What is the problem and what solutions does FSC offer?
Forests provide us with clean water, fresh air and they even help combat global warming. They also provide food, medicine and important natural resources, such as timber and paper. If managed responsibly, forests and plantations benefit people – both people dependent on forests and the global community at large. However, in some countries as much as 80% of the timber is harvested illegally, often involving the violation of human rights and destruction of protected forests. A key factor behind the threats faced by natural forests is the perception by many societies that they lack economic value. The extraordinary social and environmental value of forests in comparison to other land uses is often not considered. In other words, forests are often converted to other land uses which lack many of the social and environmental values of forest but promise higher economic returns. FSC certification offers forest managers rewards for managing their forests the FSC way – following the highest soc
