The Forestry Stewardship Council is an independent, non-profit organization established in 1993 to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests. Since its inception, over 275 million acres of forest have been certified worldwide.

Products carrying the FSC label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations.

FSC certification gives forestry enterprises access to new markets for their wood products, and a means for providing steady employment to their workers. But even more importantly, community members become the forest’s staunchest defenders when sustainable management provides an alternative to people who depend on the land.

A technician walks from tree to tree, recording tree diameters and mapping each tree’s exact location in the forest. Prospective trees must meet minimum diameter requirements before being harvested. This is just one of the many steps involved in carrying out an FSC-certified forest management plan. Since only a small number of trees are harvested selectively at any time, directional tree felling techniques are used and skid trails are carefully planned in order to minimize impacts on the remaining forest.

Before forest certification, the people were forced to leave the community in search of work. Children were separated from their parents for months at a time. The community was almost abandoned. The only money there was for education and clothing came from the peanut cash crops, which never satisfied the needs. Now with the new forest management plan everything is better off because the people don’t have to leave home. There is work in the community.

Any FSC-labeled product can be traced back to a certified source. A chain of custody (COC) is established by assigning a code that remains with the wood from each tree throughout the harvesting, milling, and wood finishing process, all the way to the end consumer in Europe or the U.S. Marking an Ipe log with the COC code establishes the first stage in the tracking process.

Chain of custody tracking continues into the sawmill. As logs are processed into boards, COC codes are assigned to corresponding lumber packs.

And so a new chapter began, telling about practices that respect ecological flows and that create not only healthy forests but also thriving families, communities and businesses.