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Holding the Line with FSC

Publication Date:

3 Nov 2008

Body:

Over the past 12 years, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has created a leading global system for credible certification of environmentally and socially responsible managed forests and it has been innovative and adaptive in meting the challenges to transform forest stewardship worldwide. Its success and the reality of rapid growth and demand have lead FSC to face a number of challenges. Following two years of research, our report lists key recommendations and provides constructive criticism to contribute towards its continuous improvements in meeting the challenges to transform forest stewardship worldwide.

FSC has welcomed our inputs and is already implementing some of them. We are confident that FSC will continue to strengthen its system, inspire supporters and maintain its position as leader of global forest certification systems.

PDF 2:

Holding the Line with FSC

Tags: FSC, forests, sustainable, certification schemes

Certification schemes

Paper bearing the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo

The FSC logo is the best guarantee that wood and paper products come from well-managed sources

With so much timber on the market that is destructively or illegally logged, it's important to have a certification system that can assess the logging industry's impact in forestry areas on both the environment and the communities who live there.

Tags: FSC, forests, certification schemes, deforestation

UK government decision undermines its own timber policy

20 Dec 2006

Indigenous peoples' rights are not fully protected under many timber certification schemes

London - Today major environmental groups, including WWF, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and FERN, criticized the government's decision to allow its departments to purchase wood products certified by schemes that allow destructive logging practises, by accepting them as proof of sustainability.

The announcement comes following a paper-based review of certification schemes by the Government's Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET). [1] The review did not include on the ground assessments of forestry practices certified under the approved schemes. The NGOs challenge the outcome of the CPET review.

Pat Venditti of Greenpeace said, "By approving CSA, PEFC and SFI certified timber as sustainable the government is guilty of green-washing bad logging practices and directly contributing to the destruction of ancient forests. This is particularly galling given the recent resumption of logging in ancient forest areas in Finland - certified as sustainable by the PEFC."

Craig Bennett of Friends of the Earth said, "The government loves to talk about how public procurement can be used to drive sustainability. But in allowing government departments to buy timber products that have been produced by destructive forest practices, they have failed a key test. They have clearly been taken in by the timber industry PR machine and ignored facts."

Despite promising to buy only legal and sustainable timber in 2000, the government appointed advisory service, the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET), has given the green light to departments using certification schemes whose criteria and processes are fundamentally flawed. [1]

The government has decided to accept timber produced under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) scheme as proof of sustainable timber procurement. Whilst this system has made some improvements in terms of standard setting in recent months, several schemes under the PEFC umbrella still allow large scale, unsustainable logging in high biodiversity areas and inadequate tracking of timber from the forest to the point of sale. Environmentalists are particularly concerned about the acceptance of the Australian Forest Standard (AFS) and the American Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI), both of which are recognised under the PEFC scheme. [2]

In addition, the government has approved the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCC) as proof of legality. This is despite the fact that indigenous peoples' rights remain an ongoing issue in the Malaysian courts and the MTCC scheme requires only piecemeal adherence to national laws concerning indigenous peoples' rights. In accepting the MTCC scheme in its current form, the UK government clearly undermines the current negotiations between the EU and Malaysia to develop a partnership agreement to control illegal logging.

In a speech posted on a website run by the EU, the EU indicated that it would prefer if indigenous communities in Malaysia were more involved in timber production decisions. "Local communities are no obstacle to economic growth, rather they can help ensure growth is sustainable... The living conditions of the indigenous people need improvement with full respect to their cultural habits and traditions." Indigenous rights remain one of the key contested issues in the negotiations. [3]

The only certification scheme currently recognised as credible by industry, NGOs and indigenous peoples groups alike is the scheme operated by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Contact:
Saskia Ozinga, FERN, 07801 447 401
Craig Bennett, Friends of the Earth, 07720 147 280
Pat Venditti, Greenpeace, 0207 865 8250
Beatrix Richards, WWF, 07780 958 226

Notes for the editor:
[1] In 2004, the UK government established the Central Point for Expertise on Timber to assess five internationally recognised certification schemes and provide guidelines for central government departments on legal and sustainable timber procurement. In the first assessment all five forest certification schemes studied were found to deliver on UK government requirements for legality, but only two (FSC and CSA) met the requirements for sustainability. In April 2005, SFI and PEFC were reassessed and accepted as proof of legal and sustainable timber. This third reassessment process has maintained this decision.

[2] The AFS standard was developed without input from environmental groups, which means AFS fails two of CPET's criteria for standard setting - criteria 1.3.2 & 1.3.3. In addition, under the SFI standard forest owner/manager seldom recognise legal use rights to the forest, failing criteria 1.1.1. In addition, the standard allows rare and endangered ecosystems to be replaced by even aged single species plantations, thus failing CPET criteria 1.2.6. Concerns have also been expressed about the lack of transparency in the standard and the dominance of the timber industry in the standard setting process. A separate study carried out by FERN and WWF found that the SFI should have failed on at least two and possible four criteria and comes with a lower score on 15 out of the 26 criteria putting doubt into the independence of the CPET assessment.

[3] This affects CPET criteria 1.1.1. & 1.1.2

[4] The UK government's timber procurement policy requires central government to actively seek to buy timber from legal and sustainable sources. It is not a mandatory policy. As such it is even more important that it remains a credible process with the ability to deliver significant and necessary improvements in forest management on the ground. By adopting schemes that certify destructive practices as sustainable, the government seriously undermines its own policy.

Tags: forests, illegal timber, UK policy, press releases, certification schemes

Malaysian Timber Certification Council

Tracking illegally logged rainforst timber leaving Indonesia

Key flaws in the Malaysian Timber Certification Council

Several Malaysian social, environmental, and community-based organisations were involved in reviewing the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) scheme in 1999. 14 of these groups (collectively named JOANGOHutan) withdrew from the scheme in July 2001, when it became clear that it did not guarantee legality and sustainable forest management, and did not respect the basic rights of indigenous peoples, thereby fuelling human rights conflicts. The serious flaws within the MTCC scheme include:

MTCC doesn't recognize the customary tenure and user rights of indigenous peoples and local forest communities. For example in May 2003 14 villagers from a Temuan indigenous community were arrested when they tried to stop a logging company from carrying out its work on their ancestral land in Pahang. This encroachment on indigenous land took place despite the fact that Pahang has been certified by MTCC as "sustainably managed forest" since 2001.

MTCC has also recently certified a concession in Sarawak, despite an unresolved land claim by the indigenous Penan people which is currently before the Malaysian courts. In February of this year, 19 Penan leaders and 582 Penan from a remote area of Sarawak demanded an immediate withdrawal of the MTCC certificate, and called on the company to cease the destructive logging in the area. Greenpeace has satellite images illustrating the extent of destructive logging that we would be pleased to provide to the committee if requested.

Greenpeace research has identified other serious concerns about the MTCC scheme, including:

MTCC criteria and indicators fail to adequately safeguard social values and environmental conservation;
MTCC certifies on the basis of whole states in Peninsular Malaysia, thereby disregarding the variable practices within concrete forest operations in a given Malaysian state;
MTCC lacks a well-defined performance based standard;
MTCC Chain-of-Custody procedures and standards allow for up to 30 per cent uncertified wood and fibre products up to 70 per cent with no adequate requirements on the uncertified material. Thus the MTCC labeled products can be intermixed with illegally acquired wood.

For example, it is clear that large amounts of illegal timber are being trafficked from Indonesia to Malaysia. Figures from the Malaysian Statistical office record log production of one species, selangan batu, as 404 000 m3 in the year 2004; yet record log exports of the species as 585 000 m3, and sawn timber exports of the species as 210 000 m3. This means that legal exports of selangan batu products from Sarawak are nearly double legal production.

Tags: forests, certification schemes, MTCC

Sustainable Forestry Initiative

TimberWest SFI-certified logging near Lake Cowichan, Vancouver Island, 2003

Tags: forests, certification schemes, SFI

UK government makes 'clear-cut' decision on timber

Posted by admin on 29 November 2005.

In July 2000 the UK government introduced a policy requiring all of its departments and agencies to 'actively seek' to buy timber from legal and sustainable sources. Given that central government procurement accounts for approximately 15 per cent of timber used in the UK (and that the broader public sector may account for as much as 40 per cent), this was seen as a positive move to push the wider UK timber market towards environmentally and socially responsible sources.

Tags:

FSC, forests, illegal timber, government, certification schemes, PEFC, MTCC, SFI, CSA, CPET

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Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes

Forest destruction in Finland, much of which is certified under the Finnish Forest Certification Scheme

Key weaknesses in the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes

PEFC currently allows logging in old growth and other ecologically valuable forest ecosystems, like for example in Finland. Less than 5 per cent of Finnish forests are old growth but only 2.5 per cent are protected - the unprotected areas are currently being logged under the Finnish Forest Certification Scheme (FFCS), endorsed by PEFC.

The PEFC in Finland has completely failed to protect threatened species. The standard claims to protect demarcated habitats of these species but it includes no system to map or find the habitats of these species. As a consequence, habitats of threatened species are being destroyed as part of normal PEFC practice. A recent investigation by Greenpeace, for example, found hundreds of endangered mushrooms, including species strictly protected under Finnish legislation in an area about to be logged under PEFC certification.

Developed and dominated by the forest industry

Moreover, the minimum standard required to receive PEFC certification is low and varies considerably from country to country. Whilst some national standards do insist on some performance-based criteria (i.e. setting specific targets to improve forest management on the ground), this is not the case in others, for example in France.

Tags: forests, certification schemes, PEFC

Canadian Standards Association

Pristine habitat at Goat Cove in the Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada

Tags: forests, certification schemes, CSA

UK Government confirms FSC as preferred choice for timber buyers

16 Nov 2004

FSC branding on garden furniture ... making the right choice

November 10, 2004 - Greenpeace today welcomed the UK Government's review of forest certification schemes (1) and urged the public and private sector to clearly specify the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme on contracts to guarantee legal and sustainable timber sourcing.

The UK Government has confirmed that timber products certified by the FSC meet Central Government procurement guidelines for legal and sustainable timber. Greenpeace and other environmental organisations believe that the FSC is the only credible forest certification system currently available on the market that ensures environmentally and socially responsible timber sourcing. Greenpeace is also delighted that the Government has confirmed our view that the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) cannot offer the same guarantees.

The PEFC standard not only allows unsustainable logging in ancient forest areas and other ecologically valuable ecosytems, but also the forest management standards required to receive PEFC certification are very low and vary considerably from country to country. Moreover, unlike the FSC - which was developed by social, environmental as well as business groups - the PEFC scheme was solely developed and is dominated by the forest sector. Stakeholder representation from environmental organisations and indigenous peoples groups is totally inadequate.

However, Greenpeace is astonished that the Government report also concluded that the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) system, which is currently facing heavy criticism from Canadian environmental and indigenous peoples' groups, has also been given the green light. Less than two weeks ago, these groups launched appeals against forestry operations covering over 13 million hectares of forest certified by the CSA. The appeals follow a systematic review of how CSA certified companies are failing to live up to the claims made within the standard. (2)

Even when the CSA standard is being properly adhered to, no major environmental group in Canada working on certification believes that CSA can offer any real assurance that the timber is from sustainably managed forests. Under the CSA system, companies set their own forest management standards and no consistent minimum standard is required by the CSA.

The scheme also fails to provide any reasonable measures to ensure that indigenous peoples' rights are respected.(3) The CPET report did not take into account social issues, such as indigenous people's rights in its assessment.

"The Government is providing direction that strong certification systems, such as FSC, should be the standard for the industry," said Pat Venditti, Greenpeace Forest Campaigner. "UK wood buyers should take note that wood certified by the PEFC should be avoided. We urge both the public and private sector to clearly specify FSC on all contracts in order to guarantee that the timber they are using is from legal and sustainable sources."

Further information
Contact the Greenpeace Press Office on 0207 865 8255. For information specifically on the appeal launched against the CSA standard contact Rachel Plotkin at the Sierra Club of Canada on 001 613 241 4611.

For a detailed comparison of the main certification schemes please read 'Footprints in the Forest: Current practise and future challenges in forest certification' (FERN, 2004) and for a comparison of the CSA, SFI and FSC there is 'On the Ground: Forest Certification: Green Stamp of Approval or Rubber Stamp of Destruction' (Forest Ethics, Greenpeace, Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter, 2003)

(1) Five certification schemes analysed in the report commissioned for the Central Point on Expertise on Timber (CPET) were the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI).

(2) This appeal was launched on 29th October 2004 by the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, on behalf of the Sierra Club of Canada and the National Aboriginal Forestry Association.

(3) The UK report is also out-of-line with a new four-year study on certification systems released just two weeks ago. The book, written by Yale professor Benjamin Cashore and two other authors, contrasted four out of five of these same systems, and found that for almost all elements of the systems evaluated, only the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) provides any clear and measurable objectives for defining sustainable management. The book, entitled Governing Through Markets, found that the CSA system does not provide any regulation for the size or location of plantations, of the size or location of clearcuts, and fails to mandate specific direction for introducing new protected reserves.

Tags: FSC, forests, government, press releases, certification schemes, PEFC, CSA

Hundreds of Finnish forest species at risk under forest certification scheme

11 Oct 2004

Dawn brings light to the depths of the forest in Finland

Hundreds of species face extinction in the Finnish forests in the coming years without further revision of the Finnish Forest Certification System (FFCS). This is the key finding of the report "Certifying extinction? - An assessment of the revised standards of the FFCS" which was released today jointly by Greenpeace, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and the Finnish Nature League.

"Certifying extinction?" compares key environmental criteria of the FFCS (1) scheme with the internationally recognised Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme. The study confirms that, even with recent revisions of the FFCS standard, the scheme fails to prevent logging of old-growth forests, allows the destruction of important habitats for endangered or red-listed species in the Finnish forests and fails to protect forest areas essential for reindeer herding.

According to Sini Harkki, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation forest campaigner:

"Unless the current logging practices change rapidly in Finland, a mass extinction of species is likely. The Siberian jay is already almost extinct in Southern Finland."

Greenpeace Forest Campaigner Andy Tait said

"The Finnish research community, environmental organisations and increasingly the international market are rejecting the destructive forestry practises certified under FFCS. It is time for the Finnish forest industry to move towards a more sustainable system such as the Forest Stewardship Council."

Despite promises to safeguard the indigenous Sámi culture, the FFCS standard allows logging of old-growth forests, which are crucial as reindeer grazing areas. Through the continued logging of old-growth forests, the Finnish government jeopardises the reindeer-herding livelihood of both Sámi and Finnish people living in the North of Finland.

The FFCS system has been used by the Finnish Forestry industry to convey an 'environmentally friendly' image to its customers. But increasingly companies buying Finnish forest products are realising that FFCS cannot guarantee that timber and paper products are coming from well-managed forests. The German postal service, Deutsche Post, has stopped buying envelope paper from northern Finnish mills, which are linked to timber from old-growth forests and started to offer FSC-certified envelopes. Meanwhile DIY retailer B&Q has this year amended its timber purchasing policy, meaning that Finnish products will be phased out.

Further information
Contact:
Andy Tait, Greenpeace Forests Campaign 0207 865 8250
Greenpeace Press Office 0207 865 8250
Sini Harkki, forest campaigner, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, 00358-50-582 1107

Notes
1 The FFCS-system is a nationally developed system for forest certification, which has been adopted by the Finnish forest industry and is endorsed by the industry led certification body 'Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification' (PEFC). 95% of all Finnish forests have been certified according to this standard.

Tags: FSC, forests, press releases, finland, certification schemes, destructive logging, FFSC

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