04 Nov Forest stewardship council
FSC – Forest Stewardship Council.
In the 1990s, deforestation began to be considered a global issue, and several companies that consumed or produced wood decided to get together to find a way to control it. It was therefore decided to create a global organization: the FSC, in order to promote responsible forest management around the world and to identify, in a reliable way, the management of forests when producing wood products.
Thus, the Forest Stewardship Council was born in order to adopt a sustainable and responsible method.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-profit multi-stakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests through timber certification. It is an example of a market-based certification program used as a transnational environmental policy (Hale, 2020).
What does FSC confirm?
“FSC forest management certification confirms that the forest is being managed in a way that preserves biological diversity and benefits the lives of local people and workers, while ensuring that it maintains economic viability” (FSC, 2022)..
As unacceptable sources, the FSC establishes five categories:
- Timber from illegal logging,
- Timber harvested in violation of human rights,
- Wood harvested in High Conservation Value areas,
- Wood harvested in forests that are to be converted to non-forest harvesting, e.g. an agricultural plantation,
- Wood from genetically modified trees.
Why would you choose to obtain FSC?
To reduce the destruction of forests and the waste of limited resources,
- Protect endangered species and the ecological environment,
- Protect ecological functions and ecosystem integrity,
- Promote sustainable forest development (reduce fire risk, avoid deforestation, conserve biodiversity, contribute to climate change reduction, etc.).
- Caring for the environment helps the development of rural areas and promotes leisure activities in nature.
- Generate employment and social welfare: forests do not only produce wood, but also cork, firewood, resins, pastures…
The FSC certificate obtained by any type of manufacturer is valid for 5 years.
References:
FSC (2022). Forest Stewardship Council. Forest Management Certification | Forest Stewardship Council (fsc.org)
Hale, T. (2020). Transnational Actors and Transnational Governance in Global Environmental Politics. Annual Reviews of Political Science. 23., pp 203-220. Transnational Actors and Transnational Governance in Global Environmental Politics | Annual Review of Political Science (annualreviews.org)