Forest Stewardship Council® The FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard of Romania Cover photos: James Morgan/WWF; Doru Oprisan; Radu Grigore Vlad FSC International Center GmbH · ic.f sc.org · FSC® F000100 Adenauer Allee 134 · 53113 Bonn · Germany T +49 (0) 228 367 66 0 · F +49 (0) 228 367 66 30 Geschäf tsf ührer | Chief Policy Officer: Dr. Hans-Joachim Droste Handelsregister | Commercial Register: Bonn HRB12589 Forest Stewardship Council® Title: The FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard of Romania Document reference code: FSC-STD-ROU-01-2017 EN Status: Approved Geographical Scope: National Forest Scope: All forest types Approval body: Policy and Standards Committee Submission date: 15 January 2017 Approval date: 12 July 2017 Effectiveness date: 15 April 2019 Validity Period: Five years after the effectiveness date Marius Turtica Asociatia pentru Certificare Forestiera Country Contact: E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Mobile: 0040 740 300 616 FSC International Center - Performance and Standards Unit - Adenauer Allee 134 FSC Performance and Stand- 53113 Bonn, Germany ards Unit Contact: +49-(0)228-36766-0 +49-(0)228-36766-30 [email protected] A.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the publisher’s copyright may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, recording taping, or information retrieval systems) without the written permission of the publish- er. The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) is an independent, not for profit, non-government organisation established to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and eco- nomically viable management of the world's forests. FSC’s vision is that the world’s forests meet the social, ecological, and economic rights and needs of the present generation without compromising those of future generations. 1 Forest Stewardship Council® 1. Preface 1.1. Descriptive statement of FSC 1.2. Descriptive statement of the National Office / Standard Development Group 2. Preamble 2.1. Purpose of the standard 2.2. Scope of standard 2.3. Background information on the standard development 3. Version 4. Context 5. References 6. Note on the interpretation of indicators. 7. Principles, Criteria and National Indicators 8. Annexes to a Forest Stewardship Standard 9. Glossary of Terms List of applicable laws, regulations and nationally-ratified international Annex A treaties, conventions and agreements Annex B Training requirements for workers Annex C Additional Requirements for Ecosystem Services Annex D Species of conservation interest Annex E Groups of forests types in Romania Annex F Representative areas level Annex G Strategies for maintaining High Conservation Value Annex H Elements of the Management Plan Annex I List of publicly available information Annex J Dispute settlement procedure Annex K Wood for biodiversity – dead wood, nest trees, riparian areas, etc. Annex L Monitoring activities 2 Forest Stewardship Council® Annex M List of invasive species 1. Preface 1.1. Descriptive statement of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) The Forest Stewardship Council A.C. (FSC) was established in 1993, as a follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992) with the mission to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests. Environmentally appropriate forest management ensures that the production of timber, non- timber products and ecosystem services maintains the forest’s biodiversity, productivity, and ecological processes. Socially beneficial forest management helps both local people and so- ciety at large to enjoy long term benefits and also provides strong incentives to local people to sustain the forest resources and adhere to long-term management plans. Economically viable forest management means that forest operations are structured and managed so as to be sufficiently profitable, without generating financial profit at the expense of the forest resource, the ecosystem, or affected communities. The tension between the need to generate adequate financial returns and the principles of responsible forest operations can be reduced through efforts to market the full range of forest products and services for their best value (FSC A.C. By-Laws, ratified, September 1994; last revision in June 2011). FSC is an international organisation that provides a system for voluntary accreditation and independent third-party certification. This system allows certificate holders to market their products and services as the result of environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management. FSC also sets standards for the development and approval of FSC Stewardship Standards which are based on the FSC Principles and Criteria. In addition, FSC sets standards for the accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies (also known as Certification Bodies) that certify compliance with FSC’s standards. Based on these standards, FSC provides a system for certification for organisations seeking to market their products as FSC certified. 1.2. Descriptive statement of the National Office / Standard Development Group The Working Group for Development of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Forest Man- agement Standard in Romania was accredited by FSC in 2014. The role of the Working Group is to develop the FSC Forest Management National Standard in Romania according to the provisions of FSC – STD -60 -006 standard. Other tasks of its members include: 3 Forest Stewardship Council® Implementation and monitoring the work plan according to FSC-TPT-60-007 (V01-0) PROCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL FOREST STEWARDSHIP STANDARDS. Representing the interests of relevant stakeholders in the chamber Revising and answering to the comments received from interested stakeholders dur- ing the process of standard development. Promoting when necessary the standard development process Coordinating the activity of technical experts Signing intermediate documents and submitting for approval the final version of the national standard Analysing, developing and approving the list of interested stakeholders from the Con- sultative Forum within the process The objective of SDG Romania is to develop FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard through a national adaptation of the FSC Principles and Criteria through specific indicators in order to promote a Responsible Forest Management, as it is defined by FSC International. 2. Preamble 2.1. Purpose of the standard This standard sets out the required elements against which FSC accredited Certification Bod- ies shall evaluate forest management practices within the scope (see 2.2.below) of the stand- ard. The FSC Principles and Criteria (P&C) for Forest Stewardship provides an internationally recognised standard for responsible forest management. However, any international standard for forest management needs to be adapted at the regional or national level in order to reflect the diverse legal, social and geographical conditions of forests in different parts of the world. The FSC P&C, therefore, require the addition of indicators that are adapted to regional or national conditions in order to be implemented at the Forest Management Unit (FMU) level. With the approval of FSC-STD-60-004 V1-0 EN the FSC International Generic Indicators (IGI) by the FSC Board of Directors in March 2015, the adaptation of the P&C to regional or na- tional conditions is done using the IGI standard as the starting point. This has the advantage to: Ensure the consistent implementation of the P&C across the globe; Improve and strengthen the credibility of the FSC System; Improve the consistency and quality of National Forest Stewardship Standards; Support a faster and more efficient approval process of National Forest Stewardship 4 Forest Stewardship Council® Standards. The FSC Principles and Criteria together with a set of national indicators approved by FSC Policy and Standards Committee (PSC) constitute an FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard (NFSS). The development of NFSS follows the requirements set out in the following FSC normative documents: FSC-PRO-60-006 V2-0 EN Development and Transfer of National Forest Steward- ship Standards to the FSC Principles and Criteria Version 5-1; FSC-STD-60-002 (V1-0) EN Structure and Content of National Forest Stewardship Standards AND FSC-STD-60-006 (V1-2) EN Process requirements for the development and mainte- nance of National Forest Stewardship Standards. The above documents have been developed by the FSC Performance and Standards Unit (PSU) to improve consistency and transparency in certification decisions between different Certification Bodies in the region/nation and in different parts of the world, and thereby to enhance the credibility of the FSC certification scheme as a whole. 2.2. Scope of standard This standard is applicable to all forest operations seeking FSC certification within Romania. The standard applies to all forest types 2.3. Background information on the standard development. In Romania, the process of FSC Forest Management Standard development, according to FSC-STD-01-001 (V5-2), has started after the establishment and approval by FSC Interna- tional of the working group and its facilitator in June 2014. The process has undergone the following phases: DRAFT 1-0 Draft 1-0 was developed during six meetings of the Working Group: The principle