Responsabilidade socioambiental de empresas fornecedoras de madeira certificada do tipo plantação

Abstract

The deforestations done in Brazil have amplified the perception of society to environmental problems and their results. Because of this awareness, the firms in the lumber sector have been challenged to show the consumers how they have been reducing the social and environmental impacts in their activities. As a form of marketing, many firms, which furnish certified wood, advertise that they are firms that practice social and environmental responsibility. The objective of this dissertation is the analysis of the indicators of the system for forest certification, model plantation forests, of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) used in Brazil; to verify the possibilities of forest certification in the attenuation of the social and environmental impacts in the lumbering sector. A prior reading of the different systems of indicators used for forest certification plantations was done. One hundred and seventeen indicators of the system for the certification of forests of the FSC were selected as being the most relevant. These indicators were sent, in the form of a questionnaire, to 244 stakeholders involved in certification. Each stakeholder was to attribute a note from 1 to 10 for each indicator. In the event that he was not certain of its importance, he would mark the column “Don’t know”. Twenty two persons responded to the questionnaire. The stakeholders were divided into two groups: 10 stakeholders directly connected to forest certification and 12 indirectly connected to forest certification. The indicators were divided into 4 groups: legal and administrative subjects, forest workers, the community living in the areas surrounding the forest management projects, and environment subjects. A separate analysis was done for each social group. Two firms, active in the forestry section, were evaluated, in a form of case studies, to see how firms with the forest certification of plantation are implanting their programs of social responsibility. It was verified that the stakeholders directly connected with forest certification valorize the indicators for legal and administrative aspects and forest workers. Those indirectly involved with forest certification valorize the legal and administrative approaches, the communities, and ecological aspects. The case studies indicate that the certification of forest management brought improvements in relation to the mitigation of the impacts of the forest operations on the environment, forest workers, and the local communities.