It is widely accepted that forest resources and associated lands should be managed to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of present and future generations.   Furthermore, growing public awareness of forest destruction and degradation has led consumers to demand that their purchases of wood and other forest products will not contribute to this destruction but rather help to secure forest resources for the future. In response to these demands, certification and self-certification programs of wood products have proliferated in the marketplace.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international body which accredits certification organizations in order to guarantee the authenticity of their claims. In all cases the process of certification will be initiated voluntarily by forest owners and managers who request the services of a certification organization. The goal of FSC is to promote environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests, by establishing a worldwide standard of recognized and respected Principles of Forest Stewardship.
 
The FSC's Principles and Criteria (P&C) apply to all tropical, temperate and boreal forests, as addressed in Principle #9 and the accompanying glossary.  Many of these P&C apply also to plantations and partially replanted forests.  More detailed standards for these and other vegetation types may be prepared at national and local levels.  The P&C are to be incorporated into the evaluation systems and standards of all certification organizations seeking accreditation by FSC. While the P&C are mainly designed for forests managed for the production of wood products, they are also relevant, to varying degrees, to forests managed for non-timber products and other services.  The P&C are a complete package to be considered as a whole, and their sequence does not represent an ordering of priority.  This document shall be used in conjunction with the FSC's Statutes, Procedures for Accreditation and Guidelines for Certifiers.

FSC and FSC-accredited certification organizations will not insist on perfection in satisfying the P&C.  However, major failures in any individual Principles will normally disqualify a candidate from certification, or will lead to decertification.  These decisions will be taken by individual certifiers, and guided by the extent to which each Criterion is satisfied, and by the importance and consequences of failures.  Some flexibility will be allowed to cope with local circumstances.

The scale and intensity of forest management operations, the uniqueness of the affected resources, and the relative ecological fragility of the forest will be considered in all certification assessments.  Differences and difficulties of interpretation of the P&C will be addressed in national and local forest stewardship standards.  These standards are to be developed in each country or region involved, and will be evaluated for purposes of certification, by certifiers and other involved and affected parties on a case by case basis.  If necessary, FSC dispute resolution mechanisms may also be called upon during the course of assessment.  More information and guidance about the certification and accreditation process is included in the FSC Statutes, Accreditation Procedures, and Guidelines for Certifiers.

The FSC P&C should be used in conjunction with national and international laws and regulations. FSC intends to complement, not supplant, other initiatives that support responsible forest management worldwide.

The FSC will conduct educational activities to increase public awareness of the importance of the following:
*improving forest management;
*incorporating the full costs of management and  production  into the price of forest products;
* promoting the highest and best use of forest resources;
*reducing damage and waste; and
*avoiding over-consumption and over-harvesting.

FSC will also provide guidance to policy makers on these issues, including improving forest management legislation and policies.
 
 
 
 

PRINCIPLE #1: COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND FSC 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 FSC Principles and Criteria.

1.1   Forest management shall respect all national and local laws and administrative requirements.

1.2   All applicable and legally prescribed fees, royalties, taxes and other charges shall be paid.

1.3   In signatory countries, the provisions of all binding international agreements such as CITES, ILO Conventions, ITTA, and Convention on Biological Diversity, shall be respected.

1.4   Conflicts between laws, regulations and the FSC Principles and Criteria shall be evaluated for the purposes of certification, on a case by case basis, by the certifiers and the involved or affected parties.

1.5   Forest management areas should be protected from illegal harvesting, settlement and other unauthorized activities.

1.6   Forest managers shall demonstrate a long-term commitment to adhere to the FSC Principles and Criteria.
 

PRINCIPLE #2: TENURE AND USE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Long-term tenure and use rights to the land and forest resources shall be clearly defined, documented and legally established.

2.1   Clear evidence of long-term forest use rights to the land (e.g. land title, customary rights, or lease agreements) shall be demonstrated.

2.2   Local communities with legal or customary tenure or use rights shall maintain control, to the extent necessary to protect their rights or resources, over forest operations unless they delegate control with free and informed consent to other agencies.

2.3   Appropriate mechanisms shall be employed to resolve disputes over tenure claims and use rights.  The circumstances and status of any outstanding disputes will be explicitly considered in the certification evaluation.  Disputes of substantial magnitude involving a significant number of interests will normally disqualify an operation from being certified.
 

PRINCIPLE #3:  INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS
The legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognized and respected.

3.1   Indigenous peoples shall control forest management on their lands and territories unless they delegate control with free and informed consent to other agencies.

3.2   Forest management shall not threaten or diminish, either directly or indirectly, the resources or tenure rights of indigenous peoples.

3.3   Sites of special cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance to indigenous peoples shall be clearly identified in cooperation with such peoples, and recognized and protected by forest managers.

3.4   Indigenous peoples shall be compensated for the application of their traditional knowledge regarding the use of forest species or management systems in forest operations.  This compensation shall be formally agreed upon with their free and informed consent before forest operations commence.
 

PRINCIPLE #4:  COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND WORKER'S RIGHTS
Forest management operations shall maintain or enhance the long-term social and economic well-being of forest workers and local communities.

4.1   The communities within, or adjacent to, the forest management area should be given opportunities for employment, training, and other services.

4.2   Forest management should meet or exceed all applicable laws and/or regulations covering health and safety of employees and their families.

4.3   The rights of workers to organize and voluntarily negotiate with their employers shall be guaranteed as outlined in Conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

4.4   Management planning and operations shall incorporate the results of evaluations of social impact.  Consultations shall be maintained with people and groups directly affected by management operations.

4.5   Appropriate mechanisms shall be employed for resolving grievances and for providing fair compensation in the case of loss or damage affecting the legal or customary rights, property, resources, or livelihoods of local peoples.  Measures shall be taken to avoid such loss or damage.
 

PRINCIPLE # 5: BENEFITS FROM THE FOREST
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.

5.1   Forest management should strive toward economic viability, while taking into account the full environmental, social, and operational costs of production, and ensuring the investments necessary to maintain the ecological productivity of the forest.

5.2   Forest management and marketing operations should encourage the optimal use and local processing of the forest's diversity of products.

5.3   Forest management should minimize waste associated with harvesting and on-site processing operations and avoid damage to other forest resources.

5.4   Forest management should strive to strengthen and diversify the local economy, avoiding dependence on a single forest product.

5.5   Forest management operations shall recognize, maintain, and, where appropriate, enhance the value of forest services and resources such as watersheds and fisheries.

5.6   The rate of harvest of forest products shall not exceed levels which can be permanently sustained.
 

PRINCIPLE #6:  ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
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.

6.1  Assessment of environmental impacts shall be completed -- appropriate to the scale, intensity of forest management and the uniqueness of the affected resources -- and adequately integrated into management systems.  Assessments shall include landscape level considerations as well as the impacts of on-site processing facilities.  Environmental impacts shall be assessed prior to commencement of site-disturbing operations.

6.2   Safeguards shall exist which protect rare, threatened and endangered species and their habitats (e.g., nesting and feeding areas).  Conservation zones and protection areas shall be established, appropriate to the scale and intensity of forest management and the uniqueness of the affected resources.  Inappropriate hunting, fishing, trapping and collecting shall be controlled.

6.3   Ecological functions and values shall be maintained intact, enhanced, or restored, including:
  a) Forest regeneration and succession.
b) Genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity.
c) Natural cycles that affect the productivity of the forest ecosystem.

6.4   Representative samples of existing ecosystems within the landscape shall be protected in their natural state and recorded on maps, appropriate to the scale and intensity of operations and the uniqueness of the affected resources.

6.5   Written guidelines shall be prepared and implemented to: control erosion; minimize forest damage during harvesting, road construction, and all other mechanical disturbances; and protect water resources.

6.6   Management systems shall promote the development and adoption of environmentally friendly non-chemical methods of pest management and strive to avoid the use of chemical pesticides.  World Health Organization Type 1A and 1B and chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides; pesticides that are persistent, toxic or whose derivatives remain biologically active and accumulate in the food chain beyond their intended use; as well as any pesticides banned by international agreement, shall be prohibited.  If chemicals are used, proper equipment and training shall be provided to minimize health and environmental risks.

6.7   Chemicals, containers, liquid and solid non-organic wastes including fuel and oil shall be disposed of in an environmentally appropriate manner at off-site locations.

6.8   Use of biological control agents shall be documented, minimized, monitored and strictly controlled in accordance with national laws and internationally accepted scientific protocols.  Use of genetically modified organisms shall be prohibited.

6.9   The use of exotic species shall be carefully controlled and actively monitored to avoid adverse ecological impacts.

6.10 Forest conversion to plantations or non-forest land uses shall not occur, except in circumstances where conversion:
a) entails a very limited portion of the forest management unit; and
b) does not occur on high conservation value forest areas; and
c) will enable clear, substantial, additional, secure, long term conservation benefits across the forest management unit.
 

PRINCIPLE #7:   MANAGEMENT PLAN
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.

7.1   The management plan and supporting documents shall provide:
a)  Management objectives.
b)  Description of the forest resources to be managed, environmental limitations, land use and ownership status, socio-economic conditions, and a profile of adjacent lands.
c) Description of silvicultural and/or other management system, based on the ecology of the forest in question and information gathered through resource inventories.
d)  Rationale for rate of annual harvest and species selection.
e)  Provisions for monitoring of forest growth and dynamics.
f)  Environmental safeguards based on environmental assessments.
g)  Plans for the identification and protection of rare, threatened and endangered species.
h)  Maps describing the forest resource base including protected areas, planned management activities and land ownership.
i)  Description and justification of harvesting techniques and equipment to be used.

7.2   The management plan shall be periodically revised to incorporate the results of monitoring or new scientific and technical information, as well as to respond to changing environmental, social and economic circumstances.

7.3   Forest workers shall receive adequate training and supervision to ensure proper implementation of the management plan.

7.4   While respecting the confidentiality of information, forest managers shall make publicly available a summary of the primary elements of the management plan, including those listed in Criterion 7.1.
 

PRINCIPLE #8:  MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT
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.
 
8.1   The frequency and intensity of monitoring should be determined by the scale and intensity of forest management operations as well as the relative complexity and fragility of the affected environment.  Monitoring procedures should be consistent and replicable over time to allow comparison of results and assessment of change.

8.2   Forest management should include the research and data collection needed to monitor, at a minimum, the following indicators:
  a)  Yield of all forest products harvested.
b)  Growth rates, regeneration and condition of the forest.
c)  Composition and observed changes in the flora and fauna.
d) Environmental and social impacts of harvesting and other operations.
e)  Costs, productivity, and efficiency of forest management.

8.3   Documentation shall be provided by the forest manager to enable monitoring and certifying organizations to trace each forest product from its origin, a process known as the "chain of custody."

8.4   The results of monitoring shall be incorporated into the implementation and revision of the management plan.

8.5 While respecting the confidentiality of information, forest managers shall make publicly available a summary of the results of monitoring indicators, including those listed in Criterion 8.2.
 

PRINCIPLE 9: MAINTENANCE OF HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE FORESTS
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.

9.1 Assessment to determine the presence of the attributes consistent with High Conservation Value Forests will be completed, appropriate to scale and intensity of forest management.

9.2 The consultative portion of the certification process must place emphasis on the identified conservation attributes, and options for the maintenance thereof.

9.3 The management plan shall include and implement specific measures that ensure the maintenance and/or enhancement of the applicable conservation attributes consistent with the precautionary approach.  These measures shall be specifically included in the publicly available management plan summary.

9.4 Annual monitoring shall be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the measures employed to maintain or enhance the applicable conservation attributes.
 

PRINCIPLE # 10: PLANTATIONS
Plantations shall be planned and managed in accordance with Principles and Criteria 1 - 9, and Principle 10 and its Criteria. While plantations can provide an array of social and economic benefits, and can contribute to satisfying the world's needs for forest products, they should complement the management of, reduce pressures on, and promote the restoration and conservation of natural forests.

10.1 The management objectives of the plantation, including natural forest conservation and restoration objectives, shall be explicitly stated in the management plan, and clearly demonstrated in the implementation of the plan.

10.2 The design and layout of plantations should promote the protection, restoration and conservation of natural forests, and not increase pressures on natural forests.  Wildlife corridors, streamside zones and a mosaic of stands of different ages and rotation periods, shall be used in the layout of the plantation, consistent with the scale of the operation.  The scale and layout of plantation blocks shall be consistent with the patterns of forest stands found within the natural landscape.

10.3 Diversity in the composition of plantations is preferred, so as to enhance economic, ecological and social stability. Such diversity may include the size and spatial distribution of management units within the landscape, number and genetic composition of species, age classes and structures.

10.4 The selection of species for planting shall be based on their overall suitability for the site and their appropriateness to the management objectives. In order to enhance the conservation of biological diversity, native species are preferred over exotic species in the establishment of plantations and the restoration of degraded ecosystems.  Exotic species, which shall be used only when their performance is greater than that of native species, shall be carefully monitored to detect unusual mortality, disease, or insect outbreaks and adverse ecological impacts.

10.5 A proportion of the overall forest management area, appropriate to the scale of the plantation and to be determined in regional standards, shall be managed so as to restore the site to a natural forest cover.

10.6 Measures shall be taken to maintain or improve soil structure, fertility, and biological activity. The techniques and rate of harvesting, road and trail construction and maintenance, and the choice of species shall not result in long term soil degradation or adverse impacts on water quality, quantity or substantial deviation from stream course drainage patterns.

10.7 Measures shall be taken to prevent and minimize outbreaks of pests, diseases, fire and invasive plant introductions.  Integrated pest management shall form an essential part of the management plan, with primary reliance on prevention and biological control methods rather than chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Plantation management should make every effort to move away from chemical pesticides and fertilizers, including their use in nurseries.  The use of chemicals is also covered in Criteria 6.6 and 6.7.

10.8 Appropriate to the scale and diversity of the operation, monitoring of plantations shall include regular assessment of potential on-site and off-site ecological and social impacts, (e.g. natural regeneration, effects on water resources and soil fertility, and impacts on local welfare and social well-being), in addition to those elements addressed in principles 8, 6 and 4.  No species should be planted on a large scale until local trials and/or experience have shown that they are ecologically well-adapted to the site, are not invasive, and do not have significant negative ecological impacts on other ecosystems. Special attention will be paid to social issues of land acquisition for plantations, especially the protection of local rights of ownership, use or access.

10.9 Plantations established in areas converted from natural forests after November 1994 normally shall not qualify for certification.  Certification may be allowed in circumstances where sufficient evidence is submitted to the certification body that the manager/owner is not responsible directly or indirectly of such conversion.
 
 

The FSC Founding Members and Board of Directors ratified principles 1-9 in September 1994.

The FSC Members and Board of Directors ratified principle 10 in February 1996.

The revision of Principle 9 and the addition of Criteria 6.10 and 10.9 were ratified by the FSC Members and Board of Directors in January 1999.

The definition of Precautionary Approach was ratified during the 1999 FSC General Assembly in June 1999.

GLOSSARY

Words in this document are used as defined in most standard English language dictionaries. The precise meaning and local interpretation of certain phrases (such as local communities) should be decided in the local context by forest managers and certifiers. In this document, the words below are understood as follows:

Biological diversity:  The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. (see Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992)

Biological diversity values:  The intrinsic, ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic values of biological diversity and its components. (see Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992)

Biological control agents:  Living organisms used to eliminate or regulate the population of other living organisms.

Chain of custody:  The channel through which products are distributed from their origin in the forest to their end-use.
 
Chemicals:  The range of fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, and hormones which are used in forest management.
 
Criterion (pl. Criteria):  A means of judging whether or not a Principle (of forest stewardship) has been fulfilled.
 
Customary rights:  Rights which result from a long series of habitual or customary actions, constantly repeated, which have, by such repetition and by uninterrupted acquiescence, acquired the force of a law within a geographical or sociological unit.

Ecosystem:  A community of all plants and animals and their physical environment, functioning together as an interdependent unit.

Endangered species: Any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Exotic species: An introduced species not native or endemic to the area in question.

Forest integrity:  The composition, dynamics, functions and structural attributes of a natural forest.

Forest management/manager:  The people responsible for the operational management of the forest resource and of the enterprise, as well as the management system and structure, and the planning and field operations.

Genetically modified organisms:  Biological organisms which have been induced by various means to consist of genetic structural changes.

Indigenous lands and territories:  The total environment of the lands, air, water, sea, sea-ice, flora and fauna, and other resources which indigenous peoples have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used. (Draft Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Part VI)

Indigenous peoples: "The existing descendants of the peoples who inhabited the present territory of a country wholly or partially at the time when persons of a different culture or ethnic origin arrived there from other parts of the world, overcame them and, by conquest, settlement, or other means reduced them to a non-dominant or colonial situation; who today live more in conformity with their particular social, economic and cultural customs and traditions than with the institutions of the country of which they now form a part, under State structure which incorporates mainly the national, social and cultural characteristics of other segments of the population which  are predominant." (Working definition adopted by the UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples).

High Conservation Value Forests: High Conservation Value Forests are those that possess one or more of the following attributes:
a) forest areas containing globally, regionally or nationally significant :
concentrations of biodiversity values (e.g. endemism, endangered species, refugia); and/or
large landscape level forests, contained within, or containing the management unit, where viable populations of most if not all naturally occurring species exist in natural patterns of distribution and abundance
b) forest areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems
c) forest areas that provide basic services of nature in critical situations (e.g. watershed protection, erosion control)
d) forest areas fundamental to meeting basic needs of local communities (e.g. subsistence, health) and/or critical to local communities’ traditional cultural  identity (areas of cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance identified in cooperation with such local communities).

Landscape:  A geographical mosaic composed of interacting ecosystems resulting from the influence of geological, topographical, soil, climatic, biotic and human interactions in a given area.

Local laws: Includes all legal norms given by organisms of government whose jurisdiction is less than the national level, such as departmental, municipal and customary norms.

Long term:  The time-scale of the forest owner or manager as manifested by the objectives of the management plan, the rate of harvesting, and the commitment to maintain permanent forest cover.  The length of time involved will vary according to the context and ecological conditions, and will be a function of how long it takes a given ecosystem to recover its natural structure and composition following harvesting or disturbance, or to produce mature or primary conditions.

Native species: A species that occurs naturally in the region; endemic to the area.

Natural cycles: Nutrient and mineral cycling as a result of interactions between soils, water, plants, and animals in forest environments that affect the ecological productivity of a given site.

Natural Forest:  Forest areas where many of the principal characteristics and key elements of native ecosystems such as complexity, structure and diversity are present, as defined by FSC approved national and regional standards of forest management.

Non-timber forest products: All forest products except timber, including other materials obtained from trees such as resins and leaves, as well as any other plant and animal products.

Other forest types: Forest areas that do not fit the criteria for plantation or natural forests and which are defined more specifically by FSC-approved national and regional standards of forest stewardship.

Plantation:  Forest areas lacking most of the principal characteristics and key elements of native ecosystems as defined by FSC-approved national and regional standards of forest stewardship, which result from the human activities of either planting, sowing or intensive silvicultural treatments.

Precautionary approach:   Tool for the implementation of the precautionary principle.

Principle:  An essential rule or element; in FSC's case, of forest stewardship.

Silviculture:  The art of producing and tending a forest by manipulating its establishment, composition and growth to best fulfil the objectives of the owner.  This may, or may not, include timber production.

Succession: Progressive changes in species composition and forest community structure caused by natural processes (nonhuman) over time.

Tenure:  Socially defined agreements held by individuals or groups, recognized by legal statutes or customary practice, regarding the "bundle of rights and duties" of ownership, holding, access and/or usage of a particular land unit or the associated resources there within (such as individual trees, plant species, water, minerals, etc).

Threatened species:  Any species which is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Use rights: Rights for the use of forest resources that can be defined by local custom, mutual agreements, or prescribed by other entities holding access rights. These rights may restrict the use of particular resources to specific levels of consumption or particular harvesting techniques.