The VBP is a risk management system for forest managers, farmers, investors, development financiers and others to identify and prioritise the sustainability risks of a forestry or farming enterprise.  In addition, the VBP  houses and delivers a range of supporting information to assist with land use decision making.

FOREST CERTIFICATION

It strengthens forest certification and facilitates access for all scales of forestry, including smallholders and people living on communal land.  It does this  by assisting  forest managers to identify and prioritize the values and risks to sustainable forest management,  streamlining the certification process and reducing the administrative burden.  All these features will make certification more accessible for smallholders through applying the PEFCs smallholder-appropriate approaches to group certification.

SMALLHOLDER ACCESS TO CERTIFICATION

Only 1.5% of the global certified area is in Africa of which less than than 6% are Smallholders.   In South Africa, despite a concerted effort, very few small-scale or developing forest owners have achieved certification.   Watch the videos below to understand how the Value Based Platform helps to solve this and how you can get involved.

VALUE DRIVEN MANAGEMENT

SAFAS has identified the values that support sustainable forest management

These can be grouped into ECOLOGICAL VALUES, ECONOMIC VALUES, SOCIAL VALUES AND WORKPLACE VALUES