April 5 2016 was a big day for Viktor Pankratov. This was when he received his FSC Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification, making history by becoming the very first Russian smallholder to become FSC certified.
t was a milestone in a long journey towards certification that began as a forestry graduate almost 40 years ago. Viktor’s story was highlighted in the FSC Newsletter last year.
Model forest
After 25 years in state forestry, Viktor went on his own in 2004. “I had a dream of establishing a small model forest and increasing its species diversity and productivity through selective cutting,” he says. Selective cutting of certain trees ensures that growth of others is not affected; clear-cutting, meanwhile, means that all trees are removed. read more
