• See also: Threats to Forests
• See also: What to Look for in Forest Certification Systems

Why Forests and Certification Matter

Natural forests are an integral part of the web of life.  Well managed forests provide clean water, homes for wildlife, and help stabilize the climate.  

Unsustainable logging, agricultural expansion, and other practices threaten many forests’ existence.  Indeed, half of the Earth’s original forest cover has been lost, mostly in the last three decades.  Canada’s coastal, inland temperate, and Boreal forests, for example, contain some of North America’s largest intact forests, are home to endangered wildlife, and play an important role in stabilizing the Earth’s climate—yet these forests are also among the most endangered.

Fortunately, more balanced forest management can maintain forest ecosystems while providing wood and paper products, recreation, and benefits to local communities.  

Choosing products from forests certified by the independent Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) can be an important part of using wood and paper more sustainably.  Forest certification is like organic labeling for forest products.  FSC certification is companies’ and consumers’ assurance that products come from forests that meet strict environmental and social standards. 

Creating demand for FSC certified products can also encourage forest managers to adopt improved practices, while supporting landowners that already manage their forests well.  The FSC is the world’s leading forest certification system, and is widely considered to be the most credible and effective system.  Indeed, most forest conservation organizations feel the FSC is the only credible system.

Certification and other market-based conservation efforts will be particularly important where regulatory systems are insufficient to counter serious threats to forests’ ecological, social, and long-term economic values.  Examples include private forests in the U.S., and forests in the tropics and Canada. 

Unfortunately, consumers now also have to beware of certification schemes that misrepresent ecologically harmful logging as being environmentally responsible.  Examples include the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) created by the American Forest & Paper Association.