If the top ten global forestry processors and buyers all insisted on FSC certification, this would be a big step towards securing the future of the world's forests. If only one fifth of the World's forests are required to meet our need for forest products, this should mean that most of the rest could be strictly protected and continue to provide critical ecosystem services.
Certified forestry is a marvelous but imperfect concept.
I think not. Certified natural forest management protects many forest values - but nonetheless, logging an ancient forest for the first time irreparably reduces biodiversity and ecosystem values. FSC's precautionary principle regarding the circumstances under which it is appropriate to log high conservation value forests needs significant strengthening to ensure certification is not the passport to log all of the Earth's remaining old-growth forest wildernesses. If managed correctly, one fifth of the world's forests could provide the industrial wood and wood fibre necessary to meet projected future needs, and just 10 companies can help make it happen, shows a new report published today by WWF, the conservation organization. The companies' support of FSC would provide the critical mass necessary to change forestry practices worldwide, and halt the destruction of old growth forests or fragile ecosystems.