Kamehameha Schools Receives Forest Stewardship Council Certification

August 4, 2006

Contributed by Thomas Yoshida

Kamehameha's certification covers the Honaunau Management Area, a 34,600-acre forest located on the slopes of Mauna Loa, the lower edge of which is approximately 5.5 miles E-SE of Kealakekua Bay on Hawai'i Island's west coast. It occupies portions of the Kahauloa, Keei, Honaunau, and Keokea land divisions upland from Hönaunau National Historical Park.

According to the FSC, KS now holds one of 102 FSC forest management certificates awarded in the United States. Forest Management certification requires organizations to adhere to FSC standards for the management of their forests. These standards are developed, in line with FSC's Principles and Criteria, through consultation at a national or regional level. Where national or regional standards have not yet been developed, locally-adapted international standards are applied.

Kamakani Dancil, KS' Land Assets Manager for the Honaunau Management Area, said the certification process represents a new milestone in land stewardship.

"The Honaunau management area has been and will continue to be a working forest with high emphasis placed on conservation, education and cultural values," Dancil said. "In addition to maintaining a healthy forest cover on the land in perpetuity, our mission is to encourage the recovery of native forest areas, maintain hunting opportunities, eliminate the spread of existing exotic weed species and encourage educational opportunities within the forest through student participation in certain management activities, such as monitoring and inventory. We are committed to upholding the standards of the FSC."

Principles and criteria standards for FSC forest management certificate are rigorous. They include:

Defining long-term tenure and use rights to the land and forest resources
Recognizing the legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources
Maintaining forest management operations or enhance the long-term social and economic well being of forest workers and local communities.
A written and up-to-date management plan—appropriate to the scale and intensity of the operations
An ongoing monitoring process—appropriate to the scale and intensity of forest management—and their social and environmental impacts.

For more information regarding FSC's certification process and a list of members throughout the world, visit the Forest Stewardship Council's web site at www.fsc.org. A copy of the Hönaunau Forest Management Plan is available on the KS website at www.ksbe.edu.

Links:

Forest Stewardship Council