PRAMAAN: India Issues First Certificates for Sustainable Forest Plantation and Bamboo Farming

PRAMAAN certificates have been presented by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav under the Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme (IFWCS), thereby signifying that the Indian certification scheme has moved from policy making stage to practical implementation at ground level. These certificates have been awarded to Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) in view of their plantations on 33,000 hectares of land as well as Govind Mohapatra who is a bamboo farmer of Odisha Bamboo Development Agency.

What is PRAMAAN?

PRAMAAN is an acronym for Programme for Recognition and Accreditation of Sustainable Management Practices for Agroforestry and Natural Forestry Resources.

It is the trade name for the Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme (IFWCS), which was introduced by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in December 2023.

The certification system certifies sustainable management practices and ensures a system whereby forest and tree products can be tracked to certified origins. According to IIFM, PRAMAAN is a tool that may help with responsible sourcing and meeting the requirements of international frameworks like the EUDR.

The Process of PRAMAAN Certification

PRAMAAN certification involves assessment according to set standards rather than mere self-declaration.

PRAMAAN certification procedure entails the following steps,

1. Application filing with an accredited Certification Body
2. Application evaluation by the Certification Body
3. Pre-audit, where it is applicable
4. Main audit to check for the compliance
5. Reporting on audit results and non-compliances
6. Correction of non-compliances by the applicant
7. Decision on certification
8. Certification
9. Approval for use of PRAMAAN logo on certified products

The Certification Bodies carrying out the above assessment should be accredited by NABCB and approved under the IFWCS certification framework.

Three Major Categories of Certification under PRAMAAN

Certifications Criteria covered by the Certifications,

• Forest Management (FM): Forested lands and forest plantations
• Trees Outside Forests (TOF): Management Trees, plantations and agroforestry outside forested lands
• Chain of Custody (CoC): Tracing wood and non-timber forest products along the supply chain

The Forest Management Certification is issued against the Indian Forest Management Standard (IFMS). This standard is incorporated into the National Working Plan Code 2023.

The IFMS includes 8 criteria, 69 indicators, and 253 verifiers. The Trees Outside Forests Management Standard covers 5 criteria, 22 indicators and 76 verifiers.

PRAMAAN and National Working Plan Code 2023

The National Working Plan Code (NWPC) 2023 is the framework used in India for the forest management planning. The Indian Forest Working Criteria and Standards have been included in the National Working Plan Code (NWPC) 2023.

According to the documentation for the IFWCS, India’s sustainable forest management criteria and indicators are a product of the Bhopal-India process. The framework was later incorporated into the revised National Working Plan Code, thus providing a framework for national forest certification based on Indian forest management conditions.

This gives PRAMAAN unique nature compared to other commercial certification schemes since the forest management standards are connected with the national framework of India.

PRAMAAN and Sustainable Timber Supply Chains

Chain of Custody is an element that aims to create an uninterrupted and verifiable track for timber and non-timber forest products from certified forests/Trees outside Forests up to the stage of sale or processing.

This may include products like,

• Paper
• Furniture
• Timber boards
• Handicrafts
• Medicinal products
• Honey and other Non-Timber Forest Products

The CoC standard includes due diligence and traceability obligations related to EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), helping Indian producers access markets with deforestation-free supply chain obligations.