Sponsored By
Helping Forests Stay Healthy
Wood: an essential resource to society,
community, economy
Forests and forest industry
need to be sustained
A healthy,
sustainable forest
means a healthy,
sustainable
community through
the provision of
jobs, forest
products resources,
recreation, and a
healthy local
environment.
Sustainable Forest Management
•adherence to global standards
•modeling best practices
•contributing research
•development of creative solutions
to complex issues
Dictionary definitions:
Standards
a rule;
anything authorized as the measure of quantity or quality;
recognizing excellence.
Definition of third-party certification:
Independent evaluation of performance;
assessment that adopted standards have been met or exceeded
FSC:
A Global Organization
•The Forest Stewardship Council was created
•to change the dialogue about and the practice of
•sustainable forestry
•worldwide.
•FSC International Founded in 1993.
•FSC-US based in Washington, D.C.
•Successful in certifying forests in 62 countries.
•Support manufacturers of certified forest products in 66
countries.
Principles & Criteria Flowchart
See Resources section
for enlarged flowchart
Ten Principles of FSC
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Compliance with Laws and FSC Principles – forest management must
abide by all applicable laws of the country in which they occur.
Tenure and Use Rights and Responsibilities – rights to the land are
clearly defined and clearly established.
Indigenous People’s Rights - indigenous peoples’ rights to own, use and
manage their lands are recognized and respected.
Community Relations and Worker’s Rights –maintain and/or enhance the
long-term social and economic well-being of forest workers and local
communities.
Benefits from the Forest – encourage the efficient use of the forest’s
resources and services to ensure economic viability, and environmental
and social benefits.
Ten Principles of FSC continued…
Environmental Impact – conserve biological diversity, water resources,
soils, and unique and fragile ecosystems and landscapes, maintaining the
ecological functions and integrity of the forest.
7. Management Plan - a plan is written, implemented, and kept up to date,
including statements of long-term objectives.
8. Monitoring and Assessment – monitoring is conducted to assess the
condition of the forest, yields of forest products, chain of custody,
management activities and their social and environmental impacts.
9. Maintenance of High Conservation Value Forests – management
activities enhance the attributes of HCV forests.
10. Plantations – plantations, when allowed, should complement the
management of, reduce pressures on, and promote the restoration and
conservation of natural forests.
6.
Third-Party Certification
• FSC accredits independent, “third-party” certification bodies
or “certifiers.”
• These people assess forest management using the FSC
principles, criteria, and standards, using their own evaluative
process.
• This allows FSC to remain outside of the assessment process,
and supports the integrity of the standard, and of the FSC
system.
• Certifiers evaluate both forest management activities (forest
certification) and tracking of forest products (chain-of-custody
certification).
• There are 12 FSC-accredited certifiers around the globe.
FSC Mission
To promote and enhance well-managed forests through
credible certification that is environmentally
responsible, socially acceptable, and economically
viable. FSC’s main tool for achieving this mission is a
product-labeling system. The public faces of this
system are the following FSC registered Trademarks:
 The “checkmark and tree” logo
 The initials “FSC”
 The title “Forest Stewardship Council”
Maintaining integrity…
• It is absolutely essential to FSC’s mission that the
authority, integrity and credibility of all of these
Trademarks are maintained, and that the Trademarks
are publicly recognized and understood.
• FSC’s aim is to ensure that the FSC Trademarks are
used correctly and as widely as possible.
Logo Use continued…
• All certificate holders (Forest Management and Chain-ofCustody) should seek logo use information and permission
from their certifying agency (FSC Accredited Certifiers).
• All non-certificate holders (retailers, NGO’s, etc.), as well as
media, educational institutions, etc., in the U.S. who wish to
use the FSC logo, should contact Katie Miller, Nominated
Logo Agent for FSC-US at: kmiller@fscus.org or
202.342.0414.
• All parties outside in the U.S. who wish for permission to use
the logo should contact FSC International in Bonn, Germany
at +49 228 367 660 or fscoax@fscoax.org
Chain of Custody
Keeping Track
FSC in the Press…
“Forest-friendly lumbering” Columbus Dispatch 4-24-04
“Guilt-free furniture” Columbus Dispatch 4-18-04
“What’s a Good Wood” Washington Post 3-20-04
“Finding Good Wood” Natural Home Magazine March/April 04
“Steady Acceptance of Third-party Certification” Building Products Digest March 04
“What Green Labels Mean” Kansas City Star 2-14-04
“Logo signals wood is from managed forests” Chicago Tribune 12-26-03
“Growing Greener Forests” National Wildlife Oct/Nov 03
“Centex and KB Home Take a Proactive Stand in Reluctant Battle with Forest Activists” Big Builder
July 03
“Kinko’s Adds First FSC-certified Paper” Greenbiz.com 7-21-03
“Domtar to Promote Greener Paper Products” Wall Street Journal 4-25-02
“How Home Depot and Activists Joined to Cut Logging Abuse” Wall Street Journal 9-26-00
FSC and LEED
• Under the LEED™ system, points can be awarded in five categories:
sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials &
resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation & design process.
Credit 7 under the materials & resources category addresses the issue of
certified wood, with the intent of encouraging environmentally responsible
forest management. The requirements for the credit are:
• “Use a minimum of 50% (based on cost) of wood-based materials and
products, certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council’s
Principles and Criteria, for wood building components including, but not
limited to, structural framing and general dimensional framing, flooring,
finishes, furnishings, and non-rented temporary construction applications
such as bracing, concrete form work and pedestrian barriers.”
Challenges to Forest Industry Adoption of
FSC Standards
• It’s change
• Conventional practices and process in place
• Cost
• Perception of regulation
Challenges to the
Design Community
• Education process
• Product delivery lead times until supply is
adequate.
• Increasing demand is crucial.
Steps to Overcoming Barriers
• Education process
• Increased demand for FSC wood and products-LEED supports industry transformation by awarding
a point for use of FSC certified wood products.
• Development of better tools for harvesting and wood
product manufacturing
• Community support for better practices
• Incentives to industry and users
Obtaining FSC products
• USE the FSC International Database: This database will only
search manufacturers and distributors, not retailers. Locate it at
www.fscus.org
•
To find products carried by your local retailer, you must
contact them directly. Products bearing the FSC logo are
available across the world from a variety of mills,
manufacturers, and distributors.
• In addition, many retailers in the U.S. also stock FSC products,
including The Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement
Centers, and Kinko’s. Please ask your local retailer for
information on their FSC-certified products.
FSC vision of
“mission accomplished”
Healthy Forests = Healthy Future
photo credit Mike Murray
Additional Resources
• www.fscus.org (information about FSC in the US)
• www.fsc.org (information about FSC globally)
• www.fsc-info.org (searchable product database)
• www.certifiedwood.org (searchable product database)
• www.usgbc.org (to see LEED certified projects which have
used FSC-certified wood products)
Links to certificate holders
• http://www.fscus.org/certified_companies/
Fisher Hamilton, Two Rivers, WI
Additional MTS Modules
Where You Can Learn About FSC
• Green Buildings
• Sustainable
Hardsurface Flooring
• Green Homes
• Sustainable Furniture
• Green Labs
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