Forest Stewardship Council Certifications in Mexico: Motivations and Hurdles

The goal of this study was to investigate the motivations for pursuing and issues in obtaining either a Chain of Custody or Forest Management Certification through The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in community forestry enterprises in Mexico. The seven professionals interviewed for this study represent more than 100 collective years of experience with FSC certifications. A majority of participants identified a lack of business, technical and basic forestry skills as major hurdles for achieving FSC certification. A lack of understanding on the part of community foresters regarding the social equity aspect of FSC certifications was also expressed. Almost all participants identified access to external markets as a primary motivation for forestry operations to obtain FSC certification. Surprisingly, an expectation of price-premium markets for certified wood products was not a primary motivating factor in seeking certification. A more in-depth study focusing directly on community forestry operations in Mexico is needed to develop innovative solutions to the problems faced by foresters there. Future work should look to help ejidos find long-term solutions that will help protect biodiversity, reduce illegal logging, will make legal forestry enterprises economically viable, and that will benefit the people and families involved in community forestry operations. A sub-national REDD based Carbon Restoration Certificate (CRC) program would effectively bring a willing-buyer/willing-seller market for forest products to small, rural communities, thus enriching these communities with more economic choices regarding how they manage their forests.