Cost and duration of certification

The cost of the certification consist of direct and indirect costs. The direct costs are paid to the certifier for the application fees, inspections and audits. Indirect costs arise from the measures to be taken to meet the standards of sustainable forest management.

There is much talk about the high cost of certification, especially for small forest owners or community forests. To meet this requirement, a group certification is developed.

A good direct can only be done by the certifying institute. Here are a few indications concerning time and costs.

The direct costs (inspections, including 4 annual audits) are generally less than five euros per hectare of forest. A certificate is valid for 5 years. With an increment of 0.5 to 1 m3 per year, the direct costs become 1-2 euros per m3 of wood.
The indirect costs depend very much on the amount of measures to be taken: the corrective actions or conditions.

The average time required from the research to the certification decision is between three months and one year.

In Europe, the following number of man-days for the various inspections are taken into consideration:
preparation: 2 days (1 person)
stakeholder consultation: 2-4 days (1 person)
fieldwork: 3-6 days (3 people)
travel time: a few days
reporting 2-4 days (1 person)
peer review: 1 day (3 people)
An inspection in Suriname may take longer due to longer travel times, the field visits, organizing stakeholder consultations and adapting the forest management.

It is possible for the certification process to get grants or to cooperate with the buyers of the wood. WWF-Guianas co-finances few companies in Suriname and Guyana.