Certified wood

Certified wood and paper products come from responsibly managed forests – as defined by a particular standard. With third-party forest certification, an independent organization develops standards of good forest management, and independent auditors issue certificates to forest operations that comply with those standards.

Requirements

Forest certification programs typically require that forest management practices conform to existing laws. Other basic requirements or characteristics of forest certification programs include:

Basic requirements of credible forest certification programs include:

• Protection of biodiversity, species at risk and wildlife habitat; sustainable harvest levels; protection of water quality; and prompt regeneration (e.g., replanting and reforestation).

• Third-party certification audits performed by accredited certification bodies.

• Publicly available certification audit summaries.

• Multi-stakeholder involvement in a standards development process.

• Complaints and appeals process.