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Why the Forest Stewardship Council for Ireland
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Bonn, Germany, which provides standard setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services for companies and organisations interested in responsible forestry.
FSC brings people together in a stakeholder-owned system to find solutions which promote responsible stewardship of the world’s forests. FSC is internationally recognised and is the standard used at shops such as B&Q.
FSC is unique
There are a few certification systems operating in Europe, but FSC is unique.
FSC is global;
FSC gives equal weight to environmental, social, and economic interests;
FSC audits and controls its certification agencies; and
FSC focuses particular interest on emerging issues, such as plantations and pesticides.
FSC Mission
The mission of FSC is to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests.
Environmentally appropriate forest management ensures that the harvest of timber and non-timber products maintains the forest's biodiversity, productivity and ecological processes.
Socially beneficial forest management helps both local people and society at large to enjoy long term benefits and also provides strong incentives to local people to sustain the forest resources and adhere to long-term management plans.
Economically viable forest management means that forest operations are structured and managed so as to be sufficiently profitable, without generating financial profit at the expense of the forest resources, the ecosystem or affected communities. The tension between the need to generate adequate financial returns and the principles of responsible forest operations can be reduced through efforts to market forest products for their best value. (See FSC mission)
Some articles on FSC
Compare FSC with other schemes
Brief descriptions of FSC and other forest certification schemes