Greenpeace will not renew FSC-membership

“As a founding member of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), we do not take this decision lightly”, a spokesperson said on the Greenpeace International’s withdrawal from the certification scheme. However, Greenpeace has said to have seen very uneven implementation of FSC principles and criteria globally. In some regions FSC certification improved forestry practices, but in others it fell short of its goals of conserving forests and providing for wider social benefits, Greenpeace said. This happens in particular in “high risk” regions where democratic and civil society institutions are weak, and corruption is high. FSC, as a forest certification scheme, is a tool for forestry and timber extraction and Greenpeace believes it is not doing enough on protection. “While it has rules for conservation built-in, and can contribute to conservation outcomes, we believe the FSC system is currently focussing on commercial forest operations and needs to carry out improvements to achieve large scale forest protection in all the forest regions of the world.”