What is certification?

International recognition of the Surinamese forest management can be achieved by certifying the current forest management (Forest Management Certification) and the trade chain (Chain of Custody Certification).

Forest certification is a formal process in which an independent institution will assess the forest management if it meets the set criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. Forest certification is done by application of a company and is a free choice.

When all companies in the processing and marketing chain, can demonstrate that their raw materials come from a certified forest, the final product can then be labeled with a certificate.

This will assure the  (international) consumer that the product he or she buys comes from sustainably managed forests.

There are several certification schemes, FSC (worldwide), PEFC (Europe), CSA (Canada), MTTC (Malaysia), LEI (Indonesia) and OAB (Congo Basin, Africa).

These schemes are usually designed for a particular region or a particular country. Only FSC operates worldwide, with each country getting its own translation of the general rugulations for sustainable forest management, the national standard.
Suriname has no national criteria for sustainable forest management yet.