By Rainforest Alliance
The Smallholder Access Program (SAP) was developed by the Appalachian Woodlands Alliance (AWA), a partnership between the Rainforest Alliance (RA) and forest products companies Avery Dennison, Columbia Forest Products, Domtar, Evergreen Packaging, Kimberly-Clark, and Staples, with the support of FSC-US and FSC New Approaches. Following FSC International board approval, the formal SAP pilot period began in 2019 running through June, 2022.
Designed to reach small private woodland owners in South and Central Appalachia in the Southern United States, SAP is for a landowners historically outside the FSC system--and other forest certification programs in general. About 60 percent of the forests in the region are privately owned. While many private woodland owners across the region have an excellent stewardship record, many opportunities remain for more responsible forest management practices. Small landowners in the region typically harvest only once every 40-60 years and rely on natural regeneration with little to no site-disturbing activity in the interim years. In such a context, the value of certification rarely justifies the costs or the long-term commitment required by current forest management certification. Yet this landowner group represents a critical resource for the forest products industry with FSC certification not reaching even one tenth of one percent of this ownership class in the region.
To meet this challenge, Rainforest Alliance and the AWA specifically designed the SAP for small family forests using
- Data-driven regional analyses of small landowner practices, conservation values, forest health, and forest management risks
- Regional context gathered through interviews with landowners, sponsored research, and a chamber-balanced advisory group
- Stakeholder input from group managers, foresters, environmental and social NGOs, forest products industry and government forestry specialists
- Review of regional FSC certification reports, with a focus on common NCRs
The innovative aspects of the SAP framework focus on increased simplicity and reduced costs, while ensuring responsible forest management with a focus on value shared with this landowner group. Key elements included:
- A streamlined standard based on assessment of risk and stakeholder engagement. In this pilot, a 31-indicator standard, based on potential risk to social and environmental values.
- Membership in an experienced FSC forest management group focused around the time of harvest. Across the region, logging contracts can run up to 36 months and the membership extended at least 6-months post-harvest.
- Enhanced oversight with heightened monitoring requirements by the certificate holder and increased auditing intensity from the certification body.
Happily, all this hard work paid off! Results from the pilot were positive! Based on evaluations by 3rd party auditors and 3rd party experts, SAP forests demonstrated environmental and social outcomes similar to traditional FSC group members with significant improvement over standard practice in the region. In addition, SAP pilot certificate holders were able to significantly expand their group membership from a landowner size class that was previously inaccessible. In practical terms, the SAP grew certified volume while providing significant savings for certificate holders driven by reduced audit time, lower administrative costs, and streamlined expectations for responsible forest management. One SAP certificate holder doubled FSC volume from their forest management group.
For Rainforest Alliance the SAP pilot is just one part of our overall efforts to provide new tools and we continue to explore how the SAP and similar efforts can support improved social and environmental outcomes for forest communities around the world.
Questions or comments on the SAP Pilot? Contact agoldberg@ra.org