FSC widens reach

The Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) accreditation of national initiatives in Nepal, Norway and Honduras has widened the certification scheme’s influence on the world’s forests.

Working groups are being developed in each of the countries, with the Norwegian group looking to establish a set of FSC national standards to work alongside existing community managed certified forestry operations and the 13 chain of custody certificates available.

In Nepal, the working group is improving awareness and providing common ground for social, environmental and economic members, while in Honduras it is working to adapt the FSC’s principles and criteria to national forest management standards.

The FSC Board of Directors has also accredited the National Forest Management Standard for Papua New Guinea, which came into force on December 8.

The Papua New Guinea standard has been approved with 16 conditions that must be fulfilled within specified timelines, partly arising from changes to the FSC system since initial work began on the standard eight years ago.