The rights and livelihoods of indigenous peoples are the focus of a position paper just published by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes Council.
The paper has been brought out to raise awareness of how PEFC caters for the needs of forest-dependent communities across the world.
PEFC Council secretary-general Ben Gunneberg said the PEFC system was based on international level sustainability critera developed through intergovernmental processes, including the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe and the African Timber Organisation.
The critera include securing land tenure, customary and traditional rights, protecting historical and cultural sites and involving indigenous people in consultation and decision making.
Mr Gunneberg said indigenous people’s participation took place when PEFC certification systems were being developed in consensus with relevant groups of society at national level. PEFC also ran stakeholder consultations during certification audits of individual forests.
