD, University of Washington, 1966) began his research in the sociology of small groups and now also studies rural communities, human carrying capacity, forest and water ecology, and social factors in land stewardship. He is semi-retired doing research, gardening, writing contemplation and co-operative organizing from his home near Port Alberni.
© 2000 Ecoforestry Institute
Originally published in Ecoforestry 15(1):27-30
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Notes:
Possible public concerns include fertilization practices, species diversity, the use of chemical vs heavy-machine vs hand techniques of thinning and "weeding," quality of water exiting the forest, and soil levels of humus and mycelia.
In a quite different area of work, scuba diving instruction has at least two certification bodies: The older National Association of Underwater Instructors {NAUI}, and the newer Professional Association of Diving Instructors {PADI}. Both appear to provide safe and adequate training, both issue certificates that will allow the holder to fill air tanks at most stations.
The same logic applies to carvings and paper products made from whole logs and chips rather than boards.
Some References:
Anonymous (several individuals) Anecdotes of costs and demands involved in certification as an organic food grower. Costs, these anecdotes have said, appear to exceed $300 minimum per year, disfavoring small operations; and demands have included removal of creosoted fence posts located far from crop-growing areas.
Anonymous produce manager (1999) oral reports of dangerous poison levels in commercially grown foods, especially sweet peppers.
Clark, Colin W. 1973 "The economics of overexploitation" Science 181 (17 August) 630-634
Dauncey, Guy, ed. Econews; a monthly bulletin including much information on sustainably grown foods in southern "Vancouver Island".
French, Cecil L. 1976 Private communication on the investment economics of the forest industry. The late Dr. French, then Professor and Chair of Sociology at Lakehead University, calculated that given even 1975 interest rates, the present value of a timber crop to be cut in 75-100 years is less than the cost of replanting, let alone care of the young stand.
Guidetti, Geri, 1997-1999. Food Supply Reports. Ms Guidetti {M.Sc., Biology} is founder of the Ark Institute, an organization based on concern about risks to health and ecosystems entailed in commercial crop production, and whose mission includes the archiving and transmission of traditional gardening, farming, and food preservation techniques. Of special interest were references to "terminator technology," genetic engineering and the use of industrial wastes as fertilizer components [cf Seattle Times, below]
Hammond, Herb, [1997] "What's behind a Certified Label." #25 in Drengson, Alan, and Taylor, Duncan, eds., Ecoforestry: The Art and Science of Sustainable Forest Use. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers. Points out that clearcut wood and other dubious sources have been certified. His criteria:
Ecosystem based standards that place first priority on maintaining fully functioning forests at all times
Certifying party at arm's length from producers, middlemen, retailers
Chain of custody monitored and certified by agent
Certifying agent non-profit
Hammond, Herb and Susan, [1997] "What' is Certification?" #26 in Drengson, Alan, and Taylor, Duncan, eds., Ecoforestry: The Art and Science of Sustainable Forest Use. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.
Kneen, Brewster et al, The Ram's Horn. Kneen is now associated with "Farm Folk -- City Folk", an organization facilitating the direct or one-intermediary sale of food from farmers to the households where it will be eaten.
Letts, Stephen, 1995-1999. Personal Communications. Mr. Letts is a quality-restaurant chef now working in Whistler, BC [he has also worked in Ucluelet and Vancouver during the past five years], and potential founding member of the Provenance Foods co-operative.
Mahood, Ian, quoted in Columbia Journal, June 1999
Martin, Davd [1998] "Provenance Foods Co-Operative: Working Draft for comment." Privately circulated notes for a business plan.
Mater, Catherine [1995] Invited Address, "The Business of Good Forestry conference." University of Victoria, BC: Nov. 15.
Perry, David, and M. P. Amaranthus "The use of Mycorrhizal Fungi and Associated Organisms in Forest Restoration," pp 87-91 in Pilarski, Michael, Editor (1994) Restoration Forestry. Durango, CO: Kivaki Press.
Seattle Times [1997] Fear in the Fields. Special Report, July 3,4, 13.
White, George [1995] Invited Address, "The Business of Good Forestry conference." University of Victoria, BC: Nov. 15. His firm, Sainsburys, will be demanding FSC logo by 2000.
YLE-TV [Finnish state television network] 1989 Tehometsänhoito. Documentary on forest management aired January 1, 1989. Demonstrates that naturally seeded trees grown crowded or under a canopy produce better lumber, failure of many large plantings, general "let Nature do the work if she will" conclusion.