PHASE 1 – Establishment of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) as a certification Governing Body.
PHASE 2 – Stakeholder consultations through national workshops to develop the scope for the national standards and certification scheme:
PHASE 3 – Establishment of a broad-based national Technical Working Group (with representatives drawn from the major stakeholder groups) to guide the development of the national standards.
PHASE 4: – Development of the national standards including documentation, procedures and policy guidelines for a national certification scheme to meet the requirements of key international certification schemes.
PHASE 5 – Field testing of the standards
PHASE 6 – Creation of a national forest management and chain of custody certification system.
We expect the PEFC-endorsement processes to be completed by the end of 2022.
However, once the standards are developed and endorsed by stakeholders in Guyana, FSOs can start certifying their operations under the Guyana system and issue certificates.
While the certificates will not immediately have PEFC endorsement, they will have international standing once PEFC’s endorsement for the Guyana system is achieved.