[Attitudes towards certification of forests and consumer network in Slovak Republic] | Postoje k certifikácii lesov a spotrebiteľského reťazca v SR

The main objective of this study is to find out attitudes of forest owners and wood processing companies operating in the Slovak Republic towards forest and chain of custody certification of forest products. A questionnaire survey was used to identity attitudes of both groups of respondents. The sample consisted of forest owners of all ownership categories regardless of their interest in forest certification and representatives of companies of primary and secondary wood processing. Descriptive statistic methods, including frequency analyses were used to analyse the collected data. Each category of respondents was analysed individually followed by the mutual comparison of attitudes between the both categories. The aim of such a comparison was to identity differences and similarities between timber producers and timber processors in attitudes toward forest certification. Research results show that attitudes towards certification are influenced by the environmental and economic aspects offo rest certification. Market access, foreign demand and improvement of marketing and trade relations are the key economic factors influencing decisions of respondents to participate in certification. Low or not existing price premium is considered to be the main limiting economic factor. The attitude of end-users toward certification, low domestic demand for certified products and non acceptance of price premium are considered as negative factors for development of forest certification. The role of certification for sustainable forest management is considered to be the most important environmental factor influencing decisions of respondents to get certified. The study results are compared with the results of similar researches carried out by foreign authors. In general, no significant differences were determined between the attitudes of respondents abroad and in Slovakia. A proportion of companies paying attention to environmental issues and a proportion of environmentally active consumers in Slovakia and the relevant EU countries is comparable. The companies aiming at preferring environmental values are relatively well prepared to incorporate environmental issues into marketing in order to gain competitive advantage on the market. The importance of certification for wood processing chain was verified through the needs analysis and implementation of certification schemes in Slovakia in order to be successful in the domestic as well as foreign markets. It is obvious that there is a perspective for the development of forest and chain of custody certification in the future. The rate of development, however, is the issue depending on the interest of society in general and the demand of different stakeholders for certified products within the chain from the forest to the end-user.