Another of FSC’s longest-term NGO supporters, the San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network has added itself to the list of NGOs expressing serious doubts about the FSC. In a new posting on RAN’s website, the organisation’s Programme Director, Jennifer Krill, states that the credibility of FSC “continues to be threatened”. Krill specifically identifies the so-called Controlled Wood Standard as being problematic, and hints that RAN might withdraw its support for the organisation.
Author: FSC-Watch
FSC in Australia: Hancock rips off rainforest deal
Earlier this year, we reported on SmartWood’s certification of Hancock Victoria Plantations, Australia. We have been asked to post this update by Anthony Amis, a local expert. Further images and details are available at Hancock Watch.
Coillte’s pesticide-laden monocultures are still certified
The Guardian published a short piece about the FSC certification of Coillte, yesterday in Eco Soundings (30 April 2008).
Call for cancellation of NORFOR certificate
FSC acknowledges system flawed by ‘conflict of interest’
In a long article in the UK magazine ‘Ethical Consumer’, Andrei de Freitas – FSC’s Head of Policy and Standards – has admitted that the FSC system does suffer from conflicts of interest, and that the FSC is ‘not a failsafe system’.
Rainforest ‘Death’ Alliance SmartWood targeted in protest at ancient forest destruction
Braving sub-zero temperatures and wearing gorilla and bird costumes, a group of New York City environmentalists rallied outside the headquarters of Rainforest Alliance last week, demanding an end to the organization’s certification of old-growth industrial logging.
Galicia, Spain: formal complaint submitted against NORFOR and ASI
The Galician environmental group Asociacion Pola Defensa da Ria (APDR) has submitted a formal complaint to the FSC about the certification of plantation company NORFOR and the assessment of it’s certifier, SGS that was undertaken by FSC’s Accreditation Services International. In their complaint, APDR argues that the FSC-ASI report on SGS’s certification of NORFOR is not only of very low quality, but it also fails to address the majority of the criticisms of NORFOR presented by a number of NGOs. Although the FSC-ASI report on the certification recognises a serious lack of compliance with FSC’s principles and criteria, it does not analyse more controversial points such as relations with local communities and benefits from the forests.
Nicaragua: Global Witness raises doubts over legality of FSC certified operations
The most recent report of the official Independent Forest Monitor in Nicaragua, the London-based NGO Global Witness, has once again called into question the ability of FSC’s accredited certifiers to detect illegalities in certified forestry operations. The December 2007 report notes that “The Monitor was not able to detect a significantly different level of legal compliance between certified and uncertified forest”.
Hancock Victoria Plantations, Australia: SmartWood continues to discredit FSC
We have been asked to publish the following article, by Anthony Amis of Friends of the Earth Melbourne, Australia.
It highlights some now very familiar themes: failure of SmartWood to comply with the FSC’s rules by not publishing its Public Summary reports in a timely manner: certification on the basis of ‘hoped-for improvements’ rather than performance, and covering up failures to actually improve by continually re-issuing ‘Corrective Action Requests’; slowness of the ASI in publishing the reports of it’s audits of certifiers where problems are identified…all of which is no doubt good for SmartWood’s business, but bad for the FSC’s credibility.
FSC dumps Asia Pulp and Paper – but who was to blame?
In December 2007, the FSC announced that it was “dissociating” itself from the giant Sinar Mas-owned Indonesian paper company Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) – see statement below. The news was mostly greeted by the environmental movement, though there is some suspicion that the FSC only took this unusual step because the possible certification of APP had been exposed in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. WWF in particular has issued stinging reports of the company’s greewashing of its destruction of forests to feed its pulp mill in Riau province, Sumatra. (For WWF, this was yet another ‘logger love-in’ turned sour, having signed an agreement with APP and its parent company in 2003 to advise on sustainable forest management.)
FSC-Watch 