Perceptions of Forest Concession Staff Members on the Impacts of Forest Certification in Peninsular Malaysia

摘要

This study determines the impacts of forest certification towards social, economy and environment criteria from the perceptions of staff members from three forest concessionaire companies. A lot of changes have been made to ensure the companies’ operations are compliant with the principle and criteria of forest certification when it was introduced to the companies. Since the staff members are involved in every aspects of forest management, their views are vital to determine the impacts of the implementation of forest certification in their companies. Results reveal that certification had led to more positive impacts such as benefits to the staff members’ social welfare and improving the sustainability of the forest. Nevertheless, it had been affecting these companies economically due to the additional cost of certification and the requisite annual inspections. On this other hand, this research exposes the impacts of forest certification and hopefully, it has provided useful information for the stakeholders regarding the issues on forest certification.