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Forestry & Industry Development Programme in Bolivia (FIBOL) |
Forest Management and Certification in Bolivia
Forestry operations in Bolivia were traditionally characterized by an extremely selective logging of a few very valuable species - mainly Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), Cedar (Cedrela odorata) and South American Oak (Amburana cearensis). Large areas were covered annually and on an average one tree were cut on every five hectares.
Since the implementation of the new forest legislation in 1997, the forest management has changed dramatically. Today, all forest companies operate within the framework of a forest management plan and an annual operational plan, both requiring to be approved by the Forest Superintendency.
The management system that now is being implemented is a selective management system, where commercial trees are selectively harvested on a pre-defined annual logging area. Sustainability is guaranteed by establishing a cutting cycle that can be no less than 20 years and by applying conservatively defined minimum diameter limits for trees to be harvested. The annual logging area can thus not exceed 5% of the total concession or property. On every annual logging area a 100% inventory (census) of all harvestable trees is carried out, the trees are mapped and on basis of these tree maps, the infrastructure of roads, skidtrails and landings are planned. Planning of the operations and the infrastructure substantially reduces the environmental impact while it also increases efficiency and reduces the costs. Yet another precaution being implemented is that 10% of the harvestable trees are left as seed trees.
Current forest practice is not far from what is required for forest certification. Bolivia early initiated development of national standards for forest certification. A special organization, Consejo Boliviano para la Certificación Forestal Voluntaria, CFV, coordinated this effort and they also promote certification in Bolivia. As the first tropical country, Bolivia's national certification standards were approved by the Forest Stewardship Council in 1999.
By November 2000, 887,000 hectares of natural forest are certified, positioning Bolivia among the tropical countries with most certified forest area. It is expected that Bolivia's certified forest area will increase substantially next year. As all certified forests in Bolivia are destined to forest production, Bolivia has also become one of the most important providers of FSC certified products from natural tropical forests.