FSC Certification – Our training journey begins!
The team is making great strides and have already completed half of the 4-day training program on FSC certification standards on forestry and chain of custody (CoC). Adam Grant from Double Helix led both sessions.
Introduction to FSC Principles and Criteria
In the opening session, Adam established the foundations of FSC by providing an in-depth introduction and overview of the organization. He outlined its principles and criteria, and we delved into the Forest Management (FM) assessment process to understand the FSC’s approach and how FSC identifies high conservation value forest areas. We learned about the essential steps, key requirements, and necessary documentation for a successful FM assessment. Additionally, we explored the FSC controlled wood sources, discovering how to identify sources that mix certified and non-certified (but legal) wood. We finished off the session by discussing FSC trademarks.
During the training, Adam addressed important questions and concerns, with a focus on the complexity of controlled wood classification and the challenging requirements at forestry level. Adam’s guidance and experience helped us grasp how to verify non-certified sources as controlled wood sources, therefore broadening our sourcing options. This opens opportunities to engage with privately owned farms and forests with older trees, enabling them to seek out certification, and for smaller stakeholders, the costs could be mitigated.
Building a solid CoC
In the second session, held the following week, our focus shifted to the CoC standard. We explored the general requirements and intricacies of the CoC, covering transfer systems, credit systems and percentage systems. Understanding the differences in CoC claims was crucial for us. We are still unsure how we want to set ourselves up, but once we appoint a certification company to evaluate our systems, they will be able to assist us in defining which one is the most appropriate for our set up.
One thing that has been made clear is the need to grow our FSC certification team. Ongoing training and the entire company’s commitment to the standard is imperative. We also need to organize our team further, by including our team from shipping and accounting, ensuring they fully understand their responsibilities regarding FSC claims.
With these two sessions under our belt, we now have a clearer perspective on moving towards a stricter, certified, and environmentally sustainable source for our decks. Looking forward to the next two sessions!
