The Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development on Tuesday announced that it has received confirmation that the Iwokrama Forest has retained its Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification after a rigorous re-assessment audit in August.
In a release, Iwokrama said it has received similar recognition annually since 2008 by the international auditors and maintained these credentials throughout the first and second phases of its timber harvesting operations.
This followed a surveillance visit conducted by Soil Association Certification Limited of the UK during August 2022.
Iwokrama said that FSC certification is the highest international accolade that Forest Managers can receive, and it is testament to the Centre’s application of international social, ecological and environmental best practices in its management of the Iwokrama Forest. Iwokrama’s forest management procedures and policies were measured against the Interim National Standard for Guyana (FSC-STD-GUY-01-2020) which includes 10 principles, 70 criteria and 213 indicators. Key to the adherence to FSC guidelines is that forest managers must follow all national rules, laws and guidelines including the GFC’s comprehensive Codes of Practice.
The release said that the assessment team evaluated all elements of Iwokrama’s operations applicable to the standard to determine compliance against national and international benchmarks. Non-compliances are categorized as “observations”, “minor corrective actions” or “major corrective actions”.
During the 5-year re-assessment, Iwokrama said it was assigned one major and four minor corrective actions. Non-compliances are a normal part of any assessment/audit process and based on the severity of the non-compliance with the standard, it could prevent the applicant from being certified.
