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Home > Environment > Conservation Programmes > CVF Assessment





There are two dimensions to sound conservation management planning - environmental and social. Each plays a critical role in the success of SMF's conservation efforts.

Areas of natural forest set aside for conservation must be managed and monitored to maintain the identified values within a given ecosystem. Special attention must be given to the needs of the range of species (biodiversity). Human interests are important as well, and, as a responsible land steward, SMF ensures that transparent systems are in place to maintain and protect stakeholders' rights and needs.

When SMF receives a license for a forest area concession, it implements a five-stage Conservation Management Planning process prior to any development. This assessment process includes identification and delineation of conservation areas and a determination of the protection needs for each area. SMF has added an extra step in the first phase (identification) using a custom-designed assessment tool kit to ensure that all relevant environmental and social values are identified.

SMF's planning process not only meets but exceeds the requirements of national law in three ways:
  1. By focusing on how conservation can be rationalized at the landscape level by setting aside adequate areas to achieve the conservation goals and by establishing corridors between planned pulpwood plantations to support the territorial needs of critical fauna;
  2. By anticipating and mitigating future threats at the landscape level with a focus on the protection of areas which have been set aside from illegal encroachment, land speculation, and infrastructure development; and,
  3. By identifying additional areas for research before commencing plantation development.

The final step in the planning process is the formulation of an area-specific Conservation Management Plan. The completed Plan incorporates all identified environmental and social needs, details actions that should be put in place to protect and maintain those needs, and provides monitoring systems and annual evaluations.

SMF's Conservation Management Planning process requires that these plans are developed with a 25-years vision, and that they are designed to be executed on a one- to five-years cycle, depending on the ecosystem and the identified social needs.

The use of a multi-phase planning process ensures the conservation and protection of biodiversity, endangered flora and fauna, ecosystems services and cultural values that are critical to the people living in or near the forest. It also strives to achieve balance among conservation needs, development of forest areas to produce fiber for commercial use, and the economic and social well being of nearby communities.