30 Years of Tropical Natural Forests and FSC Certification: What We've Learned and Where We Go Next
FSC’s roots lie in the belief that responsible forest management, particularly in tropical regions, can serve both people and nature. Over the past 30 years, FSC certification has helped promote sustainable forest management (SFM) in tropical natural forests across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Yet, SFM remains widely misunderstood and is often misrepresented or conflated with deforestation. The certification of tropical forests has also faced technical, economic, and reputational challenges.
This session will revisit three decades of field experience to explore how FSC can stay relevant in tropical forest regions by adapting to evolving ecological, social, and market dynamics. It will feature perspectives from forest managers, researchers, environmental experts, and civil society — particularly from the Global South. The discussion will also identify key areas for improvement and link the conversation to broader strategies such as landscape approaches and FSC motions addressing tropical realities, including Motion 23 on Intact Forest Landscapes.
Speakers
Caroline Duhesme
Caroline Duhesme is Director of Innovation and Strategy at ATIBT. A tropical forestry engineer with over 20 years’ experience, she specializes in forest certification, traceability, and regulatory compliance. She has led numerous technical and strategic missions across Central Africa, Asia, and Europe. At ATIBT, she heads the ATIBT Certification and Carbon Commissions and actively contributes to building transparent, sustainable, and competitive timber supply chains.
Joeri Zwerts
Joeri Zwerts is an Assistant Professor at Utrecht University. His research focuses on wildlife conservation in tropical forest landscapes where agro-commodities like timber and palm oil are produced, using wildlife monitoring methods such as bio-acoustics and thermal drones. His work centers on responsible forest management, landscape connectivity, and human-wildlife conflict. His goal is to develop evidence-based strategies that align conservation with human well-being. He has lived and/or worked in Suriname, Western Equatorial Africa, and Indonesia.
José Román Carrera
José Román Carrera is currently the Global Forestry Director for Rainforest Alliance. He previously was the Forest Partnership and Development. He managed the Rainforest Alliance TREES program in Central and South America, and he was the Director of Forestry Certification for Central America and the Caribbean. He has more than 30 years of experience in community forestry enterprises and local development throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, with the goal of securing forest, land tenure and rights for indigenous and local people; improving and verifying tenure arrangements and labor practices; training local stakeholders in management plan development and assisting in value chain, sustainable finance, markets and income diversification. He managed key emblematic project USAID-funded such as Forest Enterprises in Guatemala Program, GuateCarbon and he had designed the Climate, Nature and Community project. Before joining the Rainforest Alliance, he served from 1996 to 1998 as the National Council of Protected Areas Regional Director in Petén, Guatemala. He holds an MSc. in Biodiversity Conservation and Tropical Forest Management from CATIE and BSc in forestry from Louisiana State University.
Edwige Eyang Effa
Edwige Eyang Effa is a research officer at IRET/CENAREST and heads its GIS and mapping lab. She is also President of FENSED, Chair of CEFDHAC Gabon, and REFADD focal point. A GIS expert with over 20 years of experience, she has mapped 400+ Gabonese villages and supported major socio-environmental initiatives. She led FSC standards development in Central Africa and now coordinates CAFI 1's participatory mapping team, while championing rural women's empowerment through sustainable livelihood projects.
Markus Pfannkuch
Markus Pfannkuch is Co-CEO of Precious Woods, a global leader in sustainable tropical forestry and timber production. With 20 years of experience — from hands-on forest management to executive leadership— he specialises in resource management, certification, ESG, and forest policy. Joining in 2015 as a forest manager, he became Co-CEO in 2023, guiding the company through a market crisis. Markus holds a master’s degree in forestry and an EMBA from HEC Paris.
Ricardo Camargo Cardoso
Ricardo Camargo Cardoso is a Forest engineer with more than thirty years of experience in forest-based companies and forest and environmental certification, Lawyer, MsC degree in Territory Planning and Management, currently in the position of ESG and Forest Certification Manager in Imaflora, with large experience in the FSC and PEFC certification systems.
Patrick Epié, FSC Congo Basin and West Africa Coordinator
Passionate conservation and sustainable resource management professional with 12+ years’ experience advancing forest governance and biodiversity conservation across Central and West Africa. Masters Degree in quality, Safety and Environment (QSE). Currently coordinating FSC Africa’s Congo Basin and West Africa programme, driving efforts to certify 10 million hectares of forest by 2026.
Richard Zell Donovan
Richard Zell Donovan is an independent forest advisor with 48+ years of experience in forest conservation, rural development, certification, and restoration in 50+ countries in tropical, temperate, and boreal forests. He was a co-designer and founding member of the global Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the USA-focused Forest Stewards Guild, and is involved in forestry, agriculture, climate-sensitive forestry and forest practices and issues, restoration, and biomass energy. His focus has always been on innovation, including new approaches for managing forests, restoration, climate change, accountability, and community forest enterprises. He spent 27 years as senior VP and Chief of Forestry at Rainforest Alliance (RA). While at RA supervised the forest auditing program, conducting or supervising forest audits in over 50 countries in natural forests, plantations, and community forestry. This was preceded by 4 years on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica as director of the integrated tropical forest conservation and development BOSCOSA Project, 7 years as a natural resource specialist with international consulting firm Associates in Rural Development (ARD, Inc.), 3 years as a forestry consultant and professional tree feller, and 3 years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay. He speaks English and Spanish fluently, has functional Portuguese, and previously was fluent in Guarani.
Event Details
- Tuesday, 28 October
Time: 08:30 - 10:00 (EST - Panama) / 14:30 - 16:00 (CET) / 21:30 - 23:00 (WITA)