# 4. Environmental and Social Safeguarding Projects must present a risk assessment that complies with the requirements of NCS section 3.7 on environmental and social impacts. Businesses with an officially approved management plan do not require a risk assessment (including an environmental impact assessment). Certifications according to a recognised standard such as **FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®)** or an equivalent scheme (e.g. **Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC)**) are considered evidence of the project's environmental and social sustainability. If none of the aforementioned conditions are met, compliance with spatial planning requirements (e.g. forest development plan in Switzerland) must be demonstrated. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://methodologies.nature-value.org/fnr/readme/4-es-safeguarding.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.