The training held in French was led by Petra Westerlaan, Ecosystem Services ex at FSC International, and moderated by Nathalie Bouville, Communication Manager for FSC Africa. The overall aim was to introduce partners from the Congo Basin region to opportunities to access upcoming markets of payments for ecosystem services and other benefits through the newly developed FSC Ecosystem Service Procedure and thereby build a better business case for the forests they work with.
The webinar consisted of three parts of information, whereby the first round focused on understanding the concept and general presentation of FSC ecosystem services tools. The second part centred around markets for ecosystem services: ‘Finding buyers and how to communicate and promote benefits. The final part aimed at the implementation of the FSC ES Procedure by forest managers.
More than 50 participants attended and were able to understand better the procedure which is still new to most of the target audience. It was a welcomed presentation for the auditors who were well represented on the call but also for the Congo Basin certificate holders who are keen to find new ways to bring additional values to their concessions.
Several projects are underway in Africa (Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania) but none completed yet. Several cases from other regions were presented and amongst them the cases of Arauco in Argentina and Waldplus in Italy.
There were many questions on the market opportunities and how to find potential partners and buyers. The question of the adaptation at the regional level was also raised.
Following the June webinar, FSC Africa has been in contact with several certificate holders from the Congo Basin who are interested in engaging with FSC ES opportunities.
We are hopeful and eager to announce concrete projects in the coming months in the region and to put Africa on the FSC Ecosystem Services world map!
For additional information and training please contact FSC Africa team. N.bouville@fsc.org
French translation of the procedure and the guidance documents will be made available soon.
English version of the Procedure and Guidance documents can be downloaded from the FSC international Document center:
https://fsc.org/en/document-centre/documents/resource/316
https://fsc.org/en/document-centre/documents/resource/336
other related information can be found here: https://fsc.org/en/for-forests/ecosystem-services