Since July 2021, Boscalia holds the Forest Management FSC NC-FM/COC-028319 certificate, under which it manages various dehesa and plantation forests.
The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council®) is a certification mark for forest products that guarantees their origin is environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically sustainable.
If a forest owner wants to sell their products with this certification mark and demonstrate the responsible management of their forest, they must be certified, which involves that:
- The management of the forest (property or plantation) meets the Spanish Forest Management Standard FSC.
- That an independent Certification Body audits this management, verifying that the forest management meets the standard. In the case of our group, this entity is Preferred by Nature (https://preferredbynature.org/es/about-us).
In addition to the satisfaction of having their forest management recognized as deserving of certification with the highest international standards, there are two main advantages for the owner:
- Markets: currently, the market demands certified products more than what is available in the forest, which makes FSC-certified products sell better. This is especially true at this time for timber, firewood, charcoal, and cork; and it is beginning to develop in livestock, biomass, ecosystem services, and other non-timber forest products.
- Support from the goverment: public administrations are required by the Forest Law to promote and encourage forest certification, which is why the Autonomous Communities prioritize certified forests in grants and subsidies for forestry work. This support complements measures to encourage forest management (tax exemptions and reductions, depending on the Autonomous Community).
Currently, the group is made up of dehesa estates in the provinces of Salamanca, Badajoz, and Huelva, and poplar plantations in León and Palencia (see list). All of them are managed under common criteria outlined in the group’s documentation, which analyzes their current situation, environmental and social values, their impact on them, and establishes measures for monitoring management, minimizing negative impacts, and improving biodiversity and social and economic benefits. A summary of the management plan of each Management Unit is available upon request via the email certificacion@boscalia.org. You can also consult our Group Policy.
One of the basic pillars of FSC is transparency and participation in management, so if you have any comments, contributions, suggestions, or complaints about the management of any of our Management Units, please let us know by sending us this completed form to the same email.
