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.