FSC certified forests

FSC Certified Forests

There are more than 150 million hectares of FSC certified forests around the world.

FSC certified forests are managed to our strict standards which confirm that the forest is being managed in a way that preserves biological diversity and benefits the lives of local people and workers, while ensuring its economic viability.

Principles for responsible forest management

Our standards for forest management are based on ten (10) internationally agreed principles and criteria that organizations seeking certification must meet.

Principle #1: Compliance with laws

The Organization shall comply with all applicable laws, regulations and nationally-ratified international treaties, conventions and agreements.
Principle #2: Workers' rights and employment conditions

The Organization shall maintain or enhance the social and economic well-being of workers.
Principle #3: Indigenous Peoples’ rights

The Organization shall identify and uphold Indigenous Peoples’ legal and customary rights of ownership, use and management of land, territories and resources affected by management activities.
Principle #4: Community relations

The Organization shall contribute to maintaining or enhancing the social and economic well-being of local communities.
Principle #5: Benefits from the forest

The Organization shall efficiently manage the range of multiple products and services of the Management Unit to maintain or enhance long term economic viability and the range of environmental and social benefits.
Principle #6: Environmental values and impact

The Organization shall maintain, conserve and/or restore ecosystem services and environmental values of the Management Unit, and shall avoid, repair or mitigate negative environmental impacts.
Principle #7: Management planning

The Organization shall have a management plan consistent with its policies and objectives and proportionate to scale, intensity and risks of its management activities. The management plan shall be implemented and kept up to date based on monitoring information in order to promote adaptive management. The associated planning and procedural documentation shall be sufficient to guide staff, inform affected stakeholders and interested stakeholders and to justify management decisions.
Principle #8: Monitoring and assessment

The Organization shall demonstrate that progress towards achieving the management objectives, the impacts of management activities and the condition of the Management Unit, are monitored and evaluated proportionate to the scale, intensity and risk of management activities, in order to implement adaptive management.
Principle #9: High conservation values

The Organization shall maintain and/or enhance the high conservation values in the Management Unit through applying the precautionary approach.
Principle #10: Implementation of management activities

Management activities conducted by or for the Organization for the Management Unit shall be selected and implemented consistent with the Organization’s economic, environmental and social policies and objectives, and in compliance with the Principles and Criteria collectively.