WWF's work in Central America - Forests
To ensure long-term forest conservation, WWF has approach forest management in three different levels:
a. Forest Certificationb. Forest Management and
c. Step-Wise Approach
Forest Certification
WWF Central America has been essential in promoting forest certification under the Standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) among producers and the construction sector. It has recently developed a successful campaign to increase the interest of the private sector in the FSC wood targeting architects, hotels, construction firms, and manufacturers in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
In addition to that, WWF is helping to develop markets for FSC-Certified wood in both the Caribbean and the United States. Recently, it initiated the Mesoamerican and Caribbean Forest and Trade Network, known as the JagWood, which serves as a pioneering model for the equitable trade of wood that comes from well-managed forests, according to the Principles and Standards of the FSC.
Forest management
WWF Central America has been working at the Nicaragua's Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), home of the Miskito and Sumo Indigenous groups and the largest remaining block of forest in Mesoamerica. WWF has increased its traditional presence in this ecologically important region by establishing an office with 7 technicians that work together on indigenous forest management.
A major success for WWF and the indigenous community has been the negotiation of a favorable price for the certified wood, representing a 200% increase over the standard rate. The community is also sending samples of lesser-known species to potential buyers in the U.S.
Involving indigenous communities
Through a World Bank loan to the Nicaraguan government, WWF shows via on-the-ground implementation to indigenous communities, that FSC-certified forest management can compete with other land uses. This work is leading to a paradigm shift in forest management in the region, by increasing local control over resources, and a reduction in the threats to biodiversity. It is also leading to the development of several key community forest management protocols.
High Conservancy Value Forests (HCVF)
In conjunction with WWF/IKEA and Proforest, WWF Central America worked in Nicaragua to field-test and develop a protocol for the identification and definition of High Conservancy Value Forests (HCVF ).
The protocol has been validated and refined for use with industrial and indigenous forest managers in the RAAN region of Nicaragua and WWF grounded work has provided key input for the global protocol. Successful development of a Biological Monitoring protocol for forestry operations in HCVF has also been done in Peten, Guatemala.
Step-Wise Approach
in the Selva Maya region in Guatemala, WWF is actively involved in working with local partners to develop this new methodology, as a tool which provides a detailed and modular guide to certification.
The certification process can be completed in phases according to the producer's local conditions and limitations. With this method, forest management weaknesses are identified beforehand, which also reduces the costs associated with the field assessments. The system is currently being also validated in Nicaragua and Dominican Republic.
