Certified wood
Certified wood refers to timber that comes from forests managed according to specific sustainability principles, ensuring responsible harvesting and ecological preservation. The movement began in the early 1990s, prompted by growing concerns about deforestation, particularly in tropical regions. Various independent organizations emerged to provide certification, each developing its own standards while adhering to common principles, such as protecting biodiversity, ensuring fair treatment of workers, and minimizing chemical use. Certification requires forest managers to create and update scientific management plans and continually monitor their practices.
By 2010, approximately 12% of the world's forests had received certification, with numerous organizations involved, including the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). These certifying bodies aim to both promote sustainable practices and educate consumers on the importance of purchasing certified wood products. Labels on certified wood products, such as those from the FSC, inform customers about the sourcing and sustainability of the materials. The demand for certified wood has steadily increased, reflecting a growing awareness of environmental sustainability and responsible consumption.
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Certified wood
Definition: Wood that has been harvested from a forest that has been audited by an independent agency to ensure that the forest is managed responsibly and sustainably
The movement toward forest certification has raised public awareness regarding the environmental benefits of sustainable forest management and has been credited with helping to slow the rate of deforestation around the world.
The Forestry Department of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that more than half of the world’s forests have been harmed or erased through overuse. During the early 1990’s concerns about the rapid overlogging of forests—particularly tropical forests—led to the formation of a set of principles describing the sustainable growing and harvesting of timber. Several independent groups were established that offered to conduct objective studies of commercial forests to determine whether or not the forests were being managed responsibly. Although each group set its own standards, all of the groups adhered to several common principles: In a sustainable forest, the diversity of plants and animals, including threatened and endangered species, is protected; wood is not harvested faster than it can be regenerated; chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used minimally, if at all; rivers and streams are protected from erosion and pollution. In addition, a forest can be certified as sustainable only if the logging workers are treated fairly and any indigenous peoples who inhabit the land receive a share of the profits. The managers of certified forests must develop and continually update scientifically based management plans and continually monitor their operations for compliance.
The various certified wood programs are run separately—no United Nations body or other international oversight group has been established to ensure conformity, and most programs are run by scientific, environmental, or consumer groups, not by government agencies. By 2010, nearly 12 percent of the world’s forests had been certified and more than fifty organizations offered wood certification, including two large umbrella groups. The larger of these is the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), based in Geneva, Switzerland, and comprising thirty-five smaller bodies. PEFC certification has protected more than 210 million hectares (519 million acres) of forestland. Smaller but more influential in North America is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), based in Bonn, Germany, which certifies more than 105 million hectares (260 million acres). North America has three other important certifying bodies: the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Program.
All of the programs encourage consumers to investigate the wood products they purchase to ensure that they are made of certified wood. Products certified by the FSC carry labels identifying them as being made from “pure,” “missed,” or “recycled” materials, and each label bears a certificate number that the consumer can verify by referring to an online database. Some retailers have refurbished their stores with FSC-certified flooring or have made commitments to use FSC-certified paper pulp in their catalogs and other paper goods. At least one major home-improvement chain in the United States carries FSC-certified lumber in limited quantities. The demand for certified wood has grown steadily in the years since the process of certification was first introduced.
Bibliography
Arabas, Karen, and Joe Bowersox. Forest Futures: Science, Politics, and Policy for the Next Century. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.
Berger, John J. Forests Forever: Their Ecology, Restoration, and Protection. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
McEvoy, Thomas J. Positive Impact Forestry: A Sustainable Approach to Maintaining Woodlands. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2004.