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Dovetail Report: September 2004 Beginner's Guide to Third-Party Forest Certification: Shining a Light on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Phil Guillery To request a hardcopy, please call or email for ordering information. The full text of this report is available in Adobe PDF format (764 kb) . Background Barely a day goes by without hearing news of the impact global trade is having on jobs, manufacturing industries, the environment and communities. While on one hand we fear that shortly someone in India will be answering fast food orders at the drive up window, we also hear about the growing problems of pollution in China and rampant illegal logging in Southeast Asia. Increased globalization has spurred concern in a growing segment of consumers toward having a better idea of how the products they buy are produced and sold. Further, there has been a realization by many companies, and their critics, that there is a need for businesses to be able to demonstrate good environmental and social practices. This awareness has resulted in a number of non-governmental organizations monitoring and certifying products in the global marketplace [i] . From clothing, rugs, fish, food, wood, paper and diamonds, an expanding array of labeling systems have been developed in an effort to give consumers the opportunity to make an informed selection. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global forest monitoring and certifying organization. While relatively unknown by the US public, it is probably the most widely recognized forest certification system overall. According to a recent FSC article [1] , it is estimated that globally there are 20,000 FSC certified product lines with an annual turnover of between $3 and $5 billion dollars available to consumers. A recent survey in the Netherlands found that FSC wood now holds more than a 10% share of the national timber market. FSC's target for the next ten years is to have a market share of at least 10 percent globally. An Introduction to the FSC According to the Forest Stewardship Council website, “FSC is an independent, membership-based organization that brings people together to promote responsible management of the world's forests through developing standards, a certification system, and trademark recognition .” A critical component of this statement is the recognition of FSC's role as facilitator of a collaborative process that brings extremely diverse opinions together to form the FSC standard of forest management. The other key is the recognition that this process is dynamic, in that the principles and criteria that define “good forestry” are subject to continual evaluation and improvement. Part of FSC's uniqueness has resulted from this collaborative process, allowing the organization to interweave the best ideas of the varying parties into solutions. In 1994, FSC's members approved an international set of Principles and Criteria. These principles and criteria set the threshold of what constitutes responsible forestry worldwide under the FSC system. Based on these international principles and criteria, specific regional standards have been developed through a consensus process that allows for, and actively seeks, participation and input from all interested parties. For example, in the Upper Midwest, the Lake States Central Hardwoods Regional Forest Stewardship Standard was developed by a working group of more than 30 individuals representing more than 25 different organizations or businesses. The regional standards are used for auditing compliance to the FSC system in each region. [1] FSC-PUB-20-08-2004-09-13 [i] YaleGlobalOnline.2004. http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=4426 Download the full text of this report. (PDF) Phil holds a Master of Science degree in Forestry and a Master of Arts degree in Extension Education from the University of Minnesota, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Science Education from the University of Wisconsin. |
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