FSC forest certification basic information

FSC forest certification, also called timber certification, is a tool that uses market mechanisms to promote sustainable forest management and achieve ecological, social and economic goals. FSC forest certification includes forest management certification (Forest Management, FM) and chain of custody certification (Chain of Custody, COC). Forest management certification, also known as sustainable forest management certification or FSC forest certification for short, is aimed at forest management units. The forest management standards formulated by an independent third-party FSC forest certification agency are based on the recognized principles and standards. , The process of reviewing the performance of forest management to prove that it meets the requirements of sustainable management. The production and marketing chain of custody certification is to appraise the entire chain of wood processing enterprises, including the entire chain from log transportation, processing to circulation, to ensure that the final product originates from a certified, well-managed forest. After passing the certification, the company has the right to mark the name and trademark of the certification system on its products, that is, the label for forest product certification. In the past 20 years, mankind's deforestation and poor management of forests have caused widespread forest decline, leading to a lack of global forest resources, deteriorating the ecological environment, and severely threatening the space on which mankind depends for survival. It is generally believed that the root causes of forest problems are policy errors, market failures and imperfect institutions. The international community, governments and non-governmental environmental protection organizations have expressed greater concern about this and have taken a series of actions: (1) National policy reform. Some countries have formulated and implemented basic policies for the transition to sustainable forest management, set out to solve problems in forestry, and gave priority to forestry development and environmental protection.　(2) International intergovernmental process. Encourage and promote the sustainable development of forestry at the national level through international intergovernmental processes. FSC forest certification, but the effect is not obvious. International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO): Developed the "ITTO Guidelines for the Sustainable Management of Tropical Natural Forests" (the ITTO process), and passed the ITTO 2000 goal, that is, by the year 2000, all tropical timber and timber products traded internationally Must be derived from sustainably managed tropical forests, but this goal was not achieved on time. PEFC certification of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development: established the Intergovernmental Working Group on Forest Issues and the follow-up Intergovernmental Forum on Forest Issues; in 2000, the United Nations Economic and Social Council established the United Nations Forum on Forests directly under it. They provide an international forum for discussing global forestry policy issues. Standard and indicator system for sustainable forest management: 9 processes including the Montreal process, the Helsinki process, and the ITTO process. A total of about 150 countries have participated in each process. It establishes good forest management standards and indicators acceptable to the public. CARB certifies the activities of NGOs and other private sectors. International non-governmental organizations, especially environmental protection organizations, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, expressed certain doubts about the effectiveness of the above activities in promoting good forest management, and began to explore new ways with civil organizations. For example, the anti-tropical timber campaign initiated by non-governmental organizations in the 1980s, although not very effective and opposed by the United Nations, has raised people’s awareness of improving forest management. Some private companies formulate their own operating procedures and "self-declare" the continuous production label, although the credibility is poor, but the BSCI certification has made the industrial sector start to pay attention to the social and environmental conditions. FSC forest certification is just because environmental non-governmental organizations and civil organizations realized that some countries have made policy mistakes in improving forest management, international intergovernmental organizations have limited effectiveness in solving forest problems, and forest product trade cannot prove the origin of their products. Later, as a market mechanism to promote sustainable forest management, it was initiated and gradually developed in the early 1990s. It seeks to link "green consumers" with producers seeking to improve forest management levels and expand market share in order to obtain higher returns through independent assessment of forest management activities. Traditional methods to promote sustainable forest management (such as development assistance, soft loans, technical assistance and overseas training, etc.) mostly neglect the commercial sector, and organic certification especially neglects the international trade of wood products. Worldwide, only 20% of forest products enter the international market, but the direct impact of trade on forests is obvious. It is recognized that trade in forest products based on sustainable forest management can also promote environmental protection. The uniqueness of FSC forest certification is that it is market-based and relies on trade and international markets to operate. Before 1992, non-governmental organizations had the idea of certification, but no progress was made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. After the Environmental Development Conference, they began to vigorously promote this new system. In order to supervise the independence and openness of certification, a non-governmental conservation organization established the Forest Stewardship Committee (FSC) in 1993. In 1994, FSC passed the principles and standards and began to authorize certification bodies to carry out FSC forest certification based on these principles and standards. Some countries and regions have also started their own certification process. Since then, FSC forest certification has been gradually developed around the world.

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