The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a globally recognized certification system with over 90 million hectares of forestland in 78 countries certified under its forest conservation standards. Akin to organic food certification, FSC uses a voluntary, market-based system in which forest managers are audited against objective, performance-based standards encompassing environmental, social and economic values.

FSC tracks products from the forest floor to retail shelf. Products that are responsibly harvested are identified with the FSC logo, which is considered the “gold standard” of forest certification by major environmental groups. FSC is the only wood products certification recognized by the Green Building Council under its LEED rating system and is the preferred certification for major retailers such as Home Depot.

Ecotrust Canada has been a leader at implementing FSC-certified forestry in coastal BC. For small forestry or chain-of-custody operators, FSC has been a time-consuming and costly endeavour. To reduce this burden, Ecotrust Canada operates two group certifications, one for forest managers and the other for chain-of-custody operators. By centralizing the costs and reporting requirements, Ecotrust Canada speeds up the certification process and cuts the costs for small enterprises. (For more information, visit our section on FSC Certification Services.)