SO WHAT EXACTLY IS THE FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL?

“ECO-ADVANTAGE” ADVOCATES DANIEL ESTY AND ANDREW WINSTON write in Green to Gold that the Forest Stewardship Council’s certification is “widely considered the toughest standard in sustainable forestry.” They add: “Increasing numbers of retailers and big purchasers of wood and paper are asking for the FSC label on what they buy.” Such widespread adoption—incredibly difficult to obtain, or agree upon, in so many industries and practices—adds a vigorous, healthy incentive to “go the good route,” to “do the right thing,” to scrutinize forestry businesses when it comes to what they’re doing way out there in the woods, far away from concerned individuals and watchdog groups, where expediency and profit are the almighty drivers. With sustainable forestry, says Liza Murphy of Rainforest Alliance (as reported in Aaris Sherin’s SustainAble), “one can enhance the economic value of a forest by minimizing the environmental impacts and enhancing the social good.”

The origins of the FSC can be traced to the United Nations’ 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, after which concerned representatives of environmental groups, retailers, industry, and social and community groups came together to address irresponsible deforestation, shoddy logging practices and general running-rampant, unchecked behavior. Something had to be done, a line drawn, a clarion call sounded; the fate of the Earth, as the Earth Summit loudly declared, was in the balance. And from a purely capitalist perspective, as Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard (by no means a capitalist pig) archly points out, “There’s no profit to be made on a dead planet.”

Let’s get back to the nuts and bolts (or seeds and cones) of the Forest Stewardship Council. To earn FSC certification, you (if you’re in the forest products industry) must adapt your management and operations to conform to all applicable FSC requirements, which are developed, reviewed and improved by a team of experts at the FSC IC (International Center) in Bonn, Germany. The standard-setting process, states the FSC, “is transparent, democratic and inclusive with many opportunities for the interested public to participate.” The FSC’s ten driving principles and criteria are:

1. Compliance with all applicable laws and international treaties.
2. Demonstrated and uncontested, clearly defined, long-term land tenure and use rights.
3. Recognition and respect of indigenous peoples’ rights.
4. Maintenance or enhancement of long-term social and economic well-being of forest workers and local communities and respect of worker’s rights in compliance with International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions.
5. Equitable use and sharing of benefits derived from the forest.
6. Reduction of environmental impact of logging activities and maintenance of the ecological functions and integrity of the forest.
7. Appropriate and continuously updated management plan.
8. Appropriate monitoring and assessment activities to assess the condition of the forest, management activities and their social and environmental impacts.
9. Maintenance of High Conservation Value Forests (HCVFs) defined as environmental and social values that are considered to be of outstanding significance or critical importance.
10. In addition to compliance with all of the above, plantations must contribute to reduce the pressures on and promote the restoration and conservation of natural forests.

Sounds pretty solid, doesn’t it? Even the mighty Home Depot announced a “preference” for FSC products in 1999. But is it enough? Do we need to look at our consumption patterns in general and see where we can cut paper-products waste? Should we, if we can afford to, purchase a Kindle or other e-reader and start exclusively reading e-books and periodicals? Well, yes and no. My take is, it’s commonsense to cut down on waste in all things where possible (and recycle those books, mags and papers, please!), and the FSC is doing a masterful job of creating accountability in the forestry industry (long after the piercing hoots of the spotted-owl kerfuffle have been muffled or forgotten), but let’s push for more and better regulation, and make these best practices everyday practices. Brian Dougherty hits it well in Green Graphic Design when he says, “The next step for the paper industry is to go beyond conventional industrial agriculture to something akin to organic agriculture. FSC-certified forestry is far better than clear-cuts of ancient forest, but the standard still allows the maintenance of large-scale tree farms that support very little biodiversity.” Biodiversity, of course, is an essential part in keeping our Earth healthy.

“In our world of modern conveniences, it’s easy to forget one immutable truth: We live within nature’s boundaries,” write Esty and Winston in Green to Gold. “The natural world is not just that pretty thing we admire on vacation. Natural resources are the assets on the planetary balance sheet.”* It’s the classic eco-positioning statement of we’re all in this together, there’s no “us and them,” it’s just us. The Forest Stewardship Council, continually looking to improve and expand its certification program and help save the forests of the world, definitely represents us. They see the forest, the trees and our place all together within the natural scheme of things.

Get Involved—Donate and Support FSC
Become an FSC donor and support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests.

Of Related Interest
Group Connects Local Timber Owners with Local Homebuilders (OregonLive story)
When you buy or build a home, the geographic source of the wood that back its walls or frame its windows is usually a mystery, lost in a long supply chain of builders, home supply stores, lumber yards, mills and forest owners. But just as people in Portland and elsewhere now take a greater interest in where their food comes from, some consumers like the Grangers [a family featured in the story] are curious to know the provenance of the wood they live surrounded by everyday.

*Two paragraphs later, Esty and Winston note an inherent business opportunity: “As the business world wakes up to the fact that many natural resources are finite, a second reality is emerging in parallel: Limits can create opportunities. Companies that manage nature’s bounty and boundaries best will minimize vulnerabilities and move ahead of their competitors.”

—Allen