Eco Friendly Flooring Certification
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How can you tell if wood products come from well-managed forests as opposed to irresponsible or illegal sources? The answer lies in the independent certification of forests and forest products. By putting a “green” label on wood products that are backed by high standards, credible forest certification lets consumers use their purchasing power to support forestry that conserves forests for future generations. Credible forest certification sets high standards for responsible forestry, audits forests and plantations to ensure that standards are followed, labels products and establishes a system for tracking products from the forest to the end user.
The fact that a wood product is "certified" does not mean that it comes from an ecologically well-managed forest. There are now various types of forest certification and most do not have meaningful environmental standards, enforcement mechanisms, or methods of tracking the wood through the supply chain to keep out illegally logged material and prevent misrepresentation.
The following are forest certification systems that DO NOT enjoy
the support of most environmental groups:
SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative)
- Founded and
dominated by the timber industry
- Weak environmental
protections
- Allows conversion
of natural forests (including old-growth) into tree farms
- No mandatory
Chain of Custody to keep out illegal wood
CSA (Canadian
Standards Association)
- Allows conversion
of natural forests (including old-growth) into tree farms
- Fails to protect
First Nations
PEFC (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification)
- Weak environmental
standards
- No mandatory
Chain of Custody
- Mutually recognizes
virtually all forest certification systems, including SFI and
CSA
- PEFC wood could
come from almost any source
ISO (International Standards Organization)
- Standards address
manufacturing practices, not forest management
IBAMA (Program of the Brazilian Government)
- Low environmental
standards, poorly enforced
- No Chain of
Custody
- Many reports of corruption
So which forest certification system IS credible? The Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) is the ONLY forest certification system endorsed by
the major environmental groups. Please see next page – “Forest
Stewardship Council” – for more details.