FSC-Certified Forests

When you obtain your forest management certification through the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), you’re showing that your operations meet the world’s highest environmental, economic, and social standards. 

Certified Forests

Why the FSC Label Matters for Forests, People, and Wildlife

This short video from WWF highlights the importance of responsible forest management.

Principles for Responsible Forest Management

Our standards for forest management are based on internationally agreed principles and criteria. Our principles require organisations seeking certification to:

Foresters
  • Principle 1

    Comply with all applicable laws, regulations and nationally ratified international treaties, conventions and agreements.

  • Principle 2

    Maintain or enhance the social and economic wellbeing of workers.

  • Principle 3

    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

    Contribute to maintaining or enhancing the social and economic wellbeing of local communities.

  • Principle 5

    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

    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

    Have a management plan consistent with 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

    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

    Maintain and/or enhance the High Conservation Values in the Management Unit through applying the precautionary approach.

  • Principle 10

    Ensure that management activities conducted by or for the organisation for the management unit shall be selected and implemented consistent with the organisation’s economic, environmental and social policies and objectives and in compliance with the Principles and Criteria collectively.