PRINCIPLE #6: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Forest management shall conserve biological diversity and its associated values, water resources, soils, and unique and fragile ecosystems and landscapes, and, by so doing, maintain the ecological functions and the integrity of the forest.
NTFP management, if properly handled, may enhance overall forest integrity.However, NTFP management may result in forest simplification in some cases.Such simplification may be off-set by the temporal or operational scale of the NTFP management activity, or the relatively reduced destruction to forest integrity by
NTFP harvest when compared to timber harvest.Still, harvest of many NTFPs can be destructive to forest resources due to poor technique, inadequate equipment or disregard for an individual plant’s long-term survival (for example, felling a tree to collect its fruits).Proper harvest techniques, tailored to the individual target
species and incorporating the impact of NTFPs removal on population structure, can insure long-term NTFP population viability.Exudates, reproductive propagules and vegetative structures all entail differing harvest regimes and impacts, and management activities should reflect such differences.
6.1 Assessment of environmental impacts shall be completed -- appropriate to the scale, intensity of forest management and the uniqueness of the affected resources -- and adequately integrated into management systems.Assessments shall include landscape level considerations as well as the impacts of on-site processing facilities.Environmental impacts shall be assessed prior to commencement of site-disturbing operations.
Environmental assessments include the impacts resulting from commercial harvesting of NTFPs.
6.2 Safeguards shall exist which protect rare, threatened and endangered species and their habitats (e.g., nesting and feeding areas).Conservation zones and protection areas shall be established,
Inappropriate hunting, fishing, trapping and collecting shall be controlled.
NTFPs on either local and/or international endangered or threatened species lists (e.g., CITES Appendix 1, “critically endangered” IUCN list, national lists, etc.) are not being harvested.
6.3 Ecological functions and values shall be maintained intact, enhanced, or restored, including:
a)Forest regeneration and succession.
Genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity.
c)Natural cycles that affect the productivity of the forest ecosystem.
NTFP harvest and management minimizes impacts to forest composition and structure and soil structure and fertility.
NTFP harvest and management takes into account the ecological role and requirements of the target NTFP and other associated species, e.g. food for frugivorous birds and mammals, animal dispersal of seeds, maintenance of specific ecological interdependencies, etc.
Measures are taken to maintain the natural composition and structure of NTFP populations (e.g management of natural regeneration, enrichment planting, selection and protection of seed trees.
Severe forest simplification arising from NTFP management is allowed only when it: is temporally or spatially bound, provides a limited impact on the overall forest management unit, maintains high conservation value forest attributes or provides secure, outstanding conservation benefits to local communities or forest protection efforts.
6.4 Representative samples of existing ecosystems within the landscape shall be protected in their natural state and recorded on maps, appropriate to the scale and intensity of operations and the uniqueness of the affected resources.
6.5 Written guidelines shall be prepared and implemented to: control erosion; minimise forest damage during harvesting, road construction, and all other mechanical disturbances; and protect water resources.
Impacts of NTFP harvest and management on soil and water resources, especially access trails and roads, are minimized.
6.6 Management systems shall promote the development and adoption of environmentally friendly non-chemical methods of pest management and strive to avoid the use of chemical pesticides.World Health Organisation Type 1A and 1B and chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides; pesticides that are persistent, toxic or whose derivatives remain biologically active and accumulate in the food chain beyond their intended use; as well as any pesticides banned by international agreement, shall be prohibited.If chemicals are used, proper equipment and training shall be provided to minimise health and environmental risks.
6.7 Chemicals, containers, liquid and solid non-organic wastes including fuel and oil shall be disposed of in an environmentally appropriate manner at off-site locations.
6.8 Use of biological control agents shall be documented, minimised, monitored and strictly controlled in accordance with national laws and internationally accepted scientific protocols.Use of genetically modified organisms shall be prohibited.
6.9 The use of exotic species shall be carefully controlled and actively monitored to avoid adverse ecological impacts.
a) Entails a very limited portion of the forest management unit; and
b) Does not occur on high conservation value forest areas; and
c) Will enable clear, substantial, additional, secure, long-term conservation benefits across the forest management unit.