FSC UK Forest Matters May 2016 Public Edition by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) UK

Forest Matters FSC UK News May 2016

Director’s Overview Contents Dear Reader,

2 News in Brief

Welcome to the May edition of Forest

3 Trees & Flooding

Matters. In March we visited FSC®

5 Mahogany Returns

Hexham site, and on page 11 we detail

certificate holder, EGGER at their

6 Edie Live

the key points of our discussions and of

7 UKWAS Draft Complete

for FSC UK staff to learn more about the

8 Controlled wood & Ecosystem services 9 Borneo Initiative 11 FSC UK visit EGGER

our factory and forest tour. It was great forestry management and production process, and discuss the challenges and opportunities that FSC certification presents. Regular readers will have seen updates

13 Future Foresters & Thank you

from our Forest Standards Manager on

14 A Letter from...

against which FSC certified forests in

15 CB Suspension 16 Standards Revision 17 Feature in Forest Matters 18 Product Focus

19 Competition & FSC in numbers

the progression of the latest UKWAS consultation. UKWAS is the standard the UK are assessed. Following two rounds of consultation, the drafting of UKWAS 4 is now complete, (see page 7 for more details). On 17 and 18 May we’ll be exhibiting at Edie Live (page 6). Please get in touch if you would like to book a free timber and/or paper procurement surgery.

Rosie Teasdale Executive Director, FSC UK

p16

Chain of Custody and Trademark Standards Revisions

News in Brief p7

• FSC International Board of Directors postpones the publication of the revised FSCSTD-40-004 Chain of Custody Certification standard for six months

UKWAS 4 Complete! Drafting of version 4 of the UK Woodland Assurance Standard was completed on 20 April.

• Update on revision of FSCSTD-50-001 Requirements for Use of the FSC Trademarks by Certificate Holders © FSC UK

Flooding in the UK

FSC UK exhibit at EDIE Live

Flooding has become almost a way of life for millions of homeowners across the UK. Recognition of the important role tree planting can play in flood prevention is on the up.

FSC UK will be offering free timber and/or paper specification and procurement surgeries at Edie Live, Stand L44.

p15

Exova BM TRADA’s FSC Accreditation Suspended Worldwide Effective 15 April 2016, Accreditation Services International (ASI) suspended certification body Exova (UK) Ltd, trading as Exova BM TRADA, from issuing FSC chain of custody (CoC) certificates worldwide.

p11

A visit to EGGER UK Earlier this year, the FSC UK team visited EGGER, one of the leading manufacturers of wood based panels in Europe.

Flooding Can trees turn the tide on flooding?

WWF UK have praised Tilhill Forestry’s ground-breaking Jerah woodland creation scheme, near Stirling, which involves 583 hectares of woodland creation using 1.3 million trees (and 16 species).

Sadly, flooding has become almost a way of life for millions of homeowners across the UK. The problem is so recurrent and widespread that the government was forced to step in last month with the launch of Flood Re, a scheme to support homeowners in flood-risk areas to find affordable insurance.1 Recognition of the role of tree planting in flood prevention is on the rise but not everyone is in agreement about the detail. Journalist, George Monbiot sparked criticism from farmers when he asserted that flooding in the UK was not just predictable but predicted, and concluded, “We need flood prevention as well as flood defence. This means woodland and functioning bogs on the hills. It means dead wood and gravel banks and other such obstructions in the upper reaches of the streams (beavers will do such work for nothing). It means pulling down embankments to reconnect rivers to their floodplains, flooding fields instead of towns. It means allowing rivers to meander and braid. It means creating buffer zones around their banks: places where trees, shrubs, reeds and long grass are allowed to grow, providing what engineers call hydraulic roughness.” 2 The Wildlife Trusts appear in agreement, “flooding needs to be addressed through a range of solutions, but working with nature rather than against it is the key to a more flood resilient future.” 3 3

However, in an article in The Guardian in January 4 , Jeremy Biggs, Director of the Freshwater Habitats Trust, warned against seeing tree planting as a panacea and disputed the earlier assertion of Geoffrey Lean in the Independent 5 , that working with nature had helped Pickering to avoid flooding over Christmas. Lean, however, has restated his argument on his blog 6 and confirmed the evidence for his conclusions. The disagreement centres mainly around which sources are used to confirm rainfall in and around the Yorkshire town over the Christmas period, although Biggs’ warning, not to see tree planting as the only answer (other natural and conventional methods can also be complimentary), should not be disregarded. April’s Budget 2016 announced additional spending on flood defences of over £700m by 2020-21. Emily Gosden, Energy Editor of the Telegraph responded, “households at risk of

flooding face missing out on £700 million of new funding for defences, after ministers said they wanted to spend the cash on “more imaginative” projects such as planting trees and protecting big businesses and mobile phone networks.” 7 But what this article fails to make clear is that tree planting is a key component of natural flood defences. This is supported by a recent study for the Environment Agency, which found that trees can slow the rush of rainwater and save properties from flooding.8 However, the report also warns that natural flood prevention methods do not always work. A joint report between Confor (Confederation of Forest Industries) and Forest Research (Forestry Commission) has also concluded that planting productive woodland in specific areas of the UK could reduce the risk of flooding.9 The Woodland Trust agree with the case for trees, “There is so much potential for trees and woods, alongside other natural approaches,

to contribute to the way in which flood risk is managed in this country – especially for communities that are unlikely to ever see Government funding for traditional flood risk schemes.” 10

The UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe - perhaps the floods will spur action to address this as we grow to better understand and appreciate the many ecosystem services (see p. 8), such as water management, that trees and forests provide.

How do trees aid flood prevention? • Removing and reducing water Less rain reaches the soil and instead lands on leaves - rain that does reach the soil is absorbed by tree roots and released from leaf pores. Some water evaporates from the leaves. • Speeding up soak away and slowing down run off Water soaks away up to 60 times faster into woodland soils than grazed pasture. • Slowing the flow Trees, shrubs and woody debris at the side of streams and on flood plains act as a drag on flood waters, slowing the flow and enhancing flood storage. • Protecting soils Roots protect soil from erosion by binding it together, reducing the amount of soil that runs off into streams and rivers and the need for dredging.11

Sources 1. National Flood Forum 2. The Guardian 3. Wildlife trusts 4. The Guardian 5. The Independent 6. Geoffrey Lean 7. Telegraph 8. BBC 9. Forestry Commission 10. Woodland Trust 11. Tilhill Forestry

Welcome back Mahogany! One of the most beautiful and famous Amazon timbers, mahogany, will return to the market with FSC certification

Mahogany became a victim of deforestation in the 1980s, after its beauty and strength attracted the attention of consumers. Due to intense exploitation, the extraction and trade of mahogany was prohibited from October 2001. Now limited trade is being allowed again. Currently, extraction is only authorised by the Brazilian Government in areas of sustainable forest management, following strict criteria established by the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (known as the CITES agreement). The return of the mahogany trade, this time with FSC certification, is a real achievement. Previously a symbol of deforestation, today the restored trade in the mahogany shows that it is possible to manage native forests responsibly, with environmental and social benefits. In responsible forest management, the forest portion where trees are extracted is divided into several sections, called forest stands. Analyses are performed to define trees that are of adequate age and size to be harvested. This way, the forest cover is maintained and its value conserved. FSC certification is one of the main tools to fight deforestation. It is also a powerful tool for the protection of biodiversity and maintenance of ecosystem services, such as carbon 5

sequestration and storage, watershed services, and soil conservation. On top of that it encourages improved workers’ rights and welfare, better relationships with local communities and indigenous peoples, as well as adding value to products.

About Agrocortex Agrocortex is currently the only organisation authorised to manage and trade mahogany in Brazil. Located between the states of Acre and Amazonas, Agrocortex obtained FSC forest management and chain of custody certification (RA-FM/COC-007255 / RA-COC-007343) in July and December 2015 respectively, through Imaflora, one of the certifiers accredited in Brazil. Besides mahogany, several other species are covered by the scope of the organisation’s FSC certification. These include Cedro Rosa (Cedrela odorata L.), Cerejeira (Amburana acreana (Ducke) A.C. Sm.), Jatoba (Hymenaea courbaril L.), Massaranduba (Manilkara spp.), Freijo (Cordia goeldiana Huber), Cumaru (Dipteryx odorata (Aubl.) Willd.) and more.

Visit FSC UK at Edie Live Book your responsible timber and paper procurement surgery today!

FSC UK will be offering free timber and/or paper specification and procurement surgeries at Edie Live, the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading energy, sustainability and resource efficiency event for business, taking place on 17-18 May at the NEC in Birmingham.

FSC UK can be found on stand L44 - Register for free here. To book your 30 minute surgery, contact office@fsc-uk.org and attach a copy of your existing policies to maximise your time on the day.

Keep up-to-date with us on Social Media!

Forest Focus UK Woodland Assurance Standard drafting completed On 20 April the long process of drafting UKWAS 4 came to an end, when the last few edits agreed by the UKWAS Steering Group were made. FSC UK Forest Standards Manager, Dr Owen Davies, facilitated the latter stages of drafting. ‘It’s been a real privilege to work with the Steering Group,’ says Owen, ‘and incredibly satisfying to achieve consensus on some thorny issues. The issue of tree species choice in particular kept us busy right up to the last meeting, but now we have a solution that’s acceptable to everyone at the negotiating table.’ There was another good response to the most recent public consultation, in February and March. ‘The UKWAS secretariat received a similar number of responses to both of the public consultations on the draft standard, although in the latest consultation a number of respondents were simply indicating that they were satisfied with the contents. Inevitably

in a system which involves compromise between quite different points of view, some respondents will feel that their opinions are not reflected in the final draft of UKWAS, but I can say that the drafting group considered every single comment.’ For the UKWAS Steering Group the hard work is over, but for FSC UK there is still plenty to be done. ‘The agreed UKWAS text has to be rearranged to match the order of the Principles and Criteria, and decisions on how FSC requirements have been addressed must be justified,’ says Owen. ‘Only then can we submit the standard to FSC International for approval.’ If all goes according to plan, UKWAS 4 should be approved and ready for publication by November. You can find consultation reports and the latest drafts of the standard on the UKWAS website.

Controlled Wood

Ecosystem services

All of the UK is currently assessed as low risk for the supply of timber from five controversial sources:

August 2015 saw the approval of the FSC Ecosystem Services Strategy, which sets out how the FSC system may be adapted to emerging ecosystem services markets. Optional ecosystem services indicators are included in the International Generic Indicators, covering carbon sequestration and storage, biodiversity conservation, watershed services, soil conservation and recreational services. In the UK, during the current revision of the UK Woodland Assurance Standard, the UKWAS Steering Group chose not to include optional ecosystem services requirements, arguing that there was currently only a market for carbon and that this was already covered by the Woodland Carbon Code.

• illegally harvested wood • wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights • wood harvested in forests in which High Conservation Values are threatened by management activities • wood harvested in forests being converted to plantations or non-forest use • wood from forests in which genetically modified trees are planted

As such, timber from any uncertified forests in the UK may be included in the proportion of controlled wood in FSC Mix products, subject to the timber buyer’s due diligence system. Controlled wood national risk assessments are currently being revised throughout the FSC network. The revision of the UK risk assessment by a small working group is starting now and is expected to take about a year. A public consultation is planned towards the end of this year; keep watching Forest Matters and the FSC UK website for opportunities to get involved. To learn more about the controlled wood system, click here. You can access the current UK risk assessment here.

Over the next couple of months, FSC International will be carrying out a global survey on the willingness to supply and pay for ecosystem services. The results of this survey will hopefully inform future standard development discussions. If you have any views on payments for ecosystem services or the role of FSC certification in those markets, please share your comments with Owen Davies at owen@fsc-uk.org. You can read more about ecosystem services and download the FSC strategy here.

What are ecosystem services? FSC follows the definition used in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which describes ecosystem services simply as ‘the benefits people obtain from ecosystems’. These include: • provisioning services such as food, forest products and water • regulating services such as regulation of floods, drought, land degradation, air quality, climate and disease • supporting services such as soil formation and nutrient cycling • cultural services and cultural values such as recreational, spiritual, religious and other non-material benefits 8

Borneo Initiative Indonesian forests helping to protect endangered species

FSC certified forests in Indonesia are helping to safeguard endangered species whilst producing timber for a number of applications. One such forest is PT Gunung Gajah Abadi, a forest concession in East-Kalimantan province, Indonesia (RA-FM/COC-007344 / FSC-C112585) which has recently achieved FSC certification. This forest practises reduced impact logging, safeguarding the habitat for such endangered species as Orangutan, Borneon gibbon, Sunda clouded leopard, Marbled cat, Leopard cat, and Helmeted hornbill. “We undertook FSC certification based on demand of our main customer, PT. Kutai Timber Industries” explains Mr Soeyitno Soedirman, Director at PT Gunung Gajah Abadi. “Our company employs 115 workers, both technical and administrative staff, and has an annual log harvest area of 2,122 hectares with a production volume of 79,040 cu.m. roundwood (mixed hardwood species).” Between 70% and 80% of total production volume is processed by PT. Kutai Timber Indonesia (Sumitomo Forestry), producing plywood mostly for the Japanese market. A 9

lesser share (20% to 30%) of logs is processed in the company’s own sawmill for the domestic market. Moreover, the concession shares borders with another FSC certified forest concession (PT Narkata Rimba), and with others still in process towards FSC certification, whereby a contiguous range of 253,000 hectares in total is sustained under natural forest cover. PT Wijaya Sentosa, a forest concession based in the Indonesian region of Papua (SCS-FM/ COC-005507 / FSC-C129203)has also recently become the first large scale forest operation in the world to achieve FSC certification for Merbau (Intsia bijuga, Intsia acuminate, and Intsia palembanica), a tropical timber popular in decking, flooring and outdoor furniture.

“We undertook FSC certification based on demand of our main customer” - Mr Soeyitno Soedirman

“It took strong determination to take all steps necessary to achieve FSC certification” explains Mr Sugijanto Soewadi, Director of PT Wijaya Sentosa, “but it helps us greatly to consolidate trade relations with our overseas buyers.” PT Wijaya Sentosa employs 360 workers altogether. It produces 165,000 m3 of roundwood from an annual harvest area of 3,900 Ha. Production consists for 30% Merbau and the remaining 70% of logs mixed hardwood species mostly processed to become plywood by PT Sinar Wijaya Plywood Industries, located in Kepulauan Yapen District of Papua Province. PT Wijaya Sentosa forest is prime habitat for Birds of Paradise as well as for various critically endangered cuscus species such as the Black spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus rufoniger) and the Biak spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus wilsoni).

“[Being FSC Certified] helps us greatly to consolidate trade relations with our overseas buyers.” - Mr Sugijanto Soewadi

PT Wijaya Sentosa were also supported by their major customer, Australian household hardware chain Bunnings. WWF Australia’s Tim Cronin said “Wijaya Sentosa’s FSC achievement clearly illustrates the power of collaboration between suppliers and retailers to drive positive change though global supply chains. Sustainable forest management empowers communities whilst conserving biodiversity.” Overall, there are now 21 forest companies with FSC certification in Indonesia, covering 2.1 million ha in total. Additionally, there are 7 forest plantations with FSC certification (198,546 ha) and 49 community groups (43,969 ha). There are another 3 holders of a FSC controlled wood certificate, with 2.4 million ha. These examples of FSC forest certification emphasise the positive impact certification can have upon the natural habitat of endangered species. When people buy FSC certified products made from tropical timber grown in certified forest concessions such as PT Gunung Gajah Abadi and PT Wijaya Sentosa, they are not only supporting the creatures that live there, but the longevity of the forest itself, thus benefiting generations to come.

Support from WWF and the Borneo Initiative These companies have been supported in their certification journey by WWF Indonesia and The Borneo Initiative, a capacity building program aimed at boosting sustainable forest management capacity among forest concessions in Indonesia. PT Wijaya Sentosa hold the 18th FSC certificate facilitated under the initiative, which has now achieved1.7 million ha of FSC certified forests. Another 12 companies are still implementing the required steps towards FSC certification with support from The Borneo Initiative, which will hopefully bring the total to 3 million ha by the end of year 2016.

FSC UK Visit EGGER UK Earlier this year, the FSC UK team travelled to Hexham, near Carlisle to visit EGGER UK, one of the leading manufacturers of wood based panels in Europe EGGER’s chipboard products go on to be used in a host of everyday items, including cupboards and doors in kitchens; wardrobes and units in bedrooms; desks and drawers in offices; furniture and wall panelling in hotels; counters and shelving in shops and structural flooring in the house-building industry. The EGGER group, whose headquarters are in Austria, have held FSC certification since 2009 (UK Certficates: SGS-FM/COC-010252 / TTCOC-001129). The EGGER Forestry FSC group scheme was created in 2014 and encompasses 10 sites across northern England and Scotland. After introductions at the start of our visit, a lively discussion ensued, allowing both parties to outline recent developments and key challenges and opportunities. Ross Chapman, EGGER Assistant Wood Purchasing Manager, spoke about the benefits of certification: “As one of Europe’s largest manufacturer of wood-based materials, the EGGER Group takes its corporate social responsibilities seriously. ‘Our key raw material is of course wood, a renewable and natural resource, but one that needs to be carefully and sustainably managed. Credible forest certification schemes such as FSC gives us that absolute assurance that the wood that we procure and use in our plants is sustainable, legal and ethically sourced. FSC certified products are in high demand within the furniture, specification and construction industries (basically anyone that uses wood!), meaning that in order to win and maintain market share, the EGGER Group have to be FSC (and PEFC) Certified.

The FSC UK Team takes a tour of EGGER

We were keen to listen to EGGER’s experiences of certification in practice, both from forest management and chain of custody perspectives, and they had some interesting insights to share in terms of regional variation: ‘Over the last 5 or 6 years we have seen a trend for some timber producing estates stepping out of FSC – particularly in North East England and into Eastern Scotland. ‘Unsurprisingly this has led to a bit of a geographical imbalance of certified supply between the east and the west.

“Our key raw material is of course wood, a renewable and natural resource, but one that needs to be carefully and sustainably managed.”

‘It would be fair to say, whether you hold an FM certificate or a CoC certificate, you need full buy-in by all staff who are involved to make it work, and the first step in doing this is to get a decent level of training. ‘It is encouraging to hear that FSC UK will soon be able to offer bespoke training face to face or online, and the idea has been well received amongst our key Forest Certification staff. ‘We aim to refresh training every two years, and in the past we have used various trainers from certification bodies, in-house, and independents, to varying levels of success.”, said Ross © EGGER UK

Rawboard manufacturing at EGGER

‘There are several reasons for growers moving away from FSC, and as an industry we can understand and be sympathetic to these. However, simple economics dictate that the demand for FSC products is here to stay, meaning that non-certified and controlled wood will increasingly become the less desirable and therefore a less valuable commodity. ‘That said – it is also vital for FSC UK and by extension FSC International to listen to growers, and all stakeholders in the supply chain to help ensure we have an increase rather than decrease in certified volumes in the East.”, said Ross Chapman. Rachel Hembery, FSC UK Business Advisor, explained her role as primary trainer for the organisation and outlined her work to redevelop our online training offering, which was welcomed by EGGER.

The FSC UK team were shown around EGGER’s manufacturing plant before visiting Winnows Hill, a primarily Sitka Spruce plantation, managed under their FSC group scheme. The site presents some specific, although not uncommon, challenges including predator and pest control and unauthorised activity. The presence of a byway open to all traffic (BOAT) is a major contributor to the latter and entails particular public access requirements. Biodiversity has been increased by the creation of a large pond, which attracts palmate and greater crested newts, frogs, toads, ducks, common blue and small red darter damselflies and common hawker dragonflies. Wildlife cameras around the forest serve to highlight the presence not only of resident animals but also of visiting humans. Thank you to EGGER for hosting our visit and showing us your products all the way from forest, to manufacture and dispatch. Great to see FSC certification in action!

Future Foresters Raising awareness among the foresters of the future In April, FSC UK Forest Standards Manager Dr Owen Davies gave a lecture and Q&A session for second year undergraduate forestry students at Bangor University. After a basic introduction to FSC forest management certification, students had the opportunity to discuss topics such as pesticides, controlled wood, the challenges of certification for smaller woodlands, and the recent UKWAS revision process. ‘The level of knowledge and interest among the students was really encouraging,’ says Owen. ‘I studied forestry at Bangor myself, and it’s great to be able to give something back. This is the second year I’ve given a lecture there, so hopefully this will become a regular event.’

Any other forestry educational establishments interested in a session on FSC forest management certification should contact Owen at owen@fsc-uk.org.

Thank you to Heritage Envelopes Heritage Envelopes donate 3000 branded FSC certified envelopes to FSC UK FSC certified Heritage (SA-COC-001514 / FSC-C022608), one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of envelopes in the UK, printed the envelopes bearing our new Forests For All Forever brandmark. The envelopes will be used to distribute materials for FSC Friday, held on 30 September later this year, and for general administration. We would like to thank Claire, Lindsay, Nicola and the rest of the team at Heritage who were involved. www.heritage-envelopes.co.uk © FSC UK

A Letter From...FSC Denmark FSC Denmark is based in the city of Aarhus. Our staff includes 4 full time employees, two part time, a student helper and usually one or two interns. We share our office with a small IT company to keep our costs down and to spread everyday tasks like cleaning the kitchen or setting out our food for lunch. These days we focus a lot on the building sector (as they are the largest wood consumer) and we have an array of activities © FSC Denmark pointing towards this target group. One of the activities here is working with public and The FSC Denmark team at their Design Awards private procurement to make municipalities and private companies include FSC in their policies. We provide training on how to buy FSC Certified and also on how to ensure that you actually receive certified materials. We create a draft for their policies and guide documents, and handle day to day questions. As part of engaging with the building sector we also did a projec t on Lesser Known Timber Species (LKTS). Part of this was to develop an online platform to promote LKTS based on both good quality data and real cases. The database is now done and ready to be used. As part of the promotion, we developed a range of small woode n animals made from LKTS wood samples and we will send these to important buildin g stakeholders like architects, builders, and buyers. Also, we will share them on our architect/entrepreneur tour which is currently going on and further provide talks on FSC and LKTS, urging these wood specifiers to support a sustainable future for our forest. At a more general level we do education at DIY stores to ensure the sales people are up to speed with FSC. As a part of this we develop an e-training module for them. In relation to building, we are also working with consumers, aware ness being around 50%. We did a project last year with a famous TV personality, Signe Wenneberg who built her own FSC certified house made entirely of wood. She ended up doing 3 prime-time TV programs on this project. Now she is helping us create a social media hype where consumers can send in pictures of their own FSC building projec ts. Besides this we just finished our FSC ‘Week16’, where retailers and consumer-facing brands celebrated FSC alongside NGOs to raise consumer aware ness on FSC. We are about to launch our big ‘FSC Auction’ (now our seventh year runnin g), where we auction FSC products donated by companies. For the summer we are workin g with one of the biggest festivals, ‘Northside’, who collaborated with us on an FSC policy. Also, the winner of our FSC Design Award is traveling with us to Bolivia in May to learn about FSC - it is our tenth annual trip in a row and is being used to educate the trendsetters of tomorrow, covered by media and NGOs. We have many more ‘concrete’ activities going on, but on a strate gic level, as we are financed for a large part by members, we spend a big part of our time focused on increasing their numbers and providing enhanced services to the ones we already have. Also we are currently in a big process of working more collaborative ly as a Scandinavian region - we now have common strategies and goals for the years to come and are excited to see how we can evolve from here. You can visit our website by clicking here.

SUSPENSION Exova BM TRADAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s FSC Accreditation Suspended Worldwide

Effective 15 April 2016, Accreditation Services International (ASI) suspends certification body Exova (UK) Ltd, trading as Exova BM TRADA, from issuing FSC chain of custody (CoC) certificates worldwide. The previous partial suspension for Germany, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, and Russia is lifted, but immediately superseded by the worldwide suspension. As of this date, Exova BM TRADA is not permitted to sign new certification contracts, perform initial certification audits, or issue new FSC CoC certificates worldwide. The suspension is a result of occurrences of non-conformities with the ASI accreditation procedure. Exova BM TRADA is accredited for CoC certification only, and has issued over 2500 valid FSC CoC certificates. Suspensions can be enforced for a maximum of six months. FSC certificates issued by Exova BM TRADA remain valid during the suspension. Exova BM TRADA can continue to perform FSC 15

surveillance audits and in line with ASIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s requirements have sought and been granted approval to conduct client re-certification audits. If the accreditation is not reinstated within six months their clients will need to seek a new FSC accredited certification body in order for their FSC certificate to remain valid. This suspension reinforces FSC expectations that our standards will be rigorously audited, and that our accreditation body, ASI, strictly oversees certification bodies. For any questions or comments please contact ASI at info@accreditation-services.com. Any UK Exova BM TRADA FSC Certificate Holder or their customers requiring more information can contact Rafal Andruszkiewicz, Chain of Custody Manager, Exova BM TRADA at rafal.andruszkiewicz@Exova.com.

Standards revision Further assessment of FSC Chain of Custody Certification standard before publication The FSC International Board of Directors has decided to postpone the publication of the revised FSC-STD-40-004 Chain of Custody Certification standard to ensure the effects of its proposed changes are fully assessed before implementation. “The relevance and effectiveness of our chain of custody (CoC) system is paramount to the integrity of FSC. Our stakeholders have urged us to consider a number of proposals to the standard that would make sourcing FSC material easier. But, the implications of these have to be considered thoroughly to ensure that our certificate holders can institute requirements easily, and in a way that maintains the credibility of the supply chain,” commented FSC Director General, Kim Carstensen.

To allow for further research and stakeholder consultation into key areas, such as transaction verification criteria, and cross-site credit and cross-site percentage systems, a 60-day public consultation will be launched at the end of May 2016. It is expected the revised standard will be presented to the FSC International Board of Directors in November 2016 for approval. For more information on this revision process, please see the FSC CoC consultation page.

Update on revision of FSC-STD-50-001 Requirements for Use of the FSC Trademarks by Certificate Holders The public consultation on the first draft of FSC-STD-50-001 Requirements for Use of the FSC Trademarks by Certificate Holders is complete. FSC would like to thank all those that took the time and effort to provide detailed comments on the draft. A comprehensive review of Motions 29 and 36 from the 2014 General Assembly, FSC Global Strategic Plan, and all stakeholder feedback was carried out by FSC and the technical working group during a meeting in February 2016. This review established that in order to adequately address the motions and balance the feedback from the consultation, we need to know more about both consumer understanding of the FSC labels and the potential impacts of these changes on certificate holders. Therefore, we need to take more time to further investigate these aspects. While this research is conducted, we will continue to move forward with improving and streamlining the other components of the standard. We intend to combine the results of our research with other revisions into a second draft of the standard.

It is anticipated that the second draft will be opened to public consultation by the end of 2016, with the aim to approve and publish the final standard in 2017.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO FEATURE IN OUR

NEWSLETTER? Are you an FSC certificate or licence holder? If so then you can feature your case study, article or product focus in Forest Matters - and it’s FREE! Take advantage of this valuable opportunity to let our readers know about your business, and how holding a certificate or licence benefits both you and the world’s forests.

Basic Guidelines • Case study or relevant feature: 600 - 800 words + 3 photos & your logo • Product Focus: 300 words + 2 photos & your logo

For more information and detailed guidelines, contact us on 01686 413 916 or email info@fsc-uk.org

Company: Robert Dyas Ltd FSC Licence Number: FSC-N001627 Licenced Since: 2011 Product: Country Hardwood 6-Seater Dining Set

Product Focus

Summer is on its way, and it’s soon time to make the most of your garden and dine al fresco with the family. And what better way to entertain than with a stylish outdoor dining set? Combining traditional style with a contemporary design, the Country Hardwood set has been crafted to suit any outdoor space. It’s made of FSC certified eucalyptus, a sustainablysourced stylish hardwood, with a soft grain texture and a smooth finish. Each piece has been pre-treated for weather resistance with corrosionresistant, brass-plated hinges, so you know it’s been built to last.

The set comes complete with four chairs and two armchairs, all of which fold flat for easy storage, as well as a large table with plenty of space for a full family feast. It even comes with a parasol hole for that extra bit of shade on a hot summer’s afternoon. After a little extra comfort? Why not complete your set with some deep-padded cushions.

However, if you’re on the lookout for something a little different, whether it’s a smaller patio set, a traditional garden bench or even a responsibly-sourced barbecue, Robert Dyas have an extensive range of FSC certified products to suit your outdoor space. You’ll also find everything you need to get your garden summer-ready, from top-brand DIY tools and gardening essentials to stylish solar lighting and outdoor heaters. Don’t forget, you’ll find hundreds more products for your home and garden in store and online at robertdyas.co.uk. • Table dimensions: H74.3 x W85.9 x D150cm • Chair dimensions: H93.7 x W49.6 x D57.7cm • Armchair dimensions: H93.7 x W54 x D57.7cm

Competition

Competition: Guess the product Can you work out what FSC certified product is shown in the photo? Tweet your suggestions to @FSCUK using the hashtag #GuessFSC.

Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) UK is a charity dedicated to promoting responsible forestry. For more information about FSC UK: www.fsc-uk.org info@fsc-uk.org The Billiard Room, Town Hall, Great Oak Street Llanidloes Powys, SY18 6BN 01686 413916

Charity number: 1130203 FSC® F000231

FSC in numbers 2,377 Chain of Custody certificates in the UK 1,588,258 hectares of FSC certified forest in the UK 30,247 Chain of Custody certificates worldwide 187.026 million hectares of FSC certified forest worldwide Latest figures from FSC IC. Correct as of 11/04/2016. The full list of figures can be viewed here