The FSC logo – sign for sustainable paper

Many people cannot and still do not want to do without paper completely, initiatives like the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). Their logo can be found on envelopes, tickets, paper handkerchiefs, filling material, wallpaper, copy paper and so on… A good sign! The little green tree stands for environmentally friendly, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management – since 1933 and in more than 80 countries.

What does the FSC do?

The aim of the FSC is to protect forests from further overexploitation and destruction and to ensure their long-term preservation through defined management standards. This goal is to be achieved not only by protecting forests alone, but above all by promoting responsible forest management. Strict management criteria are to prevent uncontrolled deforestation, the violation of human rights or excessive pressure on the environment. The preservation of basic forest functions is thus guaranteed. The FSC has 10 principles and 56 criteria that apply to all forests worldwide and on the basis of which national working groups develop national standards. Such principles are, for example, the conservation of biodiversity, the preparation of a management plan and the monitoring and assessment of forest condition. In total, there are 10 principles and 56 criteria. Every year, every single certified forest is checked against these standards. Only those forests that pass these audits are allowed to label and sell their wood with the FSC logo.

Although FSC certification is limited to forest management and the FSC does not require any environmental performance from the processing companies, it does require complete control of the timber chain in the individual processing steps. In this way, it is also checked during further processing that this certified wood is not contaminated with other, non-certified wood. The FSC thus provides a trademark by which the consumer can recognise responsible and verified forest management.

For the consumer, the certification of the processing and timber trade chain (chain of custody) creates complete transparency. For this purpose, every company in the product chain, from the forest to the end customer, must establish an internal procedure that ensures that certified materials remain identifiable at all times.

The FSC is one of the world’s leading forest certification systems: More than 179 million hectares in 80 countries worldwide have been certified according to FSC rules since its foundation in 1992. In addition to over 1,200 forest certificates, there are currently around 25,940 chains of custody in downstream wood processing and trade.