Assessment of compliance with the harvesting criteria at the forest sourcing area level
Article 4
Where evidence of compliance with one or several harvesting criteria at national or sub-national level is not available, Member States shall require economic operators to provide audited information that those criteria have been complied with through management systems that are in place and implemented at the level of the sourcing area. To that end, economic operators shall provide accurate, up-to-date, and verifiable evidence of the following elements: (a) The spatial boundaries of the sourcing area for which compliance needs to be demonstrated, and on which management systems referred to in point (b) apply, including by means of geographical coordinates or parcels. (b) Management systems applicable to the sourcing area ensuring: (i) the legality of harvesting operations, which shall be proven by providing evidence of the compliance of harvesting with the due diligence system defined in Article 6 of Regulation (EU) No 995/2010; (ii) that forest regeneration is carried out in a manner that at least maintains the quality and quantity of the harvested forest areas, which may be proven by providing evidence of the establishment of a new forest in the same area within a maximum of 10 years after the harvesting. That may be proven by using forest management plans, operational protocols, environmental impact assessments, and results of relevant compliance audits and inspections; (iii) that forest biomass does not originate from areas designated by international or national law or by relevant competent authority for nature protection, including in wetlands and peatlands, unless there is evidence that the harvesting of the raw material does not interfere with the protection objectives of the designated areas. That may be proven by using international and national databases, official maps, forest management plans, operational protocols, harvesting protocols, satellite imaging, environmental impact assessments, and official logging permits including conditions or restrictions ensuring that there is no conflict with the relevant nature protection objectives, and the results of relevant compliance audits and inspections; (iv) that forest harvesting is carried out in a way that aims at least at preventing negative impacts on soil quality and biodiversity. This may be proven by providing evidence that the relevant risks associated with the harvesting of forest biomass for energy production have been identified in advance; and that, appropriate mitigation actions have been implemented such as the following: (1) primary forests and areas protected under (b)(iii) are not degraded to or replaced by plantation forests; (2) harvesting of stumps and roots is minimised; (3) no harvesting is carried out on vulnerable soils; (4) harvesting is carried out through logging systems that minimise impacts on soil quality, including soil compaction; (5) harvesting is carried out in a way that minimises impacts on biodiversity features and habitats, including plants and animals protected under international or national legislation; (6) a locally-appropriate quantity and assortments of deadwood is left in the forest; and (7) large clear-cuts are minimised except in cases where it is temporarily justified due to documented forest pests, storms or other natural disturbances. Those mitigation actions may be proven by using international and national databases, official maps and satellite imaging, forest management plans, operational protocols, and harvesting protocols, results of relevant compliance audits and inspections; (v) the harvest maintains or improves the forest’s long-term production capacity. This may be proven by providing evidence that the annual fellings do not exceed the net annual increment in the relevant sourcing area on average within the 10-year period prior to the harvesting intervention, unless different amounts are duly justified in order to enhance the future production capacity of the forest; or because of documented forest pests, storms or other natural disturbance. That may be proven by using public or private forest inventory data.