Innovation

Part of FSC's vision is a shift in global forest trends – from social and environmental degradation to sustainable use, conservation, restoration and respect for forests and those that depend on them. FSC pioneered forest certification decades ago, and we continue to innovate, whether that means certification in new sectors or using more efficient, digital tools.

FSC Innovation
iStock.com / vitranc

The future is bright

FSC aims to continuously innovate and improve, empowering forest stakeholders and growing markets to achieve sustainable forest management. We were the first to develop certification standards for sustainable forest management, and the first to provide an ecosystem services certification procedure to incentivise forest owners

The high level of growth required in global market share is only feasible if FSC develops truly meaningful digital solutions for certification.

As a result, FSC will add digital-based supporting tools to its certification products prior to 2023. Our aim is to develop digital options in our certification system. These options will both increase credibility and lower the costs of certification.

We do this because our credibility – the promise behind the label – is a fundamental principle and value of who we are, how we work, and what we stand for. We are also committed to meeting the needs of our stakeholders, by lowering costs and easing administrative burdens.
 

FSC Data Standard
FSC IC / Phil Sharp.
FSC works with ISEAL and other ISEAL members to develop an information and data standard for sustainability. This work is supported by the ISEAL Innovations Fund, which is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO.
FSC Innovation Earth observation
iStock.com / koto_feja
A central part of FSCs strategy for continued service delivery and ensuring credibility is the use of technologies. A cornerstone in this digitalization process is to increase FSC’s use of earth observation as part of its monitoring and transparency initiatives.
FSC Wood Identification
FSC International / Loa Dalgaard Worm
Wood identification technologies make it possible to trace the timber species and harvest location. Traditional wood anatomy enables scientist to determine genus and family, and even species, depending on the circumstances.
FSC Innovation Blockchain
CC Pixabay
Integrity is a core value for FSC: a fundamental principle and value of who we are, how we work, and what we stand for. With its enhanced data security and traceability, blockchain technology has enormous, game-changing potential that reaches far beyond the realm of finance.
forests for the future

Forest for the future podcasts series

Why should FSC digitalize?

Why is it so important that FSC invests in digital? Can tech tools really protect forests? And how will new tools impact current and future FSC certificate holders, retailers, NGOs, governments, researchers and consumers? That’s what we will ask the director of FSC Kim Carstensen and the CIO of FSC Michael Marus in this first episode of Forest for the future. 

Listen now