[MPWG] Forest Stewardship

[Patricia_Ford at fws.gov]

The United Kingdom Government has announced that the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) system for forest certification and chain of custody
provides assurance that timber and wood-based products are both legal
and sustainable.


*Chile and Ecuador, new FSC Accredited National Initiatives

The Chilean Independent Forest Certification Initiative Germinal
Association (ICEFI AG), and the National Working Group on Voluntary
Forest Certification in Ecuador have been accredited by the Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC).

The recent accreditation of both the Chilean and Ecuadorian working
groups, by the FSC Board of Directors, will help to meet FSC´s mission
to promote responsible forestry.


*FSC stakeholders can have confidence in the FSC Accreditation
Program,concludes ISEAL peer audit

The findings from a peer audit of the FSC Accreditation Program, carried
out by the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and
Labelling Alliance (ISEAL), show that FSC stakeholders can have
confidence in FSC accreditation and certification processes. The audit
was carried out on October 18th - 19th, 2004 at the FSC International
Center in Bonn, Germany.

The audit scope covered FSC accreditation of certification bodies and it
did not consider the other programs operated by FSC such as approval of
national working groups, contact persons and national standards. It was
preceded by a thorough review of the Quality Management System (QMS)
documentation of the FSC Accreditation Business Unit.

The audit concluded that current FSC accreditation processes can be
relied upon to demonstrate that certificates issued by accredited
certifiers are generally appropriate and can be relied upon to
demonstrate the holder's compliance with FSC requirements.

* FSC Paper for Nature Conservancy Magazine

The Nature Conservancy (TNC), member of FSC, has proven the old adage
that 'actions speak louder than words' by printing their magazine Nature
Conservancy on FSC-certified paper.

In the Fall 2004 issue, TNC has included an article about the importance
of forest certification, and how FSC is aligned with the mission of TNC
to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent
the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they
need to survive.

The article focuses on the recent announcement by the State of Michigan
to seek FSC certification for all four million acres of state-owned
forestland, and FSC certification programs for more than 200,000 acres
of TNC-owned land in Maine and Vermont. The article also educates
readers on how to find FSC certified products.



FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL (FSC)
www.fsc.org