Most of us with an interest in FSC probably have a mental image of the sorts of places where our stewardship standards apply – the ‘forest’ in Forest Stewardship Council. But what about other land uses which have lots of trees but are less obviously ‘forest’, do our standards still work there? In particular, how well do FSC forest stewardship standards work when they are applied to the urban forest, including parks, gardens or even individual street trees?
That’s exactly what staff from FSC offices in Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Baltics and the UK wanted to discuss when they came together in London. Their conclusions might surprise some people – that while some of the language of our international and national standards is tailored to a conventional forest management context, with just a few tweaks to terminology and the addition of suitable guidance, most of the underlying concepts seem to work perfectly well in an urban context.
“This really is a testament to the skill of the people who have refined FSC’s Principles and Criteria over the years,” says Dr Owen Davies, Forest Standards Manager at FSC UK. “They work incredibly well in such a wide range of forest settings – including some unexpected ones!”
The group felt that applying FSC standards in cities depends very much on how we understand the ‘management unit’. This is the spatial area or areas submitted for FSC certification, which must have clearly defined boundaries and be managed to a set of explicit long term management objectives which are expressed in a management plan. In an urban management unit containing only street trees it might be challenging to meet some FSC requirements, particularly in terms of identifying a proportion of the area of the unit which is managed primarily for conservation. But in a mixed management unit containing street trees, parks and woodland areas it might be possible to meet all FSC requirements. The group will suggest to FSC International that this could be a viable basis for our certification to cover all elements of the urban forest.
Certification of woodland in and around cities is nothing new, of course. The group was joined by Annabel Foskett, Nature Conservation Officer at Haringey Council. Haringey’s ancient woodlands have been FSC certified in the past, and Annabel is keen to bring them back into certification and to explore the option of making FSC verified ecosystem services claims.
“I’m a great believer in the power of auditing, and the importance of monitoring and evaluation in making sure that we deliver what we set out to achieve in a long-term plan to protect habitats, enhance biodiversity and increase resilience to climate change. FSC is a perfect fit for that, and ecosystem services verification could allow us to demonstrate how management activities are contributing to maintaining and enhancing the unique ecology of Haringey's ancient woods as well as setting out a convincing and compelling narrative about our achievements.” Annabel Foskett, Haringey Council
The group also enjoyed a tour of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, ably and engagingly guided by Ian Rodger from the Royal Parks. Managing land in the heart of London on such a scale (Hyde Park alone covers some 140 hectares) and balancing economic, environmental and social demands, it seemed obvious the FSC certification could work for the Royal Parks.
“Many people think of parks as quite formal, but actually the majority of our management is much more in tune with nature. We manage wildflower meadows, we retain deadwood, and we are even restoring natural drainage and waterbodies to alleviate flooding. FSC certification seems like an easy win, given the way we manage our parks.” Ian Rodger, Royal Parks
But why should urban forest managers pursue FSC certification? What might they gain? For one thing, independent third-party assurance might provide credible evidence to stakeholders of the quality of their management. The external audit process might help to identify and resolve issues before they become serious.
And while most urban forest managers might not be focussed on timber harvesting, there are still opportunities through the FSC ecosystem services procedure to attract funding to support management from growing markets for payments for ecosystem services.
And why should FSC take an interest in urban forests? There are many potential advantages in ensuring that our standards for responsible management are met, but the most obvious argument is that, with an increasingly urbanised global population, the concrete jungle will be crucial to us fulfilling our mission of Forests For All Forever.