A local certification and labeling scheme is critical to support sector development in the country. However, it is not economically feasible for small to medium size organic sectors in emerging markets to establish a recognized certification service for the small number of operators in the country. A major issue confronted in ecological certification of products coming from home-gardens and non-wood forest products to international standards is the failure of criteria and indicators used in such certification systems to address local environmental, business/economic and socio-cultural conditions. The LEAP Sustainable Forestry Certification Advisory Program is designed to address this disparity, and it is aimed at providing a unique and country-specific set of criteria and indicators that are comparable with leading international certification standards.
