## 3 Forest Sustainability Certification Programs
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is performance-based and was formed in 1993 [19]. FSC does not certify forests themselves, but it accredits other organizations to do the actual on-the-ground certifications (called certification bodies). FSC certification covers over 100 million ha of forest land in over 82 countries. FSC certification standards are based on ten primary principles and it has strong chain of custody procedures. FSC International voting members are composed of three chambers representing economic or commercial interests (like wood products retailers), socially beneficial forest management interests, and environmentally friendly forest stewardship interests. Thus, they operate through multiple stakeholder negotiation [20, 21]. In the United States, the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) dates back to 1941 and originally had a wood supply orientation, but has always promoted sustainable forestry and is one of oldest certifiers. The ATFS has always considered resources beyond timber, like wildlife and watersheds, but obviously its definition of sustainable forestry has changed since 1941 to more closely reflect current definitions. It's performance-based and certification is based on a set of standards and guidelines, and it offers a group certification for tracts under the same management [22]. Most of the certified forest land is owned by family forest owners, and currently about 10 million ha are covered by the program. In 1994 the American Forest and Paper Association, an industry trade organization, established the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) to provide sustainable forestry standards for forest industry land [23]. Since then SFI has become an independent organization and about 70 million ha of North American forest land are now certified to these standards. Participants are mainly forest industry firms or timber investment management organizations. SFI uses a hybrid of process-based and performance-based standards and is certified by independent third parties [20]. In 1999 the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) was established as a independent non-governmental third-party umbrella organization that recognizes local forest certification schemes. Originally it was developed by European forest industry as an alternative to FSC [20]. While programs are developed locally, they must meet internationally-recognized sustainable forestry management requirements [20]. Initially it had a European focus, but now is global and covers 200 million ha of forest land. A fundamental difference between FSC and PEFC is the stakeholders. While FSC was founded mainly by environmental groups, PEFC had strong forest industry and trade groups among its founders. This is one reason FSC is not a member of PEFC. Both the ATFS and SFI are recognized by PEFC as acceptable standards. The objectives, standards, and criteria used by the various certification groups tend to be similar. However, structural differences in the programs result in significant differences in terms of what is permitted on the ground. Rules may vary due to differences in regional or national laws or standards [21]. Differences tend to result from the focus of the founding groups; environmental groups established standards somewhat different than those established by forest industry groups. FSC, for example, founded by environmental groups, stressed basic goals like minimizing forest conversion, respect of international workers rights, respect of human rights with particular attention to indigenous peoples, limited use of hazardous chemical, no corruption, and special protection for special cultural areas [18].