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Forest Stewardship Council Certification

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an alternative internationally recognised certification scheme for Australian forest management.

VicForests is committed to gaining certification under FSC and is working with the Department of Sustainability and Environment, customers and external stakeholders to develop a way forward to achieving this goal.

Forest Stewardship Council Principles

• Forest management shall respect all applicable laws of the country in which they occur, and international treaties and agreements to which the country is a signatory, and comply with all Forest Stewardship Council Principles and Criteria
• Long-term tenure and use rights to the land and forest resources shall be clearly defined, documented and legally established
• The legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognised and respected
• Forest management operations shall maintain or enhance the long-term social and economic well-being of forest workers and local communities
• Forest management operations shall encourage the efficient use of the forest's multiple products and services to ensure economic viability and a wide range of environmental and social benefits
• Forest management shall conserve biological diversity and its associated values, water resources, soils, and unique and fragile ecosystems and landscapes, and, by so doing, maintain the ecological functions and the integrity of the forest
• A management plan appropriate to the scale and intensity of the operations shall be written, implemented, and kept up to date. The long-term objectives of management, and the means of achieving them, shall be clearly stated
• Monitoring shall be conducted appropriate to the scale and intensity of forest management to assess the condition of the forest, yields of forest products, chain of custody, management activities and their social and environmental impacts
• Management activities in high conservation value forests shall maintain or enhance the attributes which define such forests. Decisions regarding high conservation value forests shall always be considered in the context of a precautionary approach.

For more information visit: Forest Stewardship Council