Forest Stewardship Group Development: Part II
The internship will involve further research, development and the implementation of up to four of the recommendations provided in the previous internship term, as outlined a recently completed report to Ecotrust Canada, titled ‘Draft Summary Report, ‘Forest Stewardship Council Group Certification Program: Next Steps’ (December 2012). The first step will be to work on the development of a proposal of services that Ecotrust Canada could provide to FSC Canada. This will involve identifying what services are needed, and how EC could deliver them while maintaining alignment with their mission. The next step will be to present both the supply-chain clusters and marketing infrastructure options to relevant associations (Federation of BC Woodlots, BC Community Forests and BC Private Forest Landowners Association), gauge their interest in either of these and get feedback. Based on this feedback, one or both of these options may then move forward. Further research into the feasibility and appropriateness of these options within Ecotrust Canada’s program structure will need to be conducted, along with the identification of funding options and, eventually, the development of project proposals. Time permitting, and in collaboration with other EC staff working on carbon projects, a further research will be conducted to assess the benefits and feasibility of developing a joint FSC-carbon credit validation program. Interest in the project, potential funders and partners will also need to be identified. Based on the success of each these recommendations, initiatives can be implemented as early as the spring of 2013. The implementation of these new program activities will result in additional revenues, increased values to members, and will help to ensure the long term sustainability of the to the FSC program.
