Colombia is about to reach a historic environmental milestone in forest conservation.
This is the first certification of a natural forest managed by Afro-descendant communities under international standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
The process is led by the Forest Development Association of Woods (Asofodema) and marks a change in the country’s relationship with its ecosystems and rural communities.
The country already has more than 216,000 certified hectares under FSC standards, consolidating its leadership in sustainable forest management in the region.
A model that combines forest conservation and formal employment
Daniel Bedoya, FSC representative for Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama, explained to Infobae Colombia that this advancement represents “a completely historic milestone” in the country’s environmental development.
The model combines community governance, conservation, and generation of formal employment.
“It includes the topic of community governance and the formation of community enterprises that manage their forest sustainably,” Bedoya noted.
Today, more than 8,000 families Afro-descendant, indigenous, and peasant participate in these certification processes.
The territories where they are implemented have managed to reduce deforestation by 38%, according to FSC data.
Forest conservation: what are low-impact forestry practices like
The certified forest management for the conservation of forests is completely different from traditional commercial exploitation.
Instead of cutting down hundreds of trees, the practices endorsed by FSC drastically limit environmental impact.
“For example, there are cases where six or seven trees are utilized in a hectare. It’s an extremely minimal impact,” Bedoya explained.
This approach protects the regenerative capacity of ecosystems.
In particular, certified operations must maintain biological corridors between work areas.
Additionally, they are required to preserve critical areas such as rivers or streams, where forest exploitation is not allowed.
How is the FSC certification to protect forests
The FSC certification is valid for five years and involves independent annual audits.
“An FSC-accredited body must go to review to ensure everything is being done under the standards,” the representative indicated.
Furthermore, FSC is promoting commercial connections between certified communities and international companies interested in certified tropical wood.
“We are strengthening commercial alliances with companies in Europe, the United States, and Central America to bring the products to market,” Bedoya stated.
Thus, communities are moving towards added value.
They no longer only sell raw wood but generate transformation processes within their own sawmills to produce certified finished products.
The life change of communities that care for forests
One of the biggest challenges has been ensuring workers’ rights. In the forestry sector “there is a lot of informality in jobs,” Bedoya acknowledged.
The challenge is “to hire workers under Colombian labor legality, with social security, occupational risks, and occupational protection equipment.” This cultural shift towards formality “has been one of the biggest challenges,” although results are beginning to show.
The certification requires organizations to have “an involvement with the actors close to the forest, agreeing with them on the rights shared between the forestry operation and the communities.”
“More than 8,000 families participate in these processes, among indigenous communities, Afro-descendants, and peasants,” Bedoya highlighted. “This begins to generate a very important change in people’s lives.”
Behind the FSC seal “are families receiving formal work, with benefits, health, and pension, who are part of organizations that promote gender equity and non-discrimination.”
Bedoya shared another recent achievement: “This year the first indigenous community on the planet was certified to produce FSC-certified natural rubber.” Colombia thus becomes the only country with indigenous communities producing certified natural rubber.
“More than half of the national territory is forest. We have a very important vocation as consumers to care for forests,” the expert concluded.
