How does FSC work?

FSC brings people together in a stakeholder-owned system to promote responsible forest management and to find solutions to prevent bad forestry practices and illegal logging.

FSC does this by providing standard setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services and market access for companies and organisations interested in responsible forestry.

Products carrying the FSC label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations. The FSC label can be found on many products and in many shops in Ireland including:

• B & Q (PDF)
• Marks and Spencer
• Tesco Ireland
• Harper Collins books

In 2007 FSC adopted the FSC Global Strategy. This strategy charts the course of FSC until 2012 and particularly stresses the importance of making progress with forest certification in the endangered tropical forests of the economic south, small forest owners and growing the market share for FSC certified products.