By Sydney Cohen
FSC-certified wood products are emblematic of a sustainable wood harvesting process. The wood that meets the standard of FSC certifications is “harvested from forests that are responsibly managed, socially beneficial, environmentally conscious, and economically viable.” Wood is a renewable resource. But only if we allow it to renew itself.
FSC: The Forest Stewardship Council
FSC represents the Forest Stewardship Council, a 1993 nonprofit organization that has been established worldwide. It protects forest ecosystems against unethical and illegal logging.
If the company satisfies the FSC requirements of sustainable management, it gets certification.
FSC Goal
Their goal is to promote sustainable lumber manufacturing through their “FSC” wood certificate labels. The organization’s objective is to promote environmentally sustainable, socially beneficial, and economically viable use of the world forest from which the majority of our lumber is derived.
FSC Certification
The wood products and lumber coming from FSC-certified forests indicate that the Forest Stewardship Council has assessed the forest. It receives certification indicating responsible forest management and sustainability.
FSC Certified Products
The FSC’s product lines are quite wide. Besides ensuring a high-quality product, the FSC inspects the forest products which originate primarily from deforestation areas. They make sure that they come from places with responsible forest management, and are devoid of the use of chemical pesticides.
The Value of FSC Certification
All lumber or paper products with FSC certification have passed rigorous checks and comply with the highest standards of the FSC accreditation program. To be environmentally conscious with your purchases, ensure that the wood product you buy is FSC-certified. Wood producers are subject to mandatory audit processes that require obtaining recertification.
FSC recycled and FSC-certified products only obtain certification through FSC if they meet ethical production guidelines. That is forests whose wood has been harvested sustainably, in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
How To Obtain FSC Certification?
The FSC logo encapsulates forest compliance with laws, workers’ rights and employment conditions, indigenous peoples’ rights, environmental values and impact, sustainable forest management planning and high conservation values.
These principles work to highlight the accomplishments of sustainably managed forests with the FSC logo on wood products from forests that meet these guidelines.
Religion and Wood Harvesting
The importance of sustainable wood harvesting is illustrated by the disproportionate damage that indigenous communities bear from unsustainable wood harvesting. Diego Cazar Baquero wrote for Mongabay about how Indigenous Amazonian communities are suffering from Ecuador’s balsa boom. Balsa is a soft, lightweight wood high in demand. In 2020, $402 million worth of balsa timber was exported from Ecuador.
But harvesting balsa wood is harming indigenous peoples. Narcisa Mashienta said the balsa logging activity is “like a machine, exploiting so fast.” Belén Páez, the director of a group advocating for Indigenous and environmental rights, talked about how there is no authoritative monitoring of deforestation. Lack of monitoring by the authorities may have led to the abduction of Rubí Pujupat Achampash, a 6-year-old girl who went missing on May 4th, 2021 and appears to have been abducted by Balsa loggers.
The Ecuadorian government must ensure that logging is being supervised and conducted in a sustainable and ethical way. We pray that Rubí should be found soon and returned safely to her family.
FSC Versus SFI
The FSC considers certification easier than the Sustainable Forestry Initiative in North America (SFI). The SFI was established in 1994 and is rooted in the logging industry.
The difference is that “SFI requires companies to monitor impacts of management on conservation areas while FSC protects areas of high conservation value forests.”
FSC Certified Wood is Better for the Environment
There are many reasons why FSC certification is important. Deforestation is a pressing issue on our planet that contributes to climate change, for starters. Support sustainable forest management by purchasing FSC-certified wood products!
Why Is FSC Certification Important?
The FSC manages 154.7 billion acres across 15 countries. Even if the company could operate as ethically as possible without the FSC, these certification guidelines offer the guidelines necessary for maintaining the sustainability of the business.
Why Buy FSC-Certified Wood?
Buying FSC-certified wood can mitigate climate change through better forest management and the recycling of wood and paper. Forests eliminate carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.
Buying wood from FSC-certified producers ensures the replacement of trees and allows the natural regeneration of the forests.
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