KUCHING: Full commitment from all levels is an essential condition for a company to obtain the Forest Management Certification (FMC).
Hahn-Schilling sharing his experiences and lessons learnt on FMC.
General-director of International Forest Management Consultants Sdn Bhd based in Kota Kinabalu, Bernd Hahn-Schilling highlighted yesterday that a half-hearted approach was not enough.
“Working towards forest certification is clearly a team job, requiring efforts of all levels across the company – from top management to the forest worker on the ground.
“Willingness to change, team building, persistence, positive thinking and action towards a common goal are essential components of eventual success,” he emphasised. Hahn-Schilling shared his views while delivering his paper on ‘Experiences and Lessons Learnt’ at the Seminar on Forest Management Certification (Natural Forest) in Sarawak, organised by Forest Department at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel here.
Before making a decision to embark on a certification scheme, Hahn-Schilling stressed that it was important to identify and plan a suitable scheme that meets the needs of country, state, region or area.
“Select a scheme that suits the specific ecological, social and economic environment, as well as the requirements of the target markets.”
Hahn-Schilling pointed out that working towards certification requires a project management approach with a set vision that led to sustainable management and development.
“Key requirements during preparatory works include a sound understanding and selection of suitable scheme, full commitment and support to certification and the establishment of an internal task force to plan, coordinate and monitor the implementation of necessary activities,” he said.
An independent certification task force, Hahn-Schilling added, should be established to manage, monitor and control the activities to be carried out during the preparation for certification.
“The task force acts as an independent body within the company, functioning across all divisions, departments, sections and units.
“This includes composition of a multi-disciplinary team comprising legal, ecological, environmental, social and economic expertise.
“Team members must have good skills in communication, planning, organisation, monitoring and training,” he said. Such major commitment, Hahn-Schilling added, would relate to the company’s top management which would publicly announce the certification objective.
“The action of this commitment is verified through making available adequate human, financial and technical resources, as required to meet the certification standard,” he stressed. The most frequent non-compliances of companies and organisations, Hahn-Schilling observed, were lack of documentation of policies, objectives, plans and procedures.
“This includes operational SOP’s not followed on the ground, environmental damages and pollution, safety and health practices, illegal employment and lack of compulsory benefits for forest workers.”
Hahn-Schilling noted that working towards certification was not always a smooth ride as lack of cooperation, internal and external criticism or resistance was not uncommon.
“Compliance of contractors with certification standards can become a special challenge.
“The task force therefore should identify and properly deal with individuals or parties with negative influence on the certification process,” he added.
Obstacles and rejection, Hahn-Schilling said, must be instantly addressed and removed through stern action and training as necessary.