FSC & PEFC
What is FSC?
FSC is about the sustainable management of forests.
A forest is an ecosystem where trees grow in clusters and are interconnected by air spaces. To sustain the health of a forest, we must respect its boundaries, structure and species. The boundaries of a forest are defined by its shape, area and accessibility to people. To manage a forest, we must respect its sustainable management practices to preserve the natural beauty and biodiversity of forests.
Organisations dealing with forests can be FSC certified and this Certification is obtained after an audit by an accredited independent body and is based on three criteria: environmental, societal and economic respect.
What is PEFC?
PEFC, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification
Providing this certificate empowers buyers to select sustainable products and make businesses accountable for their forest sustainability.
Why protect forests?
A forest must be managed to preserve its biodiversity — its array of living organisms. When humans colonized Earth over 500 million years ago, they did so along with most species that had gone extinct over the previous billion years. In addition to preserving biodiversity, we must also protect areas where endangered species live such as tigers in jungles or polar bears on islands. People should not cut down native forests unless they intend to replace them with plantations under the protection of conservationists.[4] We cannot afford any more deforestation now that we have lost so many irreplaceable species due to this act.
The structure of a forest depends largely on what tree species grow there together with other plant life forms depending on climatic conditions and soil composition.
A forest should be managed consistently so it maintains its natural beauty while supporting diverse animal life including herbivores, carnivores and insect eaters alike! However, there is no one right way to manage forests due to their complex nature; we should work towards this goal together!