Product Certifications FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)

What is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) ...
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a non-gorvernmental, non-profit-making organization, which includes among its members: environmental and social groups, native communities, consumers’ associations, forest owners, technicians, certification bodies, wood manufacturing and marketing industries. The members are divided into three Departments: one representing environmental interests, one, social interests and the other, economic interests. The power of vote is equally distributed among the Departments so as to balance the interests of the Southern and the Northern Countries of the world.

The objective of the FSC is to promote worldwide management of forests and  plantations and to protect the natural environment which is useful to the people (workers and local populations) and useful from an economic point of view, according to the principles of the sustainable development of Rio.

FSC has defined, with the consent and the participation of all the parties involved (stakeholders), the standards of the Principles and Criteria for a good forest management based on strict environmental and social parameters valid all over the world. FSC has also developed a particular certification system for forest management and wood traceability (chain-of-custody), as well as product labelling. The forests are controlled and evaluated independently by certification bodies accredited by FSC which controls the system’s functionality to assure competitiveness and credibility. Also the certification bodies control and evaluate the different manufacturing and marketing phases of the forest products to guarantee traceability of the same products from their origin to the sale. These controls and the particular labelling system enable the companies and the consumers to identify the wood and the wooden products and give information about the forests they come from and how these have been correctly and responsibly run according to FSC standards.

FSC Group -Italy:
The Group FSC-Italy is a voluntary, no-profit association operating following the objectives and the mission of the international FSC, which has officially recognized FSC-Italy as a National Initiative, and aims at spreading FSC certification in our country by voicing environmental, social and economic petitions in a balanced way. The objective of the Group’s activity is to safeguard and improve the environment and forest resources in Italy and in the world by running and exploiting forests and forest products according to the FC Scheme.

Spreading of FSC:
A wide range of forests all over the word has already been accredited with FSC certification: from plantations of pine trees in Scandinavia to forests of firs and Alp larches in Italy; from woods of oaks and beeches in Eastern Countries to tropical forests in Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and so on. Up to 30th May 2003 the area of FSC certified forests has been calculated to have an extension of over 36,800,000 hectares: 497 certifications of forest management were issued in 56 different countries while there are operative initiatives of forest certifications under way in many other countries for about 10 million hectares awaiting evaluation and approval. In Italy there are three forest areas with an FSC certification: the “Magnifica Comunità” of Fiemme (Cavalese, Trento), the first forest in the Alps to get an FSC certification in 1997; a wood in the Apennines (Piegaro, Perugia) of about 200 hectares and finally a poplar grove (Sant’Alessandro, Lomellina, Milan) of about 170 hectares. A pilot project for the group certification of forest management is about to be launched in the “Parco dei Monti Simbruini” in Abruzzo.

The companies in the wood sector with FSC certification for the chain-of-custody are over 2,800 in 66 countries. On the market, over 20,000 lines of products with FSC trademark are available, among which indoor and outdoor furniture and furnishings, kitchen tools, kitchen and office paper, paper tissues, coverings and paving, frames and many more products which are not made of wood but for example of rubber. In Italy there 61 companies which have already been FSC certified for the chain-of-custody and others are awaiting certification.

Why is it important?
There are many reasons why it is important that more and more products get a FSC certification: more forests are run responsibly and at the same time more forests stop being destroyed or excessively exploited, more forests which cut down illegally remain out of the international trade circuit, more forests where the rights of local people and workers are respected, more forests where bio-diversity is a priority, more forests are safeguarded. FSC puts into practice the principles of the sustainable development (Rio 1992 and Johannesburg 2002) by regulating in a rigorous and thorough way aspects like the use of pesticides, OGM products, workers’ rights (ILO convention), forest protection and much more. Moreover, all the companies trading products with the FSC trademark are also obliged to know the origin of the uncertified wood inside FSC products and to select carefully their own suppliers so that even if the wood is not certified they know that it does not come from illegal cuts or from areas where human rights and traditions are not respected, or where plants and trees have been genetically modified or excessively exploited.

By choosing FSC certification, the forest producers and wood industries will not only improve their own business management and contribute to the safeguard of forests, but it will also own a valid marketing instrument to prove their entrepreneurial commitment in favour of the environment and the respect for ethical and social values towards forests. Furthermore, by choosing certified FSC companies and products, the consumers induce producers and industries to adopt more responsible behaviours, contributing to a sustainable use of the forest resources worldwide in a more practical way.