Government Sustainability

Ancient forests provide habitat to two-thirds of the world’s land-based species of plants and animals, yet an area of ancient forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed every two seconds. Forests support up to 1.6 billion of the poorest people in the world, yet the majority of forests are not protected. The Stern Report states that deforestation contributes 20-25 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions yearly and adds more to global emissions each year than the transport sector. Meanwhile, there is continued demand for timber and paper products.
    
Only by managing the world’s forests responsibly can we ensure long-term timber supplies without jeopardising the wildlife or the future of the people who live and work in the forest. With a balanced approach, which considers all the environmental, social and economic aspects of forest management, future supplies of timber can be assured.  

Management
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting such responsible management of the world's forests. It was founded in 1993 in response to public concern about forest loss and to reward good forest management.  
    
The FSC runs a global forest certification system that includes two key aspects: Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification. This ensures that timber from forests managed to strict environmental, social and economic standards is traced from the forest to the end user. Safeguards are in place in FSC forests to protect rare, threatened and endangered species and their habitats.
    
Trees that are harvested are replaced or allowed to regenerate naturally. FSC also insists on indigenous peoples’ rights, and watercourse protection, ensuring that the forest and its dependent community will continue to thrive and guaranteeing future timber supplies.
    
The FSC Chain of Custody system ensures that FSC wood is accounted for as it passes along the supply chain. Each organisation which takes ownership of the timber, wood product or fibre must have systems to monitor the purchase, handling and sales of FSC material. This is audited by accredited Certification Bodies who make sure that the systems are adequate to maintain the integrity of the FSC label before issuing a Chain of Custody certificate, with a number unique to the organisation.
    
FSC Chain of Custody standards allow for three categories of product to be labelled:  
FSC 100% - All the wood fibre is from FSC certified forests.
FSC Mixed Sources - Made from FSC certified wood plus wood from other controlled sources, and may also include recycled material.
FSC Recycled - Made entirely from verified post consumer reclaimed timber or fibre
    
Controlled wood must be verified as being from known, legal sources with no outstanding social conflicts, no genetically modified trees, no clearance of natural forest for plantations and no uncertified high conservation value areas.    
    
FSC has been assessed by CPET, the Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement commissioned by Defra, as a certification system which meets its criteria for legality and sustainability.
    
There are a number of other forest certification schemes around but they do not have the same strict environmental, social and economic standards, or such a rigorous chain of custody; tracking timber from the forest to the final user. Therefore, FSC is the only one endorsed by the major environmental charities including WWF, Greenpeace and the Woodland Trust.  

Use of timber
Half of the timber harvested worldwide is used to make paper. Hundreds of paper sector companies worldwide now have FSC certification and their products represent a substantial part of the market. This has directly resulted in an increase in the global area of FSC certified forest.
    
The UK has seen a massive growth in FSC paper supplies over recent years – from photocopier paper to tissue products, magazines to stationery. The number of FSC certified printers in the UK has more than doubled over the last year and there are currently more than 560.
    
There is increasingly demand from the public sector for evidence that products are being sourced responsibly. It is no longer considered sufficient to make vague claims such as “This paper is environmentally friendly” without being able to back these claims up. The FSC Chain of Custody system gives a guarantee that each link in the chain, from forest to end product, has been independently audited.  
    
Key to the integrity of the FSC system is our insistence that the Chain of Custody must be intact before the end user can claim that they are using FSC certified products. Only FSC certified printers are authorised to apply the FSC label to printed material. In August 2008 the Labour Party gained FSC certification for their print department, as have certain councils and universities. However, it is possible for public sector departments to make off-product claims, for example on their website or annual report, about their FSC purchases, without holding Chain of Custody, provided the supplier holds FSC certification and the claims have been verified by a Nominated Trademark Agent, i.e. by FSC UK.
    
Having a clearly written policy about FSC paper specification is a good way of ensuring that everyone within an organisation or department is clear about what paper is acceptable for use. To be effective, this needs to go hand in hand with information on where to buy FSC paper and what evidence of certification will be required.
    
When purchasing FSC certified products, check that the invoice clearly states the FSC status of the products. There should also be a code number, specific to the supplier, that refers to their FSC chain of custody certification. Examples of chain of custody certificate codes are: SGS-COC-0123 and TT-COC-1234. Never rely on copies of certificates alone, as many certified companies supply both FSC and non-FSC products.

Local responsibility
FSC UK is a registered charity, working to promote the FSC system in the UK. FSC UK offers a free basic advisory service, a technical helpline service for more in-depth support, and training courses. The charity also works to raise public awareness of the importance of responsible forestry and the role of FSC. Rosie Teasdale, deputy director of FSC UK, explains “The public sector has the potential to have a significant impact on the management of the world’s forests purely by specifying FSC certification for their timber and paper products. FSC UK is happy to provide advice on procurement and on making claims about FSC purchases. Clearly, public awareness is a key factor in improving the market for FSC stock and the public sector can help us with this, by raising understanding of FSC internally and by using certified printers to label public documents with the FSC logo.”  
    
She adds: “There is a common misconception that it is acceptable to apply the FSC logo as long as the paper is FSC certified and we frequently come across documents with such claims. It is vital that organisations understand the FSC Chain of Custody system and use FSC certified printers if they wish to apply the logo. It is also worth pointing out that it is not just the tick-tree logo that is a registered trademark. There are also strict controls on the use of the acronym FSC and the name Forest Stewardship Council. We would always suggest contacting FSC UK for advice on the use of these trademarks.”
    
The FSC UK website www.fsc-uk.org has a product search facility which provides details of manufacturers and suppliers of FSC products and includes an option to search on a geographical basis.

For more information
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