The sourcing of Controlled Wood using risk assessment will become completely dependent on the use of FSC-approved National Risk Assessments. The CNRA has been initiated to increase the global coverage of FSC risk assessments. These will be used by FSC-certified organizations that want to source FSC Controlled Wood, and will also provide the basis for developing more detailed National Risk Assessments that will be conducted later. All results will be publicly available on the Global Forest Registry.
So far, the CNRA has been conducted in 20 priority countries for Controlled Wood categories one, two and five (legality, traditional and human rights, and genetically modified organisms, respectively) and in two countries (Brazil and Finland) for category three (HCV). The outcomes of these assessments are available on the FSC International Center website.
FSC International is now seeking consultants from this year until the end of 2017 to conduct risk assessments in priority countries for Controlled Wood category three – wood from forests in which high conservation values are threatened by management activities. Risk assessment for Controlled Wood category three includes an evaluation of the data that is available and needed for the assessment, an assessment of the presence of HCVs in the country, and an assessment of the threats posed to them by forest management activities.
Experts are invited to submit proposals to conduct risk assessments for controlled wood category three in one or more of the priority countries. The proposals are expected to include a summary of the qualifications and experience of the consultant(s) on HCVs, as well as a proposed budget and timetable for the proposed work in each individual country.
FSC International is also seeking more consultants to conduct risk assessments for the other Controlled Wood categories.
Consultants interested in submitting a proposal to join the CNRA project are encouraged to read the FSC risk assessment requirements contained in the FSC National Risk Assessment Framework (FSC-PRO-60-002a). This document outlines steps for determining the geographic scope of an assessment, gathering data and information, determining geographic scales for risk designations, and specifying risk designation indicators and risk thresholds for each of the five categories of unacceptable sources.
Proposals, questions and requests for further information should be submitted to Amrita Narayanan, a.narayanan@fsc.org.
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