FSC-This Label You Want
Back to investigating acronyms we find on our paper products – this time FSC. This acronym is not specific to paper. We see the logo on various products but they all have one thing in common – they’re made from wood. Concerns abound with wood-sourced products. A major consumer concern with paper is that its manufacture necessitates forest destruction. Luckily, this is a myth. Paper manufacture requires continuous sourcing of fiber and fiber sources are secured through the sustainable management of forests. But how can we know that paper manufacture isn’t causing deforestation, environmental degradation and social exclusion? Enter the FSC. 
FSC, or Forest Stewardship Council, is a term coined at a diverse meeting of stakeholders in 1990s California. Timber users and traders and members of environmental and human rights organizations gathered and agreed that a non-governmental, independent and international forest certification scheme was needed to credibly identify both well-managed forests and chain custody. They flushed out the concept but wanted ‘well-managed’ to be defined by global consensus. Worldwide support grew and grew until 130 representatives from 26 countries met at the FSC Founding Assembly held in Toronto, Canada in 1993. FSC certification has grown at an incredible rate since. Currently there are 1285 FSC certified forests totaling 184.588 million ha with 27,963 FSC chain of custody certificates in 113 countries.
Want to know the ten principles that forest managers follow to pass their audit and receive/maintain certification? You’ll find them here on the FSC website.
Want to know the difference between the FSC 100%, FSC Recycled and FSC Mix labes? Read about it from the FSC Director General, Kim Carstensen.
Want to watch a video? Follow along with Canadian author and activist Franke James as she goes into the Boreal Forest in search of the answer to the question: “Who Cares about the Forest?”
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