Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): Protecting Our Forests

The FSC is an international non-profi organization founded in 1993 as a voluntary and market-based mechanism for ensuring that the world’s forests are managed in an environmentally responsible, socially acceptable and economically viable manner.

FSC certified companies are independently audited to meet the FSC’s strict forest management standards.  Beyond the forest, all producers along the supply chain must be chain of custody certified.  At every stage of manufacturing or distribution, the fibre going into a product is tracked and identified.  The FSC system not only makes certain that virgin fibre used in a product is from a sustainable source, but it ensures that claims regarding the recycled content of products are verifiable.  In an unbroken chain of commitment from forest to consumer, the FSC label carries the promise that a product comes from a forest friendly source.

Why should you choose an FSC product?

1. FSC prohibits the conversion of natural forests to plantations, except under extremely limited circumstances.
2. FSC requires forest managers to protect threatened High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF).
3. FSC requires that Aboriginal Peoples right are respected.
4. FSC prohibits the use of Genetically Modified trees.
5. 100% of the fibre in FSC-certified products comes from an FSC approved and independently verified source.
6. FSC sets a common level of performance that companies must meet in order to be certified.
7. FSC is the only forest certification system supported by major international, national and local Aboriginal, Environmental, and Social groups
8. FSC has strict requirements for tracking and labelling products from FSC approved sources.
9. FSC is an international standar for forest certification that accredits regional standards developed by local stakeholders to reflect the environmental and social realities of those regions.
10. FSC standards, certification processes and governance require equal, balanced and extensive participation from representatives of Economic, Environmental and Social interests.
11. The North American and global marketplace recognizes FSC as the most credible and effective forest certification system.
12. FSC is a transparent and independent verification of the source of forest products.