What does 'FSC Certified' actually mean?

You may have seen on greeting cards, cardboard boxes or even your garden tools, a 'tick tree' logo with the letters FSC underneath. You probably know it's a good sign and something to do with the environment, but what does it actually represent?

  

FSC stands for The Forest Stewardship Council and in a nutshell, they are an international non-profit organisation that promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests ensuring they are here for generations to come.

Huh? But what does this actually mean?

Environmentally Appropriate

Protecting and maintaining natural communities and high conservation value forests.

Socially Beneficial

Respecting the rights of workers, communities and indigenous peoples.

Economically Viable

Building markets, adding best value, and creating equitable access to benefits.

As well as these three primary values, FSC certify forests all over the world against their Ten Rules for Responsible Forest Management to ensure they meet the highest environmental and social standards. When a forest has met these standards it is given the FSC certification and the timber it produces is allowed to carry the FSC logo.

But wait, if it's the forest that has the certification, why is the logo on all sorts of products I buy?

FSC licences retailers and other end users, such as printers, to promote FSC certified products without having a certification themselves. The system also includes a chain of custody which means the FSC certified timber is tracked from the forest through every stage of the supply chain all the way to the final user. 

So when you see the FSC logo on the back of my greeting cards or any other paper goods, you know the stock that it has been printed on has come from a certified forest that meets the highest standards.

 

Visit the FSC website to find out more about The Forest Stewardship Council.