PRINCIPLE # 9: MAINTENANCE OF HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE FORESTS

Management activities in high conservation value forests shall maintain or enhance the attributes which define such forests. Decisions regarding high conservation value forests shall always be considered in the context of a precautionary approach.

High Conservation Value Forests are those that possess one or more of the following attributes:
a) forest areas containing globally, regionally or nationally significant : concentrations of biodiversity values (e.g. endemism, endangered species, refugia); and/or large landscape level forests, contained within, or containing the management unit, where viable populations of most if not all naturally occurring species exist in natural patterns of distribution and abundance
b) forest areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems
c) forest areas that provide basic services of nature in critical situations (e.g. watershed protection, erosion control)
d) forest areas fundamental to meeting basic needs of local communities (e.g. subsistence, health) and/or critical to local communities traditional cultural identity (areas of cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance identified in cooperation with such local communities).

9.1. Assessment to determine the presence of the attributes consistent with High Conservation Value Forests will be completed, appropriate to scale and intensity of forest management.

9.1.a. Qualities and locations of High Conservation Value Forests are determined by: (1) guidance provided the FSC Principle 9 working group, (2) proposals by the forest owner or manager, and (3) consultations with stakeholders, and are finalized by map delineations established by the accredited certifying body.

9.2. The consultative portion of the certification process must place emphasis on the identified conservation attributes and options for the maintenance thereof.

9.2.a. Stakeholder consultations indicate that the forest owner or manager consistently identifies, considers, and protects high conservation values.

9.3. The management plan shall include and implement specific measures that ensure the maintenance and/or enhancement of the applicable conservation attributes consistent with the precautionary approach. These measures shall be specifically included in the publicly available management plan summary.

9.3.a. High Conservation Value Forests and old-growth forests that are intact,* rare, threatened, or endangered according to the World Wildlife Fund, World Resources Institute, The Nature Conservancy/American Biodiversity Institute, or Conservation International are managed to maintain the composition, structures, and functions that make them High Conservation Value Forests.

9.3.b. Where High Conservation Value Forests have been designated, the forest owner or manager identifies and implements strategies to maintain high conservation value attributes. Where deemed appropriate by the forest owner or manager, high conservation value attributes will be restored with the objective of developing High Conservation Value Forests.

9.4. Annual monitoring shall be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the measures employed to maintain and enhance the applicable conservation attributes.

The Standards Committee recommends no indicators for this criterion.