Context
- The first PRAMAAN certificates under the Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme (IFWCS) were recently awarded in New Delhi by the scheme’s operating agency, Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal.
About PRAMAAN
- Full Form: Programme for Recognition and Accreditation of Sustainable Management Practices for Agroforestry and Natural Forestry Resources.
- Nature: Certification mechanism for sustainable forest, agroforestry, wood and non-timber forest product (NTFP) practices.
- Purpose: Promotes responsible and deforestation-free timber sourcing and sustainable livelihoods.
- First Certificates: Awarded to Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) for plantations over 33,000 hectares and Govind Mohapatra, a bamboo farmer associated with Odisha Bamboo Development Agency (OBDA).
- Audit: Certification followed field and management audits.
Types of Certification under PRAMAAN
- Forest Management (FM): Certifies sustainable management of forests and plantations.
- Tree Outside Forest (TOF) Management: Covers trees grown outside recorded forest areas, such as farm and agroforestry systems.
- Chain of Custody (CoC): Tracks certified wood and forest products through the supply chain.
Significance of PRAMAAN
- Helps Indian producers and exporters meet due-diligence and deforestation-free timber sourcing norms of major international markets.
- Brings rural and tribal communities, smallholder farmers and forest-dependent communities into a verifiable system without adding to their compliance burden.
- Women Self Help Groups and marginal landholders engaged in NTFP collection and processing, farm forestry, agroforestry and other tree-based agriculture.
- Linked to “Vocal for Local and Act Global” and Viksit Bharat @2047.
Conclusion
PRAMAAN gives India a third-party audited, globally benchmarked forest and wood certification system, linking sustainable forest management with market access and livelihoods.