Forest Stewardship Council's New Program
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.27.06
The Forest Stewardship Council-US (FSC-US) has launched a new program that will develop the first-ever global forestry registry that will help companies and consumers ensure they purchase wood that is harvested in a responsible manner. The FSC Controlled Wood Global Risk Registry program, funded by a grant from the Home Depot Foundation, will provide companies, certifiers and other interested parties a practical tool to evaluate five categories of risk associated with wood sources, including illegally harvested wood and genetically-modified trees. "This effort will help all manufacturers, retailers and consumers of wood products to be able to positively verify that their dollars are not aiding the illegal or harmful actions of others," said Roger Dower, president of FSC-US. "It is not just the financial contribution from The Home Depot Foundation that is important for this project. The Home Depot is a market leader and perhaps the most important wood purchaser in the world. For its foundation to take a leadership position in making the procurement process more responsible for the entire industry is invaluable." ::FSC-US via ::GreenBiz
“Certification under the FSC allows companies to reward the best practitioners of sustainable forestry and gives us a paper trail to the specific forest which is very important in developing countries,” said Ron Jarvis, vice president of merchandising for The Home Depot. “The global forestry industry has made tremendous strides during the past several years, and the development of this global registry clearly is the next step in ensuring socially responsible procurement.”
The Home Depot is the world's largest seller of certified wood products, and the FSC is the global and national leader in the independent certification of responsible forest management, so the deal definitely has "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"-type implications for both sides, but when it comes to building a valuable resource that will help ensure less fraud and get more certified wood to consumers, we don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. ::FSC-US via ::GreenBiz
I vaguely remember reading some interesting positive things about the FSC in a David Suzuki book... I'll try to find the reference.
Another trend is converging with stewardship. And it may not be net for the better. Paper and timber companies that have owned vast swaths of US forest land for a century or more in some cases and are on hard times are putting their best properties up for sale. Often for residential or recreational use. Sometimes plots are being subdivided by traditional developers. In other cases the former owners have gone into the business for themselves and are offering plots via their websites. This is on a huge scale and FSC would have to deal with myriad of individual owners now instead of large holders. Gets really interesting when European companies buy big blocks.
"The Home Depot is the world's largest seller of certified wood products"
Thats interesting-- Home Depot told me they don't carry any FSC cert wood prodcuts. I've been trying to find FSC wood floorinf can't.
Funny that Home Depot will sponsor this sustainable wood production yet will continue to sell cypress mulch that contributes to the destruction of the nation's wetlands.
Just sayin'.
The only thing I found at Home Depot that is FSC are the Home Depot branded carpenter pencils. I fear that is not enough. The employees who I ask to help me "find" FSC wood were absolutely unaware of what FSC was. The one individual I did find that was aware of FSC stated that FSC lumber is not carried because Home Depot doesn’t want to create the skews in order to carry it.
If you want to drop into some economic thought around Home Depot's effect on FSC and sustainability...Home Depot forces the price of certified lumber to be so low that there is no economic benefit for the folks in the timber industry who take on the cost of certification and are consistently being shut out of the market by Home Depot’s purchase of by “conventional” lumber. I’ll leave it at that...
As written in the article, “The Home Depot is the world's largest seller of certified wood products”, next time you go to a Home Depot ask to see the list...ask to see the wood.
I have spoken with a forest owner, forest manager, mill owner, certifier, and other industry professionals (who are holding on to sustainability principles for all our benefit while they face an uphill battle) have all said the same thing “consumers or otherwise need to put much more critical thought and investigation into the validity of Home Depot or any other company that has claimed a relationship to sustainability or certified lumber. Ask for the legitimacy behind the claim; don’t be surprised if you get a pack of pencils...
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