Mammalian response to FSC forest certification in production plantations

The expansion of intensive forestry practices, targeting both native forests and exotic plantations, has led to a growing need for the implementation of sustainable forest management practices. Therefore, forest certification schemes, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), have been developed with the objective of promoting environmentally responsible forest management. Despite its widespread adoption, a substantial knowledge gap persists regarding the effectiveness of FSC environmental criteria in safeguarding biodiversity, especially for mammals. In this study, we utilized FSC-certified Eucalyptus plantations in Central Portugal, as a model system to assess the efficacy of FSC environmental criteria, and the subsequent sustainable management actions on mammal communities. We deployed camera traps in three plantations to evaluate the influence of FSC requirements, such as the protection of native vegetation, the promotion of vegetation productivity, and the designation of conservation zones, on the mammal spatial use in plantations. Our findings indicate that the retention of native vegetation and the promotion of vegetation productivity within plantations are associated with increased mammal occurrence. Conversely, we found that designated conservation zones, and harvesting operations along with the resulting fragmentation, had neutral and negative effects on species occurrence, respectively. This suggests that FSC criteria relating to these practices may be insufficiently implemented to promote the presence of mammals. These findings underscore the necessity for refinement in FSC certification standards to more effectively align with biodiversity goals. This study contributes significantly to the ongoing debate on forest certification by assessing the strengths and limitations of the FSC framework in managing biodiversity in production plantations