Forest Certification – Call of the Day

By Dr. Alind Rastogi

(Published in North East Colours in three parts on 27th ,28th and 29th May 2021)

Dr. Alind Rastogi, Chairman, Tripura Public Service Commission ( ex PCCF&HoFF, Tripura) has rightly drawn the attention to “Nurturing The Nature” in his articles “Forest Certification- Call Of The Day” published in three parts in North East Colours on 27th,28th & 29th May 2021. Society nowadays is graduating towards trusted quality products with reliable services and sustainable processes. The trust of consumers emanates from trust-building exercises including standards, SOPs, certification, voluntary as well as regulatory standards, and third-party audits.

The author has categorized the certified products and services into food certifications, safety certifications, tourism certifications, and environment certifications, e.g. FSSAI, FPO, ISI, ISO, Ecomark, BSES, BEE, STCI, GSTC, NCCF-PEFC, and FSC, etc. He has strongly pitched for forest certification, as a sustainability-based non-regulatory conservation tool designed to promote sustainable management of forests and trees outside forests. NCCF has developed India’s first forest certification scheme, through multi-stakeholder engagement and that is endorsed by the PEFC, giving it global recognition. Many State Forest Departments have started using this voluntary scheme for the certification of forests. Credible certification is the only demonstrable evidence regarding sustainable management of our natural resources based on well-researched Criteria and Indicators encompassing environmental, social, and economic aspects of their management.

The full article may be accessed here.

Courtesy: Dr. Alind Rastogi

Website Links for North East Colours

27 May 2021: The link will be updated soon

28 May 2021: Link to Part II

29 May 2021: Link to Part III