🔎 ZOOM ON...// FSC ® - Sustainable Forest Management

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE FSC ® CERTIFICATION?

FSC ® (Forest Stewardship Council) is an international organisation that guarantees sustainable forest management: meeting human needs while ensuring the renewal of the forest to preserve it for future generations. This is achieved through certification, which is based on demanding social, economic and environmental criteria! An FSC ® certified forest respects workers and local populations.

In a few words, an FSC ® certified forest is the guarantee of :

• Respecting workers' rights and working conditions
• Ensuring the social and economic well-being of local communities
• Preserve the ecological functions of the forest
• Plan, implement and monitor sustainable management practices

This certification system was created in 1993, following the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Companies, environmentalists and non-environmental organisations joined forces to found the Forest Stewardship Council ®.

FSC ® KEY FIGURES

• In 26 years, more than 220 million hectares of boreal, temperate and tropical forests have been certified FSC ®, including 94 million in Europe!
• FSC ® forest management certificates are issued in 90 countries worldwide
• More than 42,000 companies are certified worldwide: forestry operators, industrialists, distributors who, thanks to FSC ® certification, ensure traceability.
• Ecocert carries out around 250 FSC® audits per year in ten countries (Europe and Brazil), including 26 in Forest Management.

Find all the key figures here

📢 FSC® is recognised for its two certifications

• Forest management: to ensure the application of FSC ® principles and the respect of social, economic and ecological criteria in the forest.
• Chain of Custody: to ensure the traceability of forest materials and products along the value chain from the certified forest to the end consumer.

🙋♂️Forestry certification by Ecocert

For more than 20 years, Ecocert has specialised in the certification and verification of projects in the world's main forest areas: Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. It is also a network of auditors in France and abroad, experts in the field close to our clients.

A public database allows you to check whether a company is FSC ® certified by its name, certification number or licence number.

Discover the Ecocert certification process here

📝FSC ® logo changes according to the composition of the finished product

• FSC ® 100%: Only materials from FSC ® certified forests have been used to manufacture this product.
• FSC ® Recycled: The forest materials used in this product have been recycled.
• FSC ® Mixed: This product is made up of materials from FSC® certified well-managed forests and other controlled sources.

On the FSC ® label, the following shall appear:

1. The FSC ® logo
2. The FSC® International website address
3. The type of label
4. "From well-managed forests" (FSC® 100%) or "Made from recycled material" (Recycled) or "From responsible sources" (Mixed)
5. The FSC ® licence code

🌍 Ecocert has certified FSC ® projects in the world:

1. Switzerland: 45954.00 hectares FSC ® (example : Wald St. Gallen und Liechtenstein : 45954.00 ha)
2. Germany: 147050, hectares FSC ® (example: Naturland Verband : 33160 ha) :
3. Luxembourg: 23085.2 hectares FSC ® (example: Administration de la Nature et des Forêts 12639ha)
4. Belgium: 2154,9 hectares FSC ® (example : Naturland Verband : 33160 ha)

Today, 26 forests are FSC ® certified by Ecocert.

💡FSC ® makes regular updates!

The update every 5 years of the FSC ® standard allows to take into account the improvement of the practices of the wood & forest industry and the needs of guarantee of the consumers. The first FSC ® standard for forest management was created in 2017.

The revision process starts this year, in 2021, and the finalized version of the metropolitan forest management standard will be revised in May 2022.

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