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The Forest Stewardship Council is non profit organization that aims to prevent deforestation and helps in controlling and addressing the environmental aspects. The organizations head quarter is in Bonn, Germany. The organisation maintains a close vigil over the timber business. The organisation also implements management techniques that are aimed to control the timber business and forestry. These techniques help in preserving the forests
and helping in conserving the environment. The timber products which are from these FSC certified forests carry a unique symbol that is recognized as an environmentally safe indication by the consumers.
Therefore the consumers are aware that they are not harming the environment while buying these timber products. This article brings out the key features of the FSC scheme and its benefits in maintaining the forests globally.
About FSC: The FSC was founded in 1993. This is a membership association funded by many big business, non profit organizations and governments. Many environmental organizations like World Wide Fund for Nature, The Nature Conservancy, Greenpeace, and the FERN provide recognition and support to FSC. Now the FSC has around 6000 timber businesses as members of the FSC scheme. The FSC has brought under its control over 730,000 square kilometers of forest through this scheme. These forests are spread across the world over in more than 72 countries. During the general assembly conducted every three years, the members participate in developing new standards and policies for conserving and preserving the forests.
FSC Certification Process: The timber business that needs the certification from FSC has to undergo the certification process. This involves contacting the nearest FSC certified auditor. The auditor then conducts and audit of the timber business based on the policies of the FSC and gives a certification. The certification auditor conducts a detailed inspection of the forestry practices based on FSC standards. After obtaining the certification, the timber business can incorporate the FSC certification logo on the timer from its stores. The timber supply chain from these authorized, certified businesses then track the timber flow through the GPS system. The GPS based supply tracking enables to assure that the timber with the FSC logo is from the FSC certified forests and timber businesses.
The effectiveness of FSC in the process f timber certification and detailed procedures for certification and forestry management are well appreciated by the voluntary organizations and environmentalists world over. Even the customers are seeking the FSC for procuring FSC certified timber, paper, and other products. With growing awareness among the consumers about the ill effects of deforestation and global warming, the effort of FSC to assure the consumers that the product they are buying will not harm the environmental balance is well appreciated. The FSC also conducts frequent surveys to help in determining the carbon content in the forests. FSC also helps in evolving new techniques to avert disasters like forest fire and cause global warming. More and more countries and timber businesses are becoming members of the FSC and enable the FSC to postulate strong control and management practices over the timber trade and environmental balance.
