Wood is the only material with third-party certification programs in place to verify that products originate from a sustainably managed source. British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, is recognized as a global leader in sustainable forest management, meeting the environmental, social and economic needs of current and future generations. Stringent forest laws, skilled forestry professionals, comprehensive monitoring, compliance and enforcement strengthen the Province’s leading reputation. The Province’s rigorous forest management laws and regulations fully characterize what sustainable forest management (SFM) means in B.C. and what actions may take place on public forest land. B.C. supports third-party forest certification—CSA, SFI and FSC—as a tool to demonstrate the rigor of B.C.’s forest management laws and to document B.C.’s world-class sustainable forest management record.
While the three programs used in B.C. have differences, they all promote principles, criteria and objectives that are viewed as the basis of sustainable forest management around the world. All three have balanced governance, with boards representing environmental, social and economic interests, and all three revise their standards regularly through an open public process. B.C. has adopted an inclusive approach and accepts all internationally recognized third-party forest certification programs.
KEY FACTS
Only 11% of the world’s forests are certified and Canada has 37% of the world’s forest certification. Canada has 170 million hectares certified to at least one of the three internationally recognized forest certification programs – CSA, SFI and FSC.
Canada has 31% of all PEFC-endorsed certifications worldwide (CSA and SFI), and 22% of the FSC certifications worldwide. It stands as the international leader in forest certification with British Columbia, Canada contributing more than any other province.
B.C. is world renowned for its sustainable forest management practices. At the end of 2017, B.C. had 50 million hectares of land certified to one of three internationally recognized certification standards – PEFC (CSA, SFI) and FSC.
The lands are certified to at least one of these three internationally recognized certification programs:
- 23.8 million hectares (45%) to CSA
- 27.1 million hectares (52%) to SFI and
- 1.4 million hectares (3%) to FSC
