Yale Symposium to Examine Forest Certification

A symposium analyzing forest certification in 16 countries around the world will take place on June 10 and 11 at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, 205 Prospect St.

Titled “Forest Certification in Developing and Transitioning Societies: Social, Economic and Ecological Effects,” the symposium will probe forest certification’s social, economic, ecological and environmental effects on forest-dependent communities, and on the regions in which they exist, a decade after forest certification was created. Forest certification is intended to provide market incentives to foster better stewardship of forests around the world.

An international, interdisciplinary team will assess the direct and indirect effects of forest certification on silvicultural practices, biodiversity and forest function, local communities, the transparency of policy making, market flow of certified wood products, illegal logging and rural livelihoods in Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, a panel will discuss themes related to forest certification that transcend regions, including incorporating local land rights, traditional land use, local economies and governance.

Visit the website (www.yale.edu/forestcertification/symposium) for online registration, information on the 16 countries that were studied and a draft agenda. Or contact Elizabeth Gordon, symposium coordinator for the Yale Program on Forest Certification (elizabeth.gordon@yale.edu).

The Yale Program on Forest Certification of the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry, the State University of New York at Buffalo, the University of Tasmania in Australia and the Rainforest Alliance are the symposium’s academic and NGO partners. The event is sponsored by GTZ, Rainforest Alliance, International Tropical Timber Organization, United States Forest Service-International Programs, the World Bank, the World Wide Fund for Nature, Yale Program on Forest Certification, the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, the Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies, Forest Trends and South Cone Trading Company.