Promotion of sustainable forest management in Russia

Different methods of the public (from confrontation to partnership) gradually began to form new discourses and practices of timber merchants. [10] The main method of introducing new practices became the very FSC-certification, and all the other listed methods have helped to create the motivation and demand for certification. The concept of «sustainable forest management’ and «sustainable forest exploitation’ successively started to enter the discourses of Russian timber merchants and government employee - forestry workers. However, the specificity of these actors has led, in the first place, to the economic interpretation of the concept. Hereby, environmental non-governmental organizations were the main actors contributing to the change of the rut, the transition to sustainable forest management and ecological modernization of forest industry to expand adaptive capacity of forest ecosystems and local communities. International Institute for Sustainable Forest Management was introducedt into Russia.

Institutionalization of sustainable forest management occurs through adaptation of international standards efforts of the National Initiative FSC, FSC National Office and regional workgroups to promote forest certification. Consultants from various scientific organizations and audit firms including joined to the process. However, the guidelines were created, explanatory and informational materials are often not consistent with the National Initiative of FSC. Such effort is to support the institutionalization of sustainable forest management, however, different interpretation of the concepts were confusing.

FSC National Initiative was to adapt the international standards in multiclimatic regions of Russia, to fill the concept of international content relevant to Russian specifics. To meet these challenges, it was formed a community of experts who are concerned with the development of sustainable forest management. It consisted of representatives of public organizations, academic institutions, government and commercial organizations. Thus, the main actors from the public sector, promoting sustainable forest management, began its institutionalization in Russia and in 2005 created a special «legislative’ body - the National Initiative FSC. The National Office FSC which formed in that year assumed the role of the executive body. And with this supervisory role performed accredited auditing companies, which in turn controlled the Special Branch FSC International, experts of scientific organizations, forestry state bodies and companies controlling of forest holdings themselves (internal audit). In the control group also participated stratified group of villagers local level (local community), who knew about the benefits and advantages of voluntary forest certification, and popularized its principles among the various groups of local forest users.

One of the constituents in the creation of Russian Institute for Sustainable forest management is the FSC National Standard [12]. It was developed and approved for more than eight years, after which on November 11, 2008 was accredited, in 2009 came into operation for loggers and lumbermen, modify, and was approved by FSC International 08.10.2012. As far as in accordance with the international rules of the FSC the FSC National Initiative was included with the representatives of public, academic and business organizations, representing different interests and the process of development of national standards has become a platform for a broad discussion on the interpretation of the concepts, principles and criteria for sustainable forest management. As a result, national standards have unfolded and consistent with the interests of the various groups of non-state version of the international forestry law, adjusted for Russia.

The second component of the Institute for Sustainable Forest Management in Russia and the new actor in his promotion was the Russian national office FSC. Its necessity dictated by the fact that FSC certification Russian forest companies and their businesses become popular. International auditing company accredited by the FSC– the third component of the Institute for Sustainable Forest Management and actor of his promotion. Because the rules of FSC approval to the national version of the international standards of sustainable forest management certification audits are based on interpretations of the international standard, existing in different audit firms, one of the problems of institutionalization in the beginning was the difference in their approaches and requirements.

Collision of the discourses and practices of foreign and Russian auditors, management of forest companies, the views of officials of forest management government agencies, as well as a variety of local forest users has led to the fact that the quality and content of certified forest management system was utterly different in various forest companies. As a result, some companies came to conflicts with indigenous peoples, communities and organizations.

Constantly, there was a problem of unifying the requirements of auditors and their interpreted concepts of FSC-certification (eg, «forests of high conservation values’, «indigenous peoples’, «local population’ and others). For this purpose, the National Office of FSC in cooperation with the FSC National Initiative began to hold regular meetings, seminars, round tables, sessions and conferences with representatives of the audit firms, where they discussed the most problematic aspects of certification. It was offered a certain interpretation of concepts that inherently, the formation of a new discourse on Russia for sustainable forest management practices. As a result, elaborated a general idea of how to engage in sustainable forest management, which then popularized through audits and practices of forest companies. Much attention has been given to the publication of manuals and placing them on the website of the National Office of FSC, sending in conducting audits of the company and responsible for the FSC-certified forest companies.

Additionally, nearly ten year period of FSC-certification development Russia there are many scientific organizations and individual experts providing consulting services come into service. Experts have influenced more and more on the practical implementation of the criteria of FSC, that is, they have become important actors. However, the quality and content of the consultation and expert services differed greatly. It depended largely on both the experience and education of the expert, and how it closely collaborated with FSC National Initiative and separated the elaborating interpretation and views, was included in their discursive group.

In this situation, the institutionalization of sustainable forest management has gone through the creation of documents as appendix to the national standard of FSC - in fact «by-laws’ of the certification scheme. For instance, were recorded and append key requirements for the isolation and preservation of the forests of high conservation values to the standard, including recommendations on the implementation of the social bloc certification. These documents were created by the experts of the FSC National Initiative, after that they were discussed among auditors and timber merchants, finalized and timber merchants were offered as a guide to action in preparation for certification and audit.

A great attention has been paid to the training of specialists in the field of voluntary forest certification. In Moscow and most of the regional forest departments of universities students were offered specialization in this area. Thus, the views and experience of the experts were included in the formation of the Institute for Sustainable Forest Management. In addition to the above documents, the experts have prepared a series of detailed regional guidelines for the accomplishment of the various principles of FSC for timber merchants, forests management government agencies and other forest users.

At the same time the National Office of FSC conducted a survey, selection and registration of national expert advisory of FSC. Such listing should be isolated for lumbermen experts who can advise in accordance with the position of FSC national authorities. Creation of special documents, guidelines, meetings with auditors and consultants registration led to improvements in the quality of audits in certification, unification and formalization of sustainable forest management practices of forest companies.

Institute for Sustainable Forest Management with a well-developed structure was established with general efforts in Russia. It exists in parallel with the state system of forest management and duplicated it. It can be drawn parallels between the Forest Code, with its by-laws and the standard of FSC National Initiative with its applications and recommendations, the hierarchic structure of government agencies for forest management and networked monitoring and implementing the principles of FSC.

This new institutional structure is operating in Russia on the basis of market and globalization mechanisms, established for conservation and reforestation. As far as the new Institute for Sustainable Forest Management contributed ecological modernization and made timber merchants change the usual way of activities, came into conflict with the old system of state control over forest management and forest management. Because the old Russian system has been shown to serve as a basis to unsustainable forest management, and its transformation in the reform period, especially since 2000, looks like the destruction of national forest monitoring and management.