Forest Management

Benefits of Forest Certification

● Independent assurance to customers, stakeholders and investors of the quality of forest management

● Access to markets that specify timber products from well-managed forests

● Demonstration of the implementation of best practices in forest stewardship

What is Forest Certification?

Certification is the independent assessment of an organisation's activities against agreed external standards.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has developed an international standard for forest management certification, consisting of ten "Principles and criteria for Forest Management". These concern the environmental, social and economic impacts of forest management.

The FSC also evaluates, accredits and monitors forest certification organisations which are authorised to certify against its Principles and Criteria. The QUALIFOR Programme holds FSC accreditation.

How does Forest Certification work?

Forest certification is applied to the management of a specific, defined forest area.

The forest is assessed by QUALIFOR assessors against the requirements of the QUALIFOR Programme.

If management of the forest meets the requirements of the QUALIFOR Programme, a certificate is issued.

QUALIFOR assessors make regular surveillance visits to ensure that high standards are maintained.

Chain-of-Custody inspections ensure that only products from a certified forest area carry the FSC logo in retailers' outlets.

Need more information on Forest Management Certification?

The following document contains more detailed information about the certification process. In order to view the document you will need Adobe Acrobat reader available from Adobe.