By Jack Hurd

Did your new garden furniture, construction lumber, printer paper or book cost an orangutan its home?

I bet that few of us know the origin of the forest products we purchase. And even fewer know whether these forests were sustainably managed and legally harvested before the timber made its way into the finished products that we have in our homes and offices.

But knowing matters. And choosing responsibly — asking for and buying wood and paper products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) — is good for people, good for forests and good for the planet.

How Bad Forestry Devastates People and Nature

There are tragic hidden costs to the wood and paper products that we can buy so cheaply and without knowing their source. 

More than 25 percent of the hardwood lumber and plywood traded internationally today has been managed unsustainably and harvested illegally — and the consequences for people, wildlife and natural systems can be devastating.

I saw firsthand the effects of illegal logging, deforestation and poor forest management during my eight years in Southeast Asia.

Governments there typically grant forest-harvesting rights to powerful businesses, which swoop in to remote areas and take high-value trees beyond the permitted levels and outside of permitted areas.

Once profits are taken, the remnants of the forest get converted into agricultural lands or used for other economic ventures. Local communities often have no say in the matter.

Over time, the livelihoods of these communities and their sources of food, shelter, water and traditional medicines are lost or degraded. And their cultures — which are often based on a deep connection to the forest and its wildlife — are destroyed.

But people are not the only losers:

• Forest-dwelling orangutans, elephants, tigers, jaguars, and ancient tree species take another step toward extinction.
   
• And illegal logging plays an important role in causing climate change — because deforestation contributes almost one-quarter of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

FSC is Your Guarantee of Responsible Forest Management

You can reverse this destructive trend by buying wood and paper products that have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Forest certification — the premier market-based, non-regulatory forest conservation tool — is designed to recognize and promote transparency in forest products trade.

And FSC is the only global certification system in which forest management practices are evaluated by an independent third-party according to strong social, environmental and economic standards.

In essence, FSC certification is the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” that forest ecosystems have been protected even as wood is harvested.

The FSC label gives corporations and consumers the assurance that the wood and wood-based products they purchase were sourced responsibly. FSC conserves forests, respects the rights of workers and communities, and is good for business.

More than 225 million acres of forest in more than 70 countries have been certified to FSC’s standards, and those figures are rising by approximately 12 percent per year.

You can find the FSC checkmark on products at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Office Depot, Staples, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and other local retail stores. In addition, ask merchants to stock FSC-certified products. And tell your friends and family to ask for FSC.

Promoting FSC demand among consumers and businesses in the United States is a top conservation strategy for the Conservancy — one that you can help us accomplish, every day. 

Nature picture credits (left to right): © Haroldo Palo, Jr. (Man cutting tree and clearing forest in Acre, Brazil); © TNC (Jack Hurd/TNC)