Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an

international non-profit, multi-stakeholder
organization established in 1993 to promote
responsible management of the world’s
forests.

The FSC does this by setting standards on

forest products, along with certifying and
labeling them as eco-friendly.
• United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment (UNCHE), 5 to 16 June.1972
– Preservation and enhancement of the human
environment.
Forest certification found its roots in the
concern over rapid tropical deforestation in
1980s and 1990s.
• A number of other economic and regulatory
mechanisms such as financial aid, policy
frameworks and trade conventions were
established in the fight against deforestation.
• These include the
– International Tropical Timber Agreement (1983)
– Convention of International Trade on Endangered
Species (1975)
– Global Environment Facility (1991).
1987
Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland

Report of the World Commission on Environment

and Development (WCED) or Brundtland
Commission/Report. th
At its 14 session, held at
Nairobi from 8 to 19 June, 1987.

The report laid out the concept of sustainability as

containing environmental, economic and social aspects.

Thank you Google Earth for such a wonderful Map

• In the lead up to the Earth Summit, social groups,
NGOs and industries were also beginning to
consult on the issue of deforestation.
• In America the consultation process that
eventually led to the establishment of the FSC
was initiated in 1990
• and concluded in the confirmation of support for
the development of a voluntary worldwide
certification and accreditation governance system
that would cover all forest types.
1992
Christ the Redeemer

United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development (UNED) .

Agenda 21

Forestry Principles set out an

action plan to delve into sustainable
forestry issues
Thank you Google Earth for such a wonderful Map
In the UK, NGO WWF began to facilitate action through the establishment of the
1995 Group, recruiting organizations that had been urged on by instances of
direct action and boycotting over the sale of tropical wood to form an NGO-
business partnership.
Through stakeholder involvement it became apparent that a standard-setting
body would be required to verify the source of wood products and define
sustainable forest management.

After 18 months of consultation in ten different countries, the Forest

Stewardship Council was finally established in 1993.
• Since its inception, FSC has gone from strength to
strength.
• The number of certificates issued in both forest
management and chain of custody have
increased exponentially, passing a total of 20,000
Chain of Custody certificates in 2011, and a
further total of 30,000 in 2016.
• The 1,000th Forest Management certificate was
also issued in 2011 to a Portuguese small
farmers’ association covering their cork
plantations.
• There are now over 1400 Forest Management
certificates.
• The FSC’s stated mission is to "promote environmentally
appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable
management of the world's forests".
• To this end the body has published a global strategy with five
goals:
1. Advancing globally responsible forest management.
2. Ensure equitable access to the benefits of FSC systems.
3. Ensure integrity, credibility and transparency of the FSC
system.
4. Create business value for products from FSC certified
forests.
5. Strengthen the global network to deliver on goals 1
through 4.
• These goals are being promoted by activities which are
managed and developed through six program areas: forests,
chain of custody, social policy, monitoring and evaluation,
quality assurance and ecosystem services.
• Directly or indirectly, FSC addresses issues such as
illegal logging, deforestation and global warming
and some reports indicate positive effects on
economic development, environmental
conservation, poverty alleviation and social and
political empowerment
• Using the FSC logo signifies that the product
comes from responsible sources—
environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial
and economically viable.
• The FSC label is used on a wide range of timber
and non-timber products from paper and
furniture to medicine and jewelry
• and aims to give consumers the option of
supporting responsible forestry.