9 April 2013: The April issue of the World Bank Program on Forests’ (PROFOR) newsletter features sections on the benefits of sustainable forest management (SFM) certification, upcoming events, new activities and stories from around PROFOR.

While noting the many benefits of certification, a PROFOR stock-taking exercise underscores the need for quantitative research on the environmental impacts of SFM certification, including on forests, communities, firms and employees. This exercise resulted in a working paper, titled “Approaches to Measuring the Conservation Impact of Forest Management Certification,” which recommends, inter alia: addressing methodological challenges in measuring impact; undertaking systematic analyses on forest sector interventions; and continuing to support sustainable production forestry, including forest certification.

Featured PROFOR activities include: developing landscape level planning guidelines to support watershed development and food security in India; supporting sustainable management of Tunisia’s oasis ecosystems; selecting reforestation practices to enhance climate resilience in Lebanon; analyzing forest tenure regimes in six Latin American countries; identifying adaptation-based mitigation options in degraded landscapes in Central America; assessing forest reform needs in Viet Nam; and developing guidance on forest governance data for assessment and monitoring.

The section on stories from around PROFOR highlights lessons learned from the establishment of the “LiberFor” timber chain of custody system in Liberia, which was supported by PROFOR and the Forest Law Enforcement and Governance program (FLEG). The story describes successes and challenges related to capacity, employment, governance, infrastructure and sustainability. [Publication: Approaches to Measuring the Conservation Impact of Forest Management Certification] [Publication: PROFOR April Newsletter]