FSC & WWF
WWF has supported the creation of FSC as a credible certification system, with a unique emphasis on balancing stakeholder interests in the environmental, social and economic chambers. WWF believes that to be effective, certification schemes need to have operational standards that are strong enough to deliver real positive impacts on the ground, and they need to have a strong governance structure and systems in place to ensure that the standards are applied.
FSC is currently the forest certification scheme that best fulfills WWF’s requirements, as outlined in WWF Principles for Standards and Certification Schemes
, and assessed by the the WWF Forest Certification Assessment Tool (CAT)
WWF and responsible forestry
Forest management that is environmentally sound, socially just and economically viable, can help meet society’s needs while preserving important conservation values, thereby
increasing the value of a standing forest and preventing conversion to other land uses.
WWF has three key mechanisms to engage the forest products industry in the uptake of responsible practices and credible certification:
- The Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN), one of WWF’s leading initiatives to combat illegal logging and drive improvements in the forest sector, has developed a stepwise approach that can help companies on their journey towards responsible forestry.
- The New Generations Plantation (NGP) brings companies and governments together to develop and promote better plantation management.
- WWF has a range of transparency tools for the paper sector to reduce the ecological footprint of paper.