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Certification and Sustainability

What is the Forest Stewardship Council?

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation.
It is an association of Members from diverse backgrounds including the timber trade and forestry profession, manufacturers, and community forestry groups from around the world. Membership is open to all who share its aims and objectives.
The FSC provides an umbrella organisation and structure within which qualified independent certifiers can operate according to clear guidelines and using agreed standards covering social, environmental and economic aspects of effective forest management.
Once certified, timber and timber-based products originating from that forest or woodland are eligible to carry the FSC Trademark, thus identifying the products as coming from FSC certified forests. Only products which are so certified are legally authorised to carry the FSC Trademark.

Guide to FSC Membership Application

FSC is an association of voting members. Members have the highest authority in formal decisions taken by FSC. To ensure FSC's independence and adherence to its objectives, it is essential that members support FSC's principles and aims. That is why the FSC Statutes lay down strict conditions for all applicants. This is not intended to be a barrier to genuine supporters.

Membership Categories

For the purpose of voting, the membership consists of three chambers: an Economic Chamber, a Social and an Environmental Chamber. All members should have demonstrated an active commitment to FSC, and to the Principles and Criteria. They must also provide information about their governing Board which shall be independent from government bodies and periodically renewed by election or appointment.

Forest Certification

Certification is the process of inspecting forests to see if they are being managed according to an agreed set of standards. FSC evaluates and monitors certification organisations which inspect forest operations and, in turn, grant certificates verifying that the timber has been produced from well managed forests.
At the international level FSC has developed its set of Principles and Criteria of sound forest management. They apply to all forests, temperate, tropical and boreal, natural forests and plantations. Requirements include compliance with national legislation, respect for local use rights, maintenance of the ecological functions of the forest and its biodiversity, economic viability, and the need for an adequate management plan and monitoring of operations.
To take local conditions into account FSC encourages the development of national standards of forest management in each country or region which interpret the international Principles and Criteria.
In practice forest certification means an inspection of forest management both on the ground by field visits, as well as by talking to the forest manager and checking the relevant paperwork.

Product certification

Chain of custody control ensures that the wood genuinely originates from the certified forest. To carry the FSC label, timber and timber products have to be recognisable as coming from a certified source at all points in the supply chain.
Chain of custody certification is required for every stage in the manufacture of a product, from the sawmill to a timber merchants to a manufacturing plant making components to the factory finishing the product to the wholesaler selling the product. Each stage must be inspected and certified. If you are just one stage in the manufacture of a product then all elements in the chain must also be certified to enable the end product to carry the FSC logo.
Only if a retailer is handling products that are packaged and labelled ready for sale to consumers is a chain of custody certificate not required.
Even if no repackaging is taking place, if the customer wishes to sell on the products as certified and the supplier takes ownership of the product (legal or physical possession), the supplier must have chain of custody certification.

FSC National Initiatives

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is growing every year. One element of this expansion is the National Initiatives, made up of locally active supporters of FSC. As the FSC is a decentralised organisation, National Initiatives play a fundamental part in the success of FSC internationally and in promoting its aims and activities.
So far, the growth of National Initiatives has been an organic process, where individuals and organisations in a country have become interested in FSC's mission and activities and have then made the effort to institutionalise this interest at their local level. This process has included gaining FSC membership and forming some sort of group. This group then becomes known as a National Initiative. The National Initiative may be an independent body or a separate part of an existing organisation. It grows in line with its activities and resources.
The FSC aims to include as many stakeholders as possible in the development process of National Initiatives. Growth of National Initiative structures strengthens FSC in the achievement of its mission, spreads the workload and encourages the participation of a broad spread of members in the development of FSC and its activities.
Research, academic, technical institutions and individuals are eligible to become members. Their designation to a particular chamber will be determined by the FSC Board. Government organizations are not eligible to become members.

FSC UK Working Group

The FSC UK Working Group was established in 1995 and is a registered charity (Charity no. 10600072) funded by grants, donations and fees from sales and presentations.
During 2001-2002 FSC UK would like to develop its work into new areas but to do this it must rely on the continued support of existing friends and attract new donors. The FSC would particularly like to recruit a Development Officer to work more closely with communities around the UK interested and involved with its work.
These groups will include small woodland owners, forest workers, timber processors, local authorities and communities living around certified woodlands. By directly engaging all these groups - FSC UK will continue to have a major impact on the future of forest management in the UK.
If you would like more information on this project or would like to make a donation towards the FSC's work please do not hesitate to contact us.

Information Request

To request an information pack or enquire to the FSC for further information, please:

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