“Quercus is a big believer in sustainable forest management, and welcomes the FSC’s upcoming push”
The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) maintains a certification scheme to denote timber harvested from sustainably managed forests. Quercus try’s to ensure when we can, that our timber meets this standard, as we’re big believers in timber’s ability to combat climate change.
We want to maximise the positive effect that our product can have, meaning sustainability is a must. For this reason, we are particularly pleased that the FSC is looking to roll out an expanded area of operation in regards to tropical forests.
At present, the FSC certifies around 18 million ha of tropical and subtropical forest globally. As it finalises its five-year global strategy plan, one of its major new goals is to expand that area by more-than double, to 50 million ha. This area will be provided by a mixture of natural tropical forests and areas managed by smallholders, communities and indigenous tribes.
Writing in the Timber trade Journal, the FSC’s director general, Kim Carstensen, highlighted some of the risks the organisation will face in trying to achieve this goal:
“Most tropical forests are in countries with multiple socio-economic problems, such as poverty, unemployment, poor governance and corruption and the people who live in them, depend on them for incomes and livelihoods […] When a forest is left unused, it no longer generates an income. And too often, this drives cash-strapped, poorly-governed societies into illegal and unsustainable timber-harvesting to earn money.”
Even at 50 million ha, the FSC will only be making a small dent on tropical forests around the globe. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that there is around 1,700 million ha of tropical forest around the world. However, the FSC’s target is still an ambitious one. Mr. Carstensen continued:
“The road ahead won’t be easy. Our experience has taught us that working in emerging economies is much tougher than in most northern countries because the myriad challenges – from poverty to lack of infrastructure – are daunting. But FSC’s mission is to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests […] and we aim to succeed.”
You can rest assured that we try as much as possible to supply timber that meets the FSC’s sustainability criteria and has been duly certified. So if you’re looking for ethically sourced timber for your latest project, call Quercus on 0845 50 50 311.