Trees Outside Forest Certification Standard

Standard Development Process Timeline Initiated in June 2016 and completed in August 2019
Standard Development Group  44 members
Chairperson Dr Devendra Pandey, ex PCCF &HoFF, Arunachal Pradesh and
ex DG, Forest Survey of India

The term ToF refers to “all trees growing outside recorded forest areas”. Forests and ToF occupy about 24% of the geographic area of our country however the majority of the industrial demand for wood is met from ToF at present. ToF resources cater in a major way to meeting the requirements of wood fiber in India, especially from the pulp and paper, plywood and composite products, and the handicrafts and furniture industry. However, due to the small scale and unorganized nature of the ToF practitioners, these tend to remain on the fringes of the certification universe. Keeping the ToF outside the certification ambit is impacting the uptake of these resources by the industry, as well as denying them the benefits of certification to others in the value chain.

Globally, the wood fiber-based industries are moving towards sustainability and certification, and keeping the ToF outside the certification ambit is impacting the uptake of these resources by the industry, as well as denying them the benefits of certification. It is keeping these issues in mind that the NCCF decided to embark on this mission, NCCF has initiated the process for the development of assessment standards for Certification of Trees Outside Forests (ToF), the first of its kind in the world, through a multi-stakeholder Standard Development Group (SDG) under the Chairmanship of Dr. Devendra Pandey, IFS (retd), ex PCCF & HoFF, Arunachal Pradesh and ex DG, Forest Survey of India.


Document Library

EoI for participationNCCF STD TOFToF Development Report ToF Public Consultation Comment SheetToF Concept Note EoI for Pilot TestingNCCF TOR TOFTOF SDG List
NCCF Standard Setting ProcedureNotification for CBsNCCF-ToF- Accreditation DocumentNCCF-NCE-ToF Notification of Certified EntityNCCF ToF Group Management Certification StandardNCCF Logo Usage StandardNCCF Dispute Resolution StandardNCCF-ToF_Provisional approval of CBs

In case of any feedback/query/interest/complaint, please contact tof.mail@nccf.in