International non-profit organisation founded in 1993 to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests. Oversees the FSC voluntary certification scheme which independently certifies forest management and forest products based on a series of environmental and social crieria. Members are a diverse group of representatives from environmental and social groups, the timber trade and the forestry profession, indigenous people’s organisations, community forestry groups and forest product certification organisations from around the world.
Secretariat WWW site includes the full text of policy guides to the setting up of forest certification programmes and institutions, plus directories of certified forests and traders.
The WWW site for the FSC USA Initiative includes more discursive and background materials.