Forestry Certification

Forest certification is a way of sustaining the forest by promoting responsible forest management practices. Through a third party auditing process forest certification ensures that forests are well-managed and all forest products originate from a sustainable forest.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an internationally recognized organization promoting and issuing forest certification under the trademark FSC brand label. FSC ensures that forestry practices are environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable. Forests are evaluated based on a set of ten established principles. Criteria have been developed that address legal aspects, indigenous concerns, labor rights, environmental impacts and sustainable forest management practices. FSC principles and criteria are designed to ensure the long-term health and productivity of the forest.

The process of achieving FSC certification involves a detailed review of documentation and a field assessment of all forest management activities. The certification audit is performed by a FSC accredited auditor, along with a multi-disciplinary team of experts in forestry, ecology, biology, sociology, economics, and indigenous relations. A report is produced by the auditing team that documents the conditions which must be achieved and maintained to acquire certification. This audit report is reviewed by the forest management company and by independent peer reviewers. Forests are issued certification for a five year period and are subject to an annual field audit.

In addition to achieving forest certification, forest products companies must undergo a Chain of Custody (CoC) audit in order for their product to be FSC recognized in the market place. CoC certification provides a system for tracking certified wood supply from a sustainable forest, through the mills production process, to the final end use customer. CoC certification assures the customers that the forest products they are purchasing originate from a certified forest that is managed according to the highest level of environmental, social and economic standards.

St. Marys Paper Corp. received FSC CoC certification in October 2004. St Marys Paper Corp. is currently using fibre from the following FSC certified forests; Algoma Forest, Northshore Forest, Nipissing Forest, Westwind Forest, and Gorden Cosens Forest. These
forests comprise approximately 70% of St. Marys Paper Corp’s fibre supply on an annual basis.