More than 50% of the world’s original forests have been felled or heavily
impaired during the past 8,000 years. Nevertheless, forest product consumption is
increasing: more than 50% of those losses took place within the past 50 years, partly
due to forest clearance for agriculture, and a sixfold increase in paper consumption
since 1950. Logging is, unfortunately, often only the first step in a chain reaction:
further to loggers building access roads into a forested area, poachers use the same
roads to hunt animals, and squatters follow them to settle. Only 12% of the world’s
forests lie within protected areas. In the pessimistic situation, most of the readily
accessible remaining forests, beyond those protected areas, would be devastated by
unsustainable harvesting within the next few decades. In contrast, in an optimistic
scenario, the world’s timber requirements could be sustainably satisfied from less
than 20% of those forests areas, if they were properly managed.
Consequent to the concerns about the long-term future of the timber industry,
discussions resulted in the founding, in 1993, of the Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC), which has headquarters in Germany and is funded by several businesses,
governments, foundations, and environmental organizations. The council is managed by an elected board, and ultimately by the FSC’s members, which comprise
representatives of the timber industry and of environmental and social organisations.
The FSC’s original tasks were threefold:
(1) to draw up a list of criteria for proper forest management, including:
(a) harvesting trees only at a rate that can be sustained indefinitely, with growth
of new trees adequate to replace felled trees;
(b) sparing of forests of special conservation value, such as old-growth forests,
which should not be converted into homogenous tree plantations;
(c) long-term preservation of biodiversity, nutrient recycling, soil integrity, and
other forest ecosystem functions;
(d) protection of watersheds, and maintenance of adequately wide riparian
zones along streams and lakes;
(e) a long-term management plan;
(f) acceptable off-site disposal of chemicals and waste;
(g) obedience of prevailing laws; and
(h) acknowledgment of the rights of local indigenous communities and forest
workers.
(2) to establish a certification mechanism to confirm whether any particular forest
met those criteria. Instead of certifying forests itself, the FSC accredits forest
certification bodies that truly visit a forest and devote up to a fortnight inspecting
it. There are about a dozen such bodies around the world, all of them licensed to
operate internationally. The manager or the owner of a forest contacts a certification body for an inspection, and pays for the audit, without any prior guarantee
of a favourable report. After the inspection, the certifier will often provide a list
of pre-requisites that must be satisfied before approval, or just to give a provisional authorisation based on conditions to be satisfied before the use of the FSC
label will be allowed.
4.3 Extractive Industries Causing Environmental Concerns
117
impaired during the past 8,000 years. Nevertheless, forest product consumption is
increasing: more than 50% of those losses took place within the past 50 years, partly
due to forest clearance for agriculture, and a sixfold increase in paper consumption
since 1950. Logging is, unfortunately, often only the first step in a chain reaction:
further to loggers building access roads into a forested area, poachers use the same
roads to hunt animals, and squatters follow them to settle. Only 12% of the world’s
forests lie within protected areas. In the pessimistic situation, most of the readily
accessible remaining forests, beyond those protected areas, would be devastated by
unsustainable harvesting within the next few decades. In contrast, in an optimistic
scenario, the world’s timber requirements could be sustainably satisfied from less
than 20% of those forests areas, if they were properly managed.
Consequent to the concerns about the long-term future of the timber industry,
discussions resulted in the founding, in 1993, of the Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC), which has headquarters in Germany and is funded by several businesses,
governments, foundations, and environmental organizations. The council is managed by an elected board, and ultimately by the FSC’s members, which comprise
representatives of the timber industry and of environmental and social organisations.
The FSC’s original tasks were threefold:
(1) to draw up a list of criteria for proper forest management, including:
(a) harvesting trees only at a rate that can be sustained indefinitely, with growth
of new trees adequate to replace felled trees;
(b) sparing of forests of special conservation value, such as old-growth forests,
which should not be converted into homogenous tree plantations;
(c) long-term preservation of biodiversity, nutrient recycling, soil integrity, and
other forest ecosystem functions;
(d) protection of watersheds, and maintenance of adequately wide riparian
zones along streams and lakes;
(e) a long-term management plan;
(f) acceptable off-site disposal of chemicals and waste;
(g) obedience of prevailing laws; and
(h) acknowledgment of the rights of local indigenous communities and forest
workers.
(2) to establish a certification mechanism to confirm whether any particular forest
met those criteria. Instead of certifying forests itself, the FSC accredits forest
certification bodies that truly visit a forest and devote up to a fortnight inspecting
it. There are about a dozen such bodies around the world, all of them licensed to
operate internationally. The manager or the owner of a forest contacts a certification body for an inspection, and pays for the audit, without any prior guarantee
of a favourable report. After the inspection, the certifier will often provide a list
of pre-requisites that must be satisfied before approval, or just to give a provisional authorisation based on conditions to be satisfied before the use of the FSC
label will be allowed.
4.3 Extractive Industries Causing Environmental Concerns
117