Forest Certification FAQ Choosing a Forest Certification System How You Can Help Contact Us Environmental news, green living tips, and ways to take action: Subscribe to the Sierra Club Insider!

Credible forest certification is a green seal of approval for forest products. Forest certification can be used to rally market support for wood, paper, and other forest products that come from responsibly managed forests. A credible and effective forest certification system will insure that forests are managed in a way that preserves ecosystems, biodiversity, and soil and water quality; that respects the rights of workers, indigenous peoples, and forest-dependent communities; and that is lawful and economically viable over the long term. Good forest certification provides consumers the opportunity to make responsible choices. This applies to businesses, builders and individual consumers. Find out more: Forest Certification FAQ Choosing a Forest Certification System How You Can Help As with other types of certification, not all types of forest certification are equal. Among other things, Sierra Club volunteers who work in the field of certification want to help members distinguish between industry-based certification programs that 'greenwash' industrial forestry practices, and those that represent real progress toward sustainability in how we as a society approach forest management and conservation. Currently, the Forest Stewardship Council or FSC is the only forest certification system that the Sierra Club recognizes as credible and supports. In North America, three competing forest certification systems exist that have much weaker standards and procedures, two of which (SFI and CSA) were founded by timber industry interests to confuse the public and compete directly with the FSC. These are: Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), created by the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA, the largest timber industry trade association whose members include Weyerhaeuser, International Paper, Louisiana Pacific, Georgia Pacific, and Sierra Pacific). Canadian Standards Association (CSA)'s Sustainable Forest Management Standard, whose backers and participants include Canadian timber giants like Interfor. The American Tree Farm System (ATFS), which certifies small, non-industrial timber land owners, and is a partner of the SFI. Outside of North America, there are also a number of forest certification systems that have sprung up in reaction to FSC. The largest is the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), which originated with European timber interests and now provides a mutual-recognition framework for industry-based forest certification schemes around the world. The Club opposes these competing schemes because they lack the stringency and the checks and balances -and hence the credibility-of FSC. At the same time, the FSC itself is not perfect and from time to time Club activists have challenged specific certifications performed by FSC-accredited certifiers. As members and supporters of FSC, the Club believes that the FSC and its certifiers need to be held accountable to ensure that the promise of credible forest certification is fulfilled. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club