Sustainability 101: twelve years after a first meeting in a church basement, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification is quickly becoming the standard for forestry companies. Just ask Tembec or Domtar.

Concern over tropical deforestation and the desire to effect change created an international non-profit organization known as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

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After the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, frustrations with lack of regulatory control for industry grew, according to Maia Becker, manager of communications and client services, FSC Canada.

Born out of a gathering in a church basement in Toronto in 1993, proactive citizens from a variety of sectors (forest industry, church, labour, consumer, and environmental groups) decided a market mechanism would be an effective way to gain back some control and create positive change.

As a result, 10 principles and criteria applicable to tropical, temperate and boreal forests were developed and formed into a framework for developing standards appropriate to social, ecological and economical conditions at national and/or regional levels.

This certification is called forest management certification, which applies to the actual forest. A second type is called chain-of-custody certification, which applies to the "supply chain"--the manufacturers and distributors of forest products.

Today, there are national offices in 36 countries and FSC-certified products sold worldwide from international lumber giants that have undergone the rigorous independent auditing required to achieve the certification of managed forests.

In Canada, the majority of the boreal forests are publicly owned lands. Therefore, all companies require a sustainable forest license (SFL), which is issued under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. Within that license, certain requirements must be met, in areas such as road building, silviculture, and forest management. Any additional certification is voluntary, but it will not stay that way.

FSC is one of three types of certification in Canada. Chris Walsh is manager of forest evaluation and standards at the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). He says that by the end of 2007, the ministry will require all SFL holders in the province to be certified by an independent third party.

Although companies choose different third-party certifications to gain market access, their choice will depend on where the company has its markets.

Presently, Canada ranks number one in the world in FSC-certified forest area with over 15.2 million hectares of FSC-certified forest, according to Becker.

In Northern Ontario, two of the major forest companies that have chosen FSC as an independent audit for their forests are Tembec and Domtar.

Tembec deals with American credited certification SmartWood.

Chris McDonell, Tembec's manager of environment and Aboriginal relations, says within the 10 principles there are 56 criteria and over 200 different indicators the company is evaluated against.

Although the certification is voluntary, he adds, there are areas within the FSC certification where one "must go beyond existing standards that would apply on Crown land in Ontario."

One of those areas is the impact of forestry on habitat and endangered species. Another is the process of establishing dialogue with First Nations.

McDonell says principle three requires companies to formalize through policy and work collectively with communities to develop ways to incorporate the interests of the members of the communities, both from a forestry and business perspective, when undertaking forestry planning.

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So by sitting down at the table with various sectors, it increases the understanding of the history of the communities and the ways in which they use the land.

Getting companies to adopt the stringent FSC certification was not an issue as the forest industry was involved with the council right from the start. Their involvement and efforts to adopt standards approved by renowned environmental groups has helped reduce the negative reputation that has plagued forest industries over the years.

"In the lumber market, Home Depot awarded us the Environmental Stewardship Award last year," says McDonell, "and they indicated our efforts to achieve FSC were part of that."

It has also added a competitive value to the company's pulp production, which serves an international marketplace, because FSC-certified pulp is relatively uncommon in North America.

In April, Domtar put out their earth choice line of papers and are moving all of their papers to FSC, Becker says.

Now that more industries are adopting FSC certification, the organization's next focus will be on raising awareness and education about FSC products and promote its use to printers, universities, banks and publishers, and encouraging them to use FSC certified papers in their printing and reports.

www.fsccanada.org

By ADELLE LARMOUR

Northern Ontario Business