What Is Forest Management Certification?

Forest management certification is a voluntary tool available to forestry organizations who want to demonstrate corporate responsibility by having their forest management planning and practices independently certified against a sustainable forest management standard. These standards -- which are reviewed regularly and evolve with changing expectations about what sustainable forest management entails -- are applied voluntarily and involve significant commitments towards environmental, social and economic sustainability. They are applied on top of the mandatory requirements that make up the strict legal framework under which Canadian forests are managed.

Forest management certification can also be complemented by chain-of-custody certification. This is the verification of an accounting process that traces raw materials from certified forests and other sources. The chain might run from the forest to the first mill, or from the forest through all stages of production right to the end consumer. A certification system’s chain of custody provides: independent third-party verification of wood sources; assurance that uncertified sources come from legal and controlled or non-controversial sources; verified information on the percentage of certified, uncertified and recycled content in a product, and; the ability to communicate that content in an on-product label. In Canada, the three major, credible certification standards that provide forest certification (FSC, PEFC, and SFI) also provide chain-of-custody and product labelling certification.