Hopes and Goals

Home	Environmental progress isn’t free, nor is change ever easy.  And change is what the Sustainable Forestry Initiative is all about.  We’re on the path to sustainable forestry.  I hope you’ll watch our progress in the years to come. –W. Henson Moore, President and CEO, American Forest & Paper Association Forest certification is a fairly recent development that has appeared to have positive impacts on environmental, social, and economic aspects. Since the creation of certification organizations there has been a steady increase in the amount of certified forests around the world and every indication leads to the hope that number only increases. The following graph shows the increase in forests certified by FSC (separated by forest type). Graph courtesy of FSC. Because forest certification started as an international concept we can only hope that the United States continues to certify more and more of their forest and wood products. There are several forests in the Northwest and South that have yet to become certified. It is also encouraging to see that many industries are starting to become environmentally conscious due to consumer demands. The more industries that demand certified products, paper especially, the more business and forests will become certified. Another concern that is linked to the relatively new concept of forest certification is the role of government. According to Gerardo Segura these are some of the questions that are trying to be answered within governments How much interplay between this market tool and government regulatory approaches is desirable? What should the role of government in enabling or promoting forest certification? How much of a decision-making role should government play in rule setting for certification schemes, both international schemes and national standards, particularly those who are large forest landowners and managers in the own right? What preferential treatment should governments provide to certified producers without neglecting the needs and interests of the full range of forest producers and forest users? We can only hope that governments will support forest certification. Wood usage is projected to more than double in the next 50 years...without sustainable practices in place, there will be shortages and conflict. -FSC What can you do? Become an informed consumer and demand certified wood products and be in support of forest certification in order to maintain our natural wood resource. To learn more about forest certification here in Minnesota and around the world check out these links: Environmental Investigation Agency FSC Greenpeace Minnesota Department of Natural Resources SmartWood World Wildlife Fund
History of Forest Certification
Forest Certification of Today
Hopes and Goals
Certified Products
References