ABSTRACT
It is now widely accepted that many impediments to certification in developing countries cannot be resolved overnight. Many of the enabling conditions discussed in Chapters 15 and 16 are absent or inadequate, making the process of achieving certification a long and challenging one. Countless barriers relate to the governance and regulatory framework, and these are difficult for individual forest managers or concessionaires to address. However, there are also a number of constraints at the level of the forest management unit (Simula et al, 2003):
• In many countries, the implementation of forest management systems is still incipient and their key elements (for example, resource assessments, forest management plans and monitoring systems) are not yet in place or are inadequate.
