摘要：Policy instruments targeting environmental, social, and economic sustainability cover bothlocal and global geographies and stem from both the public and private sectors. These policyinstruments do not work in silos but interact throughout the regulatory process. In this paperwe discuss interactions between public regulations and private certification that affect howforests are managed in three tropical countries: Indonesia, Cameroon, and Peru. We showhow the governance regime in each of the countries has evolved in response to environmental and social issues. We focus on the Forest Stewardship Council’s forest stewardshipcertification as it is the main global certification scheme in the tropical region and look at itsrole in attaining sustainability in timber production.Case study results from Indonesia, Cameroon, and Peru indicate that certification influences all stages of the policy process: agenda setting and negotiation; implementation, andmonitoring and enforcement. Results also suggest that certification introduces positivechanges in management practices and improves social and environmental performance.However, its influence in attaining broader-scale sustainability is limited by a low level ofuptake, notably in tropical countries where the costs of getting certified and maintainingcertification are high and the certification criteria are rather complex, as well as by some of itsinherent characteristics, as it can only solve problems at the forest management unit level.
