Green

FSC Certification

Today, nearly every wood flooring product seems to carry some sort of environmental claim. Some are accurate, but others are misleading or exaggerated. How can you distinguish a genuine ecological forest product from one that has been "greenwashed?" The answer is credible, independent certification for forestry and forest products.

Forest certification is a voluntary process that ensures consumers that the wood products they buy were grown and harvested in a way that protects forests for the long term. Certifiers assess the on-the-ground forest practices of a given operation against a stringent set of environmental and social criteria. Operations that meet those standards may identify their products as originating from a well-managed source. The certifier also audits the "chain of custody" of the certified wood to ensure that it is tracked through each stage of the manufacturing and distribution process from forest to end user.

The Forest Stewardship Council is a not-for-profit organization that accredits certifiers whose programs conform to its internationally recognized Principles and Criteria, thereby providing a consistent and credible framework for independent certification efforts worldwide. The leading FSC-accredited certifying agencies in North America are SmartWood and Scientific Certification Systems.

FSC certification enjoys the support of most major environmental groups, including World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Rainforest Alliance, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, and The Wilderness Society. In addition, the LEED green building rating system of the US Green Building Council offers credit for FSC-certified wood products, but does not currently recognize any other forest certification system.

Among many other things, in order to be FSC certified, a forest owner or manager must:

• Meet all applicable laws
• Have legally established rights to harvest
• Respect indigenous rights
• Maintain community well-being
• Conserve economic resources
• Protect biological diversity
• Have a written management plan
• Engage in regular monitoring
• Maintain high conservation value forests
• Manage plantations to alleviate pressures on - NOT replace - natural forests