This section describes guiding principles for the sustainable management and use of planted forests, as well as key guidelines for each principle. Although the principles are grouped according to institutional, economic, social and cultural, environmental and landscape approaches, they are closely interlinked. Some guidelines are listed under more than one principle to reinforce these linkages. Planted forest policies, planning, management and monitoring need to embrace these principles and guidelines in holistic approaches.
The understanding and application of the principles and recommendations will be determined by the prevailing governance, economic, cultural, social, environmental or other contexts. The extent to which country economies are industrialized, in transition or developing will determine the application of each principle.
The principles apply to all types of institutions, including government, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and civil society, and do not replace existing national or international laws, commitments, treaties or agreements. A comprehensive bibliography for further reading is provided in Annex 5.
Taking into consideration the time frame and risks in establishing and managing planted forests, as well as their use, marketing and trade, governments should facilitate an environment of stable economic, legal and institutional conditions to encourage long-term investment, sustainable land-use practices and socio-economic stability.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• following existing national and international laws, commitments, treaties and agreements;
• encouraging transparency, participation and recognition of the roles of non-governmental stakeholders in decision-making without coercion;
• formulating current, consistent and clear enabling policies, laws, regulations, plans and processes, as well as appropriate monitoring and evaluation systems;
• developing and implementing national and subnational guidelines or codes of practice for the management of planted forests;
• using scientific evidence to weigh the risks, opportunities, costs and benefits of planted forests in relation to conservation and sustainable development;
• providing enabling conditions and procedures that reward sustainable management and responsible practices;
• recognizing just land ownerships (e.g. public and private), the rights and obligations of land and crop tenure, and access for investors (both corporate and smallholder), traditional owners, indigenous peoples, local communities and ethnic minorities;
• distributing benefits on an equitable basis to relevant stakeholders;
• recognizing the rights of workers to organize and to negotiate salaries and conditions to meet their fundamental needs.
Principle 2: Integrated decision-making and multistakeholder approaches
Taking into consideration the multifaceted interfaces of planted forests with communities, agriculture, animal husbandry, naturally regenerating forests and agroforestry land uses, both with and in the landscape, policy-makers should encourage integrated decision-making by stakeholders in planning, managing and utilizing planted forests.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• integrating policies, planning and management decision-making related to planted forests into intersectoral and multidisciplinary approaches in order to reflect their role in the wider landscape, both spatially and temporally;
• giving integrated decision-making a scientific, social, environmental and economic basis;
• understanding the varying needs, aspirations, priorities and accountabilities of stakeholder groups, and determining appropriate levels of influence in decision-making in relation to the scale and impact of planted forests;
• encouraging participation in decision-making by corporate and smallholder investors and associations, government and non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples and local community groups (including women’s and marginal groups);
• respecting international law to ensure that local communities and indigenous peoples retain control over their lands, unless they delegate control with free, prior and informed consent;
• finding levels of engagement, dialogue and approval that reflect the real complexity, scale and impact of planted forests, as well as the requirements for timely management decisions;
• recognizing the rights of smallholder investors in planted forests;
• resolving conflicts promptly through mutually agreed conflict management mechanisms involving major stakeholders.
Principle 3: Effective organizational capacity
Governmental, private-sector and other organizations require the capacities and capabilities to deliver knowledge, technology and other support services for sound planted forest management – at all levels.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• encouraging decentralization to local levels and devolution of responsibility to improve decision-making;
• providing appropriate and continuing funding mechanisms (for technical support and investment) to ensure the effective capacity and capability of the organizations responsible for development and management of planted forests;
• strengthening institutional capacity to effectively understand and respond to the priority needs and aspirations of major stakeholders;
• improving extension support services and the education and training of staff at all levels in planning, management and technical decision-making;
• strengthening national research capabilities to apply science in policy, management and monitoring of planted forests;
• continuing to learn from science, traditional knowledge and experience;
• sharing knowledge, technology and data through knowledge-management systems, including networking, while respecting intellectual property rights;
• providing support services tailored to the needs of corporate (large-scale) and smallholder (small-scale) investors.
Principle 4: Recognition of the value of goods and services
Planted forests, whether productive or protective, should be recognized for their provision of both market and non-market benefits, including wood and non-wood forest products and social, cultural and environmental services.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• weighing the trade-offs between return on investment to the planted forest investor and the costs and benefits to society of goods and services from planted forests in terms of sustainable livelihoods, land use and forest management;
• improving economic and market valuation to better recognize the full range of goods (wood, fibre, bioenergy, non-wood forest products) and environmental services (storage of carbon, conservation of biological diversity, protection of soil and water and provision of ecotourism, recreation and amenity value) from planted forests;
• sharing benefits on an equitable basis among the stakeholders in planted forests, as well as in related land uses in the landscape;
• developing decision-making support tools to help plan and monitor the provision of goods and services from planted forests, spatially and temporally;
• deriving methods to better reflect the full value of planted forests in justifying investments by governments and private-sector investors (both corporate and smallholder);
• applying the full value of planted forest goods and services in planning, management, monitoring and reporting, particularly by governments and local authorities, including in the setting of land-use priorities.
Principle 5: Enabling environment for investment
Governments should create the enabling conditions to encourage corporate, medium- and small-scale investors to make long-term investments in planted forests and to yield a favourable return on investment.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• providing stable and transparent investment, land-use and land management policies, laws, procedures and approval systems in order to give investors the confidence to make long-term investments in planted forests;
• providing direct or indirect incentives to encourage long-term investment in planted forests that may be justified where society as a whole will benefit;
• avoiding or removing perverse incentives having adverse trade, social or environmental impacts, including perverse incentives originating in other sectors;
• reviewing incentives at periodic intervals to address evolution in planted forest investment and management;
• avoiding economic distortions that reduce the value of planted forests or limit the opportunities for smallholder investors;
• promoting equity among competing land uses in policies and priorities.
Principle 6: Recognition of the role of the market
To improve the probability of achieving acceptable returns on investment, investors in planted forests, particularly those having productive functions, should design their planning and management to respond to signals from international and national markets. Establishment and management of planted forests should be market- rather than production-driven, unless established for environmental, protective or civic reasons.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• providing transparent access to market information and signals;
• monitoring market intelligence on current markets and future trends, changes in the use of forest products and consumer behaviour;
• creating economic and regulatory policies, legislative regimes, guidelines and practices that provide for fair competition and acceptable rates of return for investors, workers and local economies, and that do not discriminate among appropriate resource uses;
• recognizing the emerging carbon trade markets and the increased understanding of the role of afforestation and reforestation in providing carbon sinks to mitigate climate change, whether planted forests are for productive or protective functions;
• recognizing that the marketplace may not account for all the values that society may enjoy in planted forests.
Principle 7: Recognition of social and cultural values
Social and cultural values should be taken into consideration in planning, managing and using planted forests, including the welfare and empowerment of adjacent communities, workers and other stakeholders.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• recognizing the local community values, customary rights, traditional knowledge, religious values and tenure of indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in areas targeted for planted forest investments;
• increasing the opportunities and capacity of indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, local communities (including women and marginal groups) and smallholder investors to benefit from rights in the planning, management and use of planted forests;
• recognizing the various, multiple-use contributions of smallholder investors (including outgrowers) in planted forests and trees and their unique needs for support in terms of tenurial rights, training, extension, research, access to markets and benefit-sharing;
• providing employment, adequate training, equipment and technology for health and safety, and acceptable mechanisms for promoting good practices, especially in considering neighbouring land uses and communities;
• acting to strengthen education, health care and other social services in areas adjoining planted forests.
Principle 8: Maintenance of social and cultural services
The balancing of competing objectives in planted forest investment causes social and cultural changes. Thus it is necessary to adopt planning, management, utilization and monitoring mechanisms to avoid adverse impacts.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• introducing socio-economic baselines and long-term impact assessments prior to establishment of planted forests and monitoring changes periodically thereafter;
• establishing conflict-resolution mechanisms to address stakeholder disagreements over tenurial rights, access, social service provision, employment issues and other rights to social and cultural services that might arise among investors or organizations involved in planted forest investment and management;
• providing a safe, healthy working environment and conditions, in compliance with national or international standards and laws;
• protecting sites and landscapes of archaeological, cultural, traditional, spiritual, scientific, aesthetic or other sociocultural significance;
• respecting community ancestral rights, for example for hunting or the collection of non-wood forest products, when planted forests are not put at risk;
• preventing displacement or resettlement of communities without free, prior and informed consent.
Principle 9: Maintenance and conservation of environmental services
Planted forest management will impact the provision of ecosystem services. Thus planning, management, utilization and monitoring mechanisms should be adopted in planted forests in order to minimize negative impacts and promote positive ones, as well as to maintain or enhance the conservation of environmental services.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• formulating policy, legal and planning frameworks so as to encourage maintenance, conservation and restoration of environmental functions in planted forests;
• adopting integrated watershed management approaches and the protection of soil from erosion, including the use of appropriate technology and equipment on steep slopes;
• preparing environmental impact assessments consistent with existing legal and policy requirements or where justified by scale and anticipated impact;
• establishing baselines to monitor the impact of planted forest management on abiotic environmental services, such as impact on soil (including salinity), water and air quantity and quality, or where justified by scale and anticipated impact;
• managing planted forest crops to minimize the adverse impacts of fire, pests, diseases and adverse weather conditions, including salvage and restoration following major events;
• considering carbon sequestration and the provision of carbon sinks in the planning, management, utilization and monitoring of planted forests;
• applying sound operational standards and field practices, including contractor arrangements, in the establishment, management, harvesting and utilization of planted forests in order to minimize negative environmental impacts;
• recognizing the positive impact that planted forests can have on the provision of environmental services, including rehabilitation of degraded lands, restoration of landscapes, reclamation of sites and combating of desertification;
• considering voluntary certification programmes an acceptable mechanism for addressing environmental issues.
Principle 10: Conservation of biological diversity
Planners and managers of planted forests should incorporate the conservation of biological diversity at stand, forest and landscape levels.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• adapting management practices to help maintain diversity of plants and animals and conserve genetic resources;
• recognizing the role that planted forests can play in relieving harvesting pressures on naturally regenerating forests and in providing habitats for indigenous flora and fauna;
• protecting wildlife habitat diversity and the conservation of forest plants and animals (including aquatic species) by implementing measures from stand to landscape levels;
• preparing baseline studies to monitor the impact of planted forest management on the maintenance of plants and animals and the conservation of genetic resources;
• avoiding the conversion of naturally regenerating forests or other ecosystems of significant conservation value into planted forests;
• controlling illegal practices such as hunting or removal of animals, foraging and harvesting of plants;
• selecting indigenous species for the establishment of planted forests if they are equal to or better than introduced species for the purpose intended;
• evaluating the risk that introduced species may become invasive and have adverse effects on local biodiversity.
Principle 11: Maintenance of forest health and productivity
Arrangements are needed at national, subnational and forest levels to ensure that planted forests are managed so as to maintain and improve forest health and productivity and reduce the impact of abiotic and biotic damaging agents.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• recognizing the high productivity of intensively managed planted forests in terms of forest products and services;
• promoting reforestation, soil conservation and other measures after the harvest of planted forests;
• minimizing soil compaction by heavy equipment;
• applying sound biosecurity measures (prediction, prevention, monitoring, rapid response to outbreaks and restoration) to reduce the incidence and impact of invasive species;
• adopting integrated-pest-management approaches and the use of biological control of insects and diseases when possible;
• managing the use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals responsibly, in accordance with legal requirements and best-practice standards;
• disposing of chemical materials, containers and waste materials in accordance with legal requirements and best-practice standards;
• adopting science-based and regulatory policies, risk-management protocols, practices and monitoring in the use of biotechnology (including genetically modified organisms) in reproductive materials;
• selecting species and reproductive materials with the end-use/product objective, site conditions, environmental impact, genetic diversity and risk of invasiveness in mind;
• reducing the incidence and impact of wildfires by improved prediction, prevention, monitoring, rapid response to emergencies and restoration following fires;
• using planned fire for wildfire hazard and fuel reduction, silvicultural purposes and habitat management;
• avoiding the use of planned fire in land clearing and preparation where science indicates conditions that could be adversely affected by fire;
• undertaking site-establishment practices that maintain or enhance productivity potential and forest health, while minimizing environmental impact;
• practising efficient use of fertilizers, based upon periodic soil, mycoflora and/or foliar analyses and tailored to specific nutrient requirements during the rotation of planted forests;
• supporting education, training, scientific research and networking in forest protection, forest health and the sustainability of site and crop productivity;
• adopting silvicultural management and monitoring practices that balance the trade-offs between maintaining the health and productivity of planted forests and reducing environmental risks, including those from neighbouring land uses.
Principle 12: Management of landscapes for social, economic and environmental benefits
As planted forests interact with and impact local land uses, livelihoods and the environment, integrated planning and management approaches should be adopted within a landscape or watershed to ensure that upstream and downstream impacts are planned, managed and monitored within acceptable social, economic and environmental standards.
Guidelines include but are not limited to:
• recognizing the continuum and the respective roles of naturally regenerating forests and planted forests having protective and productive functions and of trees outside forests – to varying degrees, they all provide economic, environmental, social and cultural services within a landscape or watershed, both spatially and temporally;
• educating local communities and the public through outreach programmes, so that they better understand the interrelationships in the management of planted forests, naturally regenerating forests, lands destined for conservation, grasslands, croplands and other land uses;
• retaining naturally regenerating riparian reserves or buffers of varying widths on permanent and, where appropriate, non-permanent water courses, depending upon their size and their conservation importance;
• designing planted forests to provide corridors, where appropriate and practicable, between naturally regenerating forest areas with high environmental conservation value;
• reducing the negative soil- and water-conservation and visual impacts of harvesting and other forest operations;
• designating and managing reserves having significant scientific and cultural value, within which planted forest management will be restricted;
• designating and managing buffer zones adjoining local communities and land uses, where appropriate, to reduce adverse impacts resulting from the management of planted forests;
• locating roads and stream crossings and selecting maintenance programmes appropriate to the landscape (social, cultural, environmental and economic);
monitoring upstream and downstream water quality and quantity as appropriate.
