FSC Forest Certification

Forest Management & Stump-to-Forest Gate Chain-of-Custody Certification Evaluation Report | PUBLIC
Version 7-0 (December 2016) | © SCS Global Services
Page 18 of 46
the subsequent operations easier and reduce weed competition.
Pruning: It consists in eliminating part of the tree branches to produce high quality logs.
Thinning: Thinning is implemented according to the forest growth results (such results are available in
the inventories) and it may be implemented either in a selective or systematic manner.
Clear-Cutting: This operation is carried at the end of the forest cycle and it is meant to harvest the trees
that remained in the area.
Harvest Methods and Equipment used:
Along the years, the FME has improved the way timber harvesting is implemented. Due to the increase
of the planted areas, the scarce workforce and the necessity of more production, it became essential to
migrate to semi-mechanized and mechanized processes to supply the industrial facilities. Additionally, it
became essential to adopt these methods due to the current forest management that is adopted,
namely larger diameters, which are supplied to the regional market. In the light of this, different
harvesting techniques and equipments are employed along the FME forest management process. The
main alterations made in the implementation of thinning took place in 2009 when systematic and
selective thinning began to be implemented and clear-cutting began to be carried out at the end of the
cycle. Additionally, systematic thinning has been implemented in the areas where genetic material is
poorer (these areas were planted last year). Such alterations led to the rationalization of the machine
utilization, increased the production and reduced the management costs.
Explanation of the management structures:
The forestry department is tasked to the responsibility of administrating all the forest management-
related activities. Nowadays, this department is comprised by four forest engineers who are backed by a
team of field supervisors. In addition, there is a foreman in every farm who is responsible to make that
the board of director ´s decisions are fulfilled. The supervisors, in turn, are responsible to report these
decisions.
2.3 Monitoring System
Growth and Yield of all forest products harvested:
Continuous inventories are employed as tools to monitor forest growth and the permanent parcels are
measured on an annual basis. A pre-harvesting inventory is elaborated whenever it is required to get
more precise inputs about a given area. Painstaking cubage is undertaken in the trees as well to enable
that adjust are made in the equations to assume the production. The volumes of timber that are
harvested on a daily basis are quantified in the harvesting activity. The shipments are measured when
the timber leaves the FMU and the volume-related inputs are entered in the controlling system to
subsequently compare the volume that had been assumed and the volume that was effectively
harvested and thus, monitor the forest yields.
Forest dynamics and changes in composition of flora and fauna:
The outcomes of the native fauna and flora evaluation that had been carried out are described in the
Environmental Management Program (Ecosystem Preservation Sub- Program) and in the Environmental
Impact Survey/Environmental Impact Report. The monitoring results are employed as tool to determine
whether or not there had been alterations on fauna and flora compositions in the FMU.
Environmental Impacts:
The environmental impacts have been assessed and all the potential impacts caused by the forest
management activities have been identified and analyzed. Measures to attenuate the negative impacts
have been adopted as well.
The activities that are deemed as impacting are monitored prior, during and upon their finalization. The
monitoring results (pre-during and upon finalization of the activities) are processed and analyzed and if
required, preventive and attenuating measures are adopted. The organization develops a series of