Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)How and when was FSC formed? In September 1993 in Toronto (Canada), 130 representatives from around the world came together to hold the Founding Assembly of the Forest Stewardship Council. In October 1993 an agreement was reached to launch FSC, and by August 1994 a definitive set of Principles and Criteria, together with the Statutes for the Council were agreed and approved by the votes of the Founding Members. Who are FSC's members? FSC members include environmental organizations such as WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, as well as responsible companies such as IKEA, Home Depot, B&Q and OBI. FSC has the support of a large and growing number of companies, who have united themselves in various countries into 'buyers groups'. The members of such buyers groups have committed themselves to selling only independently certified timber and timber products within three to five years. The FSC-labeling scheme is the preferred scheme for buyers groups in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, USA and Japan. This unprecedented alliance of major companies, NGOs and a host of other supporters around the world has resulted in dialogue and answers to previously unresolvable forest managment challenges and has changed forest management practices worldwide. What is forest certification? What is chain of custody? How is FSC funded? For more information about FSC, visit their website at www.fsc.org. |