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Forest Stewardship Council The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international, independent, non-profit organisation, founded in 1993 to promote responsible, exemplary forest management world-wide. The FSC draws its membership from environmental organisations and development associations, trades unions and representatives from forestry and the timber industry. The FSC has developed standards for socially and ecologically responsible forest management, in accordance with which forest owners can be certified. Compliance with the standards is reviewed regularly by independent experts. After successful verification, the forest owner may label and sell the wood with the FSC logo. What does the FSC work towards? Forests can be left to perform their myriad natural functions on a sustained basis only if the various social interests involved can strike the right balance. The FSC is therefore committed to promoting an internationally binding scheme for responsible and exemplary forest management. Key criteria for this are the cultivation of forest species that are appropriate to location, protecting precious habitats, banning genetically-modified plants and avoiding the use of pesticides. The guidelines for FSC certification are globally binding and transparent, and have been produced with the involvement of all the social groups that have an interest in forests. In putting together these guidelines, environmental concerns, social questions and economic needs are considered with equal weighting in open processes. The FSC logo is the only label that is accepted and supported by all the international environmental protection organisations. Since the FSC was founded, more than 100 million hectares world-wide have already been certified in accordance with the organisation’s standards. But to date, still only around five per cent of all managed forests world-wide have been certified. www.fsc.org |
