Certification
Get to know the certifications related to forests.
I- Sustainable management
Definition : sustainable management of forests mean that the management and use of forests, and wooded grounds in a way and such intensity that they maintain their biological diversity, productivity, capacity of regeneration, vitality and capacity of meeting, now and in the future, the ecological, economical, social and pertinent functions, on the national and international levels and that they do not cause any harm to other ecosystems.
II- Certification
On the world scale, forest certification aims at fighting against deforestation and ensure that the timber used by the consumer comes from a forest integrating a durable management policy.
In France where deforestation does not exist, the aim of certification is to ensure that the timber used by the consumer comes from a forest integrating a durable management policy which is environment friendly. Controls are carried out over the whole industry(forest, transport, sawing, manufacturing of finished products) to ensure that the timber comes from a certified forest.
For the owner, a certified forest is an asset to sell his wood well. More and more important signs, particularly the industry of paper, furniture and wood artifacts, timber, floors… involve themselves in certification and demand certified wood.
However, forest certification remains a voluntary approach sought by the owner.
III- Quality labels in forest sector
Nowadays, two labels are possible for the forest owner :
> FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)
FSC is an association of world famous certification, focused mainly on tropical forests. That certification can be more complicated and more costly to set up for a private forest owner.
> PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes)
It is an association of certification focused mainly on Europe and North America. That certification is of a more modest cost thanks to a mutualized and associative approach. Its members gather all the players of the French forest, ONF ( Forest National Office), forest municipalities and private owners, associations for nature protection, timber manufacturers…
