What is the Forest Stewardship Council?

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international body that sets environmental and social standards for sustainable forest operations.  FSC certification helps consumers sort through the maze of products and advertising so they can be sure their purchase will reflect their values. It also helps sustainable manufacturers and suppliers find their market. Here in B.C., forest certification has been a struggle because it requires a dramatic improvement over current forest practices like clear-cutting.

Choose FSC!

Although several forest certification systems have emerged in recent years, the Sierra Club BC and other environmental organizations endorse only one: the Forest Stewardship Council. Internationally recognized and administered by an independent body, FSC is the only system that audits operators against stringent environmental and social criteria -- from forest management to First Nations rights. The Sierra Club BC was an integral part of developing the FSC standard for forest operations in BC, approved in 2005. 

Be sure to look for the FSC logo when you purchase paper, work with a printer or buy other wood products. For a full list of sustainable suppliers, click here.

FSC Certified Wood from the Great Bear Rainforest

Nearly one million hectares of temperate rainforest have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in B.C.'s Great Bear Rainforest. The certified area is larger than Prince Edward Island.

The FSC certification is awarded to forest products companies who apply for the stamp and who demonstrate they are willing to operate in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. The forest companies who have been newly certified for approximately 850 000 ha are Western Forest Products, Interfor, and BC Timber Sales. As buyers of wood products from the forest, Catalyst Paper and Howe Sound Pulp and Paper supported the certification process for the logging companies. This is a signal that the forest industry is responding to the growing market demand for environmentally-responsible forest products.

Good Wood Awards

On March 31, 2010, Sierra Club BC and our partners in the Good Wood Watch presented two 2010 Olympic venues with a Good Wood award in recognition of their contribution to reducing pressure on forest ecosystems by using FSC-certified timber.

The award recipients are the High Performance Centre at Whistler Athletes’ Centre and South-East False Creek Community Centre at Vancouver Olympic Village. South-East False Creek Olympic Village (athletes’ village) and the Vancouver Olympic Centre (Nat Bailey/Hillcrest Curling Venue) received honourable mention.

“Using FSC-certified wood is a great way to show the world that opportunities exist to manage our beautiful forests sustainably,” says Canadian Olympic halfpipe snowboarder Justin Lamoreux, who supports the Good Wood initiative.

To earn an award, venues had to use more than 50 per cent FSC-certified wood in their construction. “FSC-certified wood is harvested in a way that sustains healthy forests, benefits workers and adjacent communities and respects the rights of First Nations,” says George Heyman, executive director of Sierra Club BC.

Read the story in the Province.

The environmental groups comprising Good Wood Watch — West Coast Environmental Law, Greenpeace, Wildsight and Sierra Club BC — also released a report, Good Wood Awards for Leadership in Good Wood Use for 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Venues.

In the report, Good Wood Watch also recognized 10 venues with tree stumps for failing to do their part to preserve our forests, including the Main Media Centre at the Vancouver Convention Centre, which had originally planned to use FSC-certified wood, but didn’t follow through.

Canadian FSC wood supply has increased dramatically in recent years, and Canada has the most FSC-certified forest area of any country in the world, with 35.2 million hectares certified.

LEED - A golden opportunity

The last couple of years have seen an unprecedented boom in green construction. More than a dozen cities across Canada and the United States -- including Vancouver and Richmond and likely to be followed soon by Victoria -- have adopted green building (LEED) standards for public or municipal buildings. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the eco-certification system of record for the building industry and rewards the use of FSC-certified wood in green buildings.