Greenpeace International has left the forest certification scheme FSC. Thereasons behind the decision include the uneven implementation of the scheme andproblems in, especially, countries where administration and monitoring of the risks in forest industry is weak. In addition, Greenpeace mentions the lack of transparency, and demands that maps of areas where timber is purchased are made public.
Greenpeace national offices decide independently whether they will continue as members of FSC in their respective areas. Greenpeace Finland will continue, for now, as a member of the Associationfor Responsible Forestry, the organization in charge of FSC certification in Finland. In addition to Greenpeace Finland, the members of the environmental chamber of FSC Finland are WWF Finland, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation,the Nature League and The Finnish Society for Nature and Environment.
Within the FSC system, decisions are made following the principle of consensus between three chambers (economic, environmental and social).
“Greenpeace International leaving FSC is a serious reminder that the support of environmental NGOs to a certification system requires tangible and verifiable actions for protecting the forest ecosystems and the living conditions of human beings. FSC must respond to the problems caused by continuously intensifying forest industry also in Finland by enhancing their operations”, says Harri Hölttä, the President of the Board of The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation.
In Finland, FSC certification, despite a few issues, has enhanced current forestry practices, for example valuable site protection, buffer zones to water courses, and consideration of endangered species. The on-site inspections by the environmental NGOs have revealed, however, too many cases of deviating from the certification requirements even in Finland.
In Finland, FSC is in the middle of two significant updating processes. They renew the FSC standard defining the forestry practice requirements in certified forests, and the controlled wood risk assessment, regulating the uncertified material used in products that are sold under the FSC Mix label.
"In the updating process, the renewed international requirements of FSC as well as the enhancement needs based on the most current scientific knowledge must be taken into account. It must be made certain that FSC ensures satisfactory protection for the nature and, for example, also ensures the rights of the Sámi people in an adequate manner in the future. Controlled wood purchasing must be brought into right track because mixing poorly monitored timber bought from non-certified sources into certified products currently weakens the credibility of FSC. Only verifiable and tangible actions can ensure the credibility of FSC certification and the position of the systemas the best certification scheme available, and to make sure that alsoenvironmental NGOs want to continue to develop it”, says Lauri Kajander, the forest campaigner in The Nature League.
Like Greenpeace International, the environmental NGOs want to point out that the certification schemes that compete with FSC in the market, such as the PEFC certification of the forest industry, are in no way an answer to the issues that were brought up. They are considerably weaker than FSC both by their requirement level and by the equality of decision-making. Therefore no environmental NGO supports PEFC certification or is a member of PEFC.
Original in Finnish: [url]http://www.luontoliitto.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/jarjestot-jatkavat-FSCssa-2018-03-29 [/url]
Additional information
Lauri Kajander, Forest Campaigner, The Nature League, member of the Boardof the Association for Responsible Forestry, tel.+358 45 1179 610,lauri.kajander(a)luontoliitto.fi
Jari Luukkonen, Conservation Director, WWF Suomi, member of the Board ofthe Association for Responsible Forestry, tel. +358 40 585 0020, jari.luukkonen(a)wwf.fi
Harri Hölttä, President of the Board, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation,tel. +358 40 7229224, harri.holtta(a)sll.fi
Tero Toivanen, Conservation Officer, BirdLife Suomi, tel. +358 9 4135 3300, tero.toivanen(a)birdlife.fiIn Finnish: http://www.luontoliitto.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/jarjestot-jatkavat-FSCssa-2018-03-29