History

Forest certification emerged in the late 1980s in response to concerns about forest management practices, calls for boycotts of certain wood products, and disillusionment with the failure to improve forest management through government regulation. This concern focused on tropical regions and came to a head around the time of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) held in Rio de Janeiro. The Earth Summit did not result in any concrete decisions or mandates around forest management and left consumers, environmental groups, labour unions, industry representations and First Nations frustrated with the process. These same groups came together to discuss an alternative that would address their concerns and it was following this meeting that the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was founded in 1993.
 
FSC related activities began in Canada in 1996 with a contact person and small grassroots groups in the Maritimes and BC developing FSC regional standards in their areas.  At this time it became apparent that there was a critical mass of interested people in Canada who supported the objectives of the FSC, culminating in the founding of the Canadian Working Group in 1998.

FSC Through The Years

1990

Meeting in California, USA of a group of timber users, traders and representatives of environmental and human-rights organizations who had identified the need for an honest and credible system for identifying well-managed forests as acceptable sources of forest products. This meeting concluded that this system would include a global consensus on what is meant by good forest management, independent audits of the management and a global umbrella organization. It developed the name "Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)".

Between 1990 and 1992, intensive consultation processes in ten countries were held to determine whether there was widespread support for the proposal to develop a worldwide certification and accreditation system covering all kinds of natural forests and plantations.

1992 (back to top)

• March. Washington D.C., USA. Interim FSC Board of Directors established.
• October. FSC Founding Assembly in Toronto, Canada with 130 participants from 26 countries.

1993 (back to top)

• The first Forest Management certificate (Mexico), and the first Chain of Custody Certificate (U.S.A.) is granted.

1994 (back to top)

• FSC Secretariat Office is opened in Oaxaca, Mexico with three staff. The FSC Principles and Criteria, together with the Statutes for the FSC (now the By-Laws), are approved by the votes of the founding members.

1996 (back to top)

• February. FSC Canada is founded.
• February. FSC is established as a legal entity in Mexico. The first accreditation contracts are signed with four certification bodies. The first wooden products appear in the UK with the FSC logo. The first FSC Working Group (UK) is endorsed by the FSC Board of Directors. Principle 10 for plantations is ratified by the FSC membership.
• June. First FSC General Assembly is held in Oaxaca, Mexico.

1997 (back to top)

• January. First FSC National Standard was endorsed for Sweden.

1998 (back to top)

• 10 million hectares certified to FSC standards.
• January. The FSC Canada national office is incorporated.
• The first FSC Canada Annual General Meeting is held.

1999 (back to top)

• June. Second FSC General Assembly is held in Oaxaca, Mexico.
• The first FSC certified non-timber forest product (chicle-gum from Mexico) is produced.
• The first complete book printed on FSC-certified paper: "A Living Wage" by Lawrence B. Glickman.
• The FSC Canada Maritimes Standard is accredited.

2000 (back to top)

• November. The second FSC Canada Annual General Meeting is held.

2001

• WWF Canada and Tembec sign a memorandum of understanding to certify all of their forests to the FSC standards.
• December. FSC receives the City of Göteborg International Environment Prize, Sweden.

2002 (back to top)

• Policies on Group Certification of Chain of Custody and Sampling for Multi-site Organizations are developed.
• Home Depot sales of FSC-certified products hit $250 million, up from $10 million in 1999 in North America.
• April. Forest Leadership Forum, Conference and Trade Fair takes place in Atlanta, USA with about 1,350 visitors from 45 countries and 200 exhibitors.
• November. The third FSC General Assembly takes place in Oaxaca, Mexico.
• The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) announces that all members must become certified to one of North America’s three certification systems by the end of 2006.

2003 (back to top)

• January. The FSC Secretariat relocates from Oaxaca, Mexico to the FSC International Center in Bonn, Germany with a staff of 25 people.
• WWF Canada and Domtar sign agreement on FSC certification.

2004 (back to top)

• January. World’s largest magazine printer gets FSC certified.
• August. Canada’s National Boreal Standard is accredited.
• November. Tembec receives the first FSC forest management certification in British Columbia.
• December. FSC is awarded the Alcan Prize for Sustainability.

2005 (back to top)

• March. FSC featured in New York Times bestseller, Collapse by Jared Diamond.
• April. Domtar launches its FSC-certified EarthChoice® line of papers, the first full line of FSC-certified papers available in Canada.
• April. The size of FSC’s global market is estimated at $5 billion US.
• July. New FSC product labels come into effect.
• July. Cascades Resources receives first FSC certification for FSC recycled paper in Canada.
• September. Tembec receives FSC-certification in Quebec, making it the first public forest to be certified in the province.
• September. Alberta Pacific Forest Industries (Alpac) receives the largest FSC-certified in the world for 5.5 million hectares in Alberta.
• November. FSC US presents the first Designing and Building with FSC Award.
• November. The FSC British Columbia Standard is accredited.

2006 (back to top)

• National Bank of Canada prints its annual reports, statements, and envelopes on FSC-certified paper.
• April. Home Depot Canada launches the EcoOptions program, which identifies FSC-certified products to customers.
• First consumer publishing group, Random House Publishing, to be awarded FSC certification.
• June. Canadian Printer Magazines includes category for ‘FSC-certification’ in its annual listing of Top Printers in Canada.
• July. Hydro Quebec announces that they will start to source only ‘forest-friendly’ paper certified by FSC.
• September. M. Raymond Royer, President and CEO, Domtar Inc. is presented with the first annual FSC Winds of Change Award. 
• October. Canadian band, The Barenaked Ladies, print cover of their new CD on FSC-certified paper and include the FSC label.

2007 (back to top)

• March. Largest ever commitment to FSC-certified paper for final installment in the Harry Potter series.
• May. WWF Canada and Domtar announce new agreement for forest conservation
• Provincial and municiple governments certify their print shops in B.C. and Toronto
• June. The first home to receive LEED Platinum under the new LEED for Homes standard incorporates FSC-certified wood
• September. The Ontario Government commits to procuring FSC-certified products for at least 30 per cent of all virgin paper purchased for its offices, as well as other uses appropriate
• October. The Vancouver 2010 Olympics start construction on the Athlete Housing Village using FSC-certified wood
• November. FSC Canada releases the Controlled Wood Information Matrix

2008 (back to top)

• January. The Controlled Wood Standard (FSC-STD-40-005, FSC-STD-30-010) and the new Chain of Custody Standard (FSC-STD-40-004 v2) come into effect
• April. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), George Brown College's Institute Without Boundaries, TD Canada Trust and FSC Canada launch the canuhome exhibit, built mostly out of FSC-certified wood, at the Green Living Show
• FSC Canada's pilot professional membership program, and 'Print Demonstration and Swatch Book' win two awards from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Toronto Chapter
• August. Kruger Inc. announces its intention to seek FSC-certification for its Quebec based forest licenses, an area totaling 2.3 million ha
• September. AbitibiBowater Inc. commits to certify 3.2 million ha of forestland to FSC Standards in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia
• October. RONA Inc. announces new eco-responsible program that identifies FSC-certified products in stores
• November. Rona announces new wood procurement policy which specifies that by the end of 2012, at least 25 of their supplies should come from FSC-certified forests.

2009 (back to top)

• February. For the fourth year in a row FSC-certified printers and products came out on top at the Environmental Printing Awards.
• March. CaGBC launches LEED Canada for Homes allocating Materials and Resources Credit 2 specific to FSC-certified products.
• April. FSC Canada launches National Boreal Standard Revision
• July. FSC Canada & US achieve more than 100 million acres of certified forest land.
• August. Kimberly-Clark Professional makes leading industry announcement to source 40% FSC-certified & recycled wood fibre by 2011, becoming the first tissue company in North America to become FSC-certified. 
• August. The Ontario Printing and Imaging Association forms the first FSC-certified group certificate for printers in Canada
• October. Indigo Books & Music, Canada's largest book retailer, expresses preference for FSC-certified fibre.
• December. Total area of FSC-certified forests in Canada grows to 32.9 million ha with 10 million ha pursuing certification.