Abstract
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was the first non-governmental organization composed of multi-stakeholders to ensure the social, environmental, and economic sustainability of forest resources. FSC prohibits certain chemicals and active ingredients in certified forest plantations. A company seeking certification must discontinue use of products so listed and many face problems to comply with these constraints. The aim of this study was to assess the impacts of certification on pest management from the perspective of Brazilian private forestry sector. Ninety-three percent of Brazilian FSC-certified forest companies rated leaf-cutting ants as “very important” pests. Chemical control was the most important management technique used and considered very important by 82 % of respondents. The main chemical used to control leaf-cutting ants, sulfluramid, is in the derogation process and was classified as very important by 96.5 % of the certified companies. Certified companies were generally satisfied in relation to FSC certification and the integrated management of forest pests, but 27.6 % agreed that the prohibitions of pesticides for leaf-cutting ant and termite control could be considered as a non-tariff barrier on high-productivity Brazilian forest plantations. FSC forest certification has encouraged the implementation of more sustainable techniques and decisions in pest management in forest plantations in Brazil. The prohibition on pesticides like sulfluramid and the use of alternatives without the same efficiency will result in pest mismanagement, production losses, and higher costs. This work has shown that the application of global rules for sustainable forest management needs to adapt to each local reality.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ABRAF (2013) Anuário estatístico ABRAF 2013, Ano base 2012. Brasília, pp. 148
Al Heidary M, Douzals JP, Sinfort C, Vallet A (2014) Influence of spray characteristics on potential spray drift of field crop sprayers: a literature review. Crop Prot 63:120–130. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2014.05.006
Alipio S (1989) Controle de formigas-cortadeiras. Normas técnicas da Pains Florestal
Araujo M, Kant S, Couto L (2009) Why Brazilian companies are certifying their forests? Forest Policy Econ 11:579–585. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2009.07.008
Auld G, Gulbrandsen LH, McDermott CL (2008) Certification schemes and the impacts on forests and forestry. Annu Rev Environ Resour 33:187–211. doi:10.1146/annurev.environ.33.013007.103754
Basso VM, Jacovine LAG, Alves RR, Valverde SR, Silva FL, Brianezi D (2011) Avaliação da influência da certificação florestal no cumprimento da legislação ambiental em plantações florestais. Revista Árvore 35:835–844
Bell S, Hindmoor A (2012) Governance without government? The case of the Forest Stewardship Council. Public Adm 90:144–159. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9299.2011.01954.x
Britto JS et al (2016) Use of alternatives to PFOS, its salts and PFOSF for the control of leaf-cutting ants Atta and Acromyrmex International. Journal of Research in Environmental Studies 3:81
Carnegie AJ, Stone C, Lawson S, Matsuki M (2005) Can we grow certified eucalypt plantations in subtropical Australia? An insect pest management perspective. N Z J For Sci 35:223–245
Cubbage F, Moore SE, Henderson T, Araujo M (2009) Costs and benefits of forest certification in the Americas. In: Pauling JB (ed) Natural resources: management, economic development and protection. Nova Science Publishers, New York, pp. 155–183
Cubbage F, Diaz D, Yapura P, Dube F (2010) Impacts of forest management certification in Argentina and Chile. Forest Policy Econ 12:497–504. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2010.06.004
Della Lucia TM, Gandra LC, Guedes RN (2014) Managing leaf-cutting ants: peculiarities, trends and challenges. Pest Manag Sci 70:14–23. doi:10.1002/ps.3660
Dvorská A et al (2012) Obsolete pesticide storage sites and their POP release into the environment—an Armenian case study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 19:1944–1952. doi:10.1007/s11356-012-0888-y
FSC (2002) FSC Principles and criteria for forest stewardship
FSC (2007) FSC Pesticides Policy: guidance on implementation
FSC (2012) FSC Pesticides Policy Guidance Addendum: list of approved derogations for use of “highly hazardous” pesticides FSC-GUI-30-001a V1–0 EN
FSC (2013) Global FSC certificates: types and distribution. Available at: http://www.fsc.org.
FSC (2014) FSC Principle and criteria for forest stewardship, FSC-STD-01-001 (version 4-0) EN
FSC (2015a) FSC list of “highly hazardous” pesticides FSC-STD-30-001a EN
FSC (2015b) Indicators and thresholds for the identification of “highly hazardous” pesticides (HHP) FSC-STD-30-001 V1–0 EN
Govender P (2002) Management of insect pests: have the goalposts changed with certification? South Afr For J 195:39–45
Gulbrandsen LH (2005) Mark of sustainability? Challenges for fishery and forestry eco-labeling. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 47:8–23. doi:10.3200/ENVT.47.5.8-23
Hackett R (2013) From government to governance? Forest certification and crisis displacement in Ontario, Canada. J Rural Stud 30:120–129. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2013.01.003
Jensen PK, Olesen MH (2014) Spray mass balance in pesticide application: a review. Crop Prot 61:23–31. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2014.03.006
Klooster D (2010) Standardizing sustainable development? The Forest Stewardship Council’s plantation policy review process as neoliberal environmental governance. Geoforum 41:117–129. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2009.02.006
Martilla JA, James JC (1977) Importance-performance analysis. J Mark 41:77–79. doi:10.2307/1250495
Mattli W, Büthe T (2003) Setting international standards: technological rationality or primacy of power? World Politics 56:1–42. doi:10.1353/wp.2004.0006
Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA) (2014) Sulfluramida. http://agrofit.agricultura.gov.br/. Accessed 14 Oct 2014
Mohamed F, Manuweera G, Gunnell D, Azher S, Eddleston M, Dawson A, Konradsen F (2009) Pattern of pesticide storage before pesticide self-poisoning in rural Sri Lanka. BMC Public Health 9
Montoya-Lerma J, Giraldo-Echeverri C, Armbrecht I, Farji-Brener A, Calle Z (2012) Leaf-cutting ants revisited: towards rational management and control. International Journal of Pest Management 58:225–247. doi:10.1080/09670874.2012.663946
Moore SE, Cubbage F, Eicheldinger C (2012) Impacts of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) forest certification in North America. J For 110:79–88. doi:10.5849/jof.10-050
Nickele MA, Reis Filho W, Oliveira EB, Iede ET (2009) Densidade e tamanho de formigueiros de Acromyrmex crassispinus em plantios de Pinus taeda Pesquisa. Agropecuária Brasileira 44:347–353
Overdevest C, Rickenbach MG (2006) Forest certification and institutional governance: an empirical study of forest stewardship council certificate holders in the United States. Forest Policy Econ 9:93–102. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2005.03.014
Pattberg P (2006) Private governance and the south: lessons from global forest politics. Third World Q 27:579–593. doi:10.1080/01436590600720769
Payraudeau S, Gregoire C (2012) Modelling pesticides transfer to surface water at the catchment scale: a multi-criteria analysis. Agron Sustain Dev 32:479–500. doi:10.1007/s13593-011-0023-3
Rametsteiner E, Simula M (2003) Forest certification—an instrument to promote sustainable forest management? J Environ Manag 67:87–98. doi:10.1016/S0301-4797(02)00191-3
Robinson JG (2012) Common and conflicting interests in the engagements between conservation organizations and corporations. Conserv Biol 26:967–977. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01914.x
Rolando CA, Watt MS, Zabkiewicz JA (2011) The potential cost of environmental certification to vegetation management in plantation forests: a New Zealand case study. Can J For Res 41:986–993. doi:10.1139/x11-022
Rolando C, Garrett L, Baillie B, Watt M (2013) A survey of herbicide use and a review of environmental fate in New Zealand planted forests. N Z J For Sci 43
Rotherham T (2011) Forest management certification around the world—progress and problems. For Chron 87:603–611. doi:10.5558/tfc2011-067
Schepers DH (2010) Challenges to legitimacy at the Forest Stewardship Council. J Bus Ethics 92:279–290. doi:10.1007/s10551-009-0154-5
Sistema Nacional de Informações Tóxico Farmacológicas (SINITOX) (2011) Casos de intoxicação por agrotóxicos de uso agrícola no Brasil. http://www.fiocruz.br/sinitox/media/Tabela1.pdf
Souza A, Zanetti R, Calegario N (2011) Nível de dano econômico para formigas-cortadeiras em função do índice de produtividade florestal de eucaliptais em uma região de Mata Atlântica. Neotropical Entomology 40:483–488
Strauss SH, Campbell MM, Pryor SN, Coventry P, Burley J (2001a) Plantation certification and genetic engineering: FSC’s ban on research is counterproductive. J For 99:4–7
Strauss SH, Coventry P, Campbell MM, Pryor SN, Burley J (2001b) Certification of genetically modified forest plantations. Int For Rev 3:85–102
Van Deusen PC, Wigley TB, Lucier AA (2010) Some indirect costs of forest certification. Forestry 83:389–394. doi:10.1093/forestry/cpq021
Vilela EF (1986) Status of leaf-cutting ant control in forest plantations in Brazil. In: Lofgren C, Vander Meer RK (eds) Fire ants and leaf-cutting ants: biology and management. Westview Press, Boulder (CO), pp. 399–408
Wingfield MJ, Roux J, Slippers B, Hurley BP, Garnas J, Myburg AA, Wingfield BD (2013) Established and new technologies reduce increasing pest and pathogen threats to eucalypt plantations. For Ecol Manag 301:35–42. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2012.09.002
World Health Organization (WHO) (2004) The WHO recommended classification of pesticides by hazard and guidelines to classification
Yu Y, Li Y, Shen Z, Yang Z, Mo L, Kong Y, Lou I (2014) Occurrence and possible sources of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) along the Chao River, China. Chemosphere 114:136–143. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.03.095
Zanetti R, Jaffé K, Vilela EF, Zanuncio JC, Leite HG (2000a) Efeito da densidade e do tamanho de sauveiros sobre a produção de madeira em eucaliptais. Anais da Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil 29:105–112
Zanetti R, Vilela EF, Zanuncio JC, Leite HG, Freitas GD (2000b) Influência da espécie cultivada e da vegetação nativa circundante na densidade de sauveiros em eucaliptais. Pesq Agrop Brasileira 35:1911–1918
Zanetti R, Zanuncio J, Santos J, da Silva W, Ribeiro G, Lemes P (2014) An overview of integrated management of leaf-cutting ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Brazilian forest plantations. Forests 5:439–454
Zanuncio JC et al (2016) The impact of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) pesticide policy on the management of leaf-cutting ants and termites in certified forests in Brazil. Ann For Sci 73:205–214. doi:10.1007/s13595-016-0548-3
Acknowledgments
“Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq),” “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES),” and “Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG)” are acknowledged for the financial support. Also, University of the Sunshine Coast is acknowledged for the partnership and support, Bolsista da CAPES—processo no. BEX 11710/13-6.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lemes, P.G., Zanuncio, J.C., Serrão, J.E. et al. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) pesticide policy and integrated pest management in certified tropical plantations. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 1283–1295 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7729-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7729-3