Evaluation of forest cover loss in properties in the Sierra Madre Occidental, State of Durango, Mexico, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council

Currently, most of the world's forests are governed by policies and regulations that contribute to sustainable forest management. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a voluntary, non-governmental mechanism, proposes a market-based international certification scheme whose mission is to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management. Despite the broad scope of the Principles and Criteria of this scheme, there is limited empirical evidence and a lack of rigorous evaluation in relation to the real impact on forest ecosystems. In order to generate evidence to contribute to the discussion, 42 properties (covering a total area of 1.1 Mill. ha) in northern Mexico, with and without FSC certification, were identified and evaluated in the period between 1986 and 2012. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences (p = 0.14) in forest cover loss between certified and non-certified properties for the period before the properties joined this scheme. Similarly, for the nine-year period after certification, there were no significant differences (p = 0.23) between the two groups. This indicates that the certification scheme has not resulted in significant additional reductions in forest cover loss in certified forest areas. It is therefore important to review the standards imposed and the evaluation methods used in the scheme, in order to identify the real environmental impacts on forest resources and, if necessary, to implement rigorous and reliable methodologies, such as remote sensing tools, to continuously analyze the forest resource in the long term.