Terms & Conditions

For the purpose of these Terms and Conditions, specific terms and abbreviations are used which shall have the meaning as defined below:

1.1 ‘Agreement’ stands for all of the following Terms and Conditions including all appendixes. All such documents form an integral part of this Agreement in relation to the use of the FSC GIS Portal. 

1.2 ´User´ means an individual that successfully logged in to the FSC GIS Portal and holds a valid account therein.

1.3 ´Material´ means the data of the User, including the name(s), functional role, job title, contact ID, global system ID, organization`s name, organization`s website, department, working address, contact information, username, encrypted password,  log in times to the platform, IP address, the content you provide through the platform, or any other personal notes if provided by User.

1.4  ‘FSC AC’ is a company with its registered office in Calle Margarita Maza de Juárez # 422, Col. Centro, 68000 Oaxaca, Mexico. FSC AC is an international not-for-profit membership organization established to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, economically viable and overall sustainable management of the world’s forests. 

1.5 ‘FSC GD’ is the Forest Stewardship Global Development GmbH with limited liability wholly owned by FSC AC and constituted according to German Law: Bonn HRB 15990. FSC GD is operating the FSC GIS Portal.

1.6 ‘FSC Group’ stands for FSC AC and all of its subsidiaries.

1.7 ‘Third Party’ or ‘Third Parties’ refer to a party or to parties which is or are not explicitly named in this Agreement and are no Party thereof. 

1.8 ‘Login Data’ is defined in Section 3.2 of these Terms and Conditions. 

2.1. FSC GIS Portal is a computer-based interface accessible at https://gisportal.fsc.org/, capable of detect, identify, and locate the disturbances and affectations of the forest. It will rely on the combination of satellite-derived data, geospatial boundaries of relevant areas, and spatial analysis techniques to calculate and highlight the dynamics of the forest in the certified area using geospatial algorithms based on the contents of selected FSC requirements in FSC Principles and Criteria. It will enable access to upto-date spatial information aiming to improve the FM auditing process and the FM forest certification. It will be only available to FSC’s registered users.

2.2. Users are enabled to conduct assessments of vegetation loss/regeneration by using the provided satellite imagery.

2.3. Users are enabled to use satellite data and default featured layers to conduct the assessment of shortlisted criteria from FSC-STD-01-001 V5-2.

2.4. Users are enabled to upload or create complementary data to the one available by default in the platform.

2.5. Users are enabled to use and interact with third-party content not produced by FSC. Many of the datasets are available without restrictions, however, users are responsible for reviewing the dataset’s metadata to understand individual licenses and restrictions and complying with them.

2.6. By accepting these Terms and Conditions, the User confirms to be further bound by these Terms and Conditions and warrants that the Material is not subject to the rights of Third Parties and/or that the User possesses the necessary rights to use the uploaded Material, and in particular that it does not unlawfully use Material belonging to others, infringe any copyright or any other intellectual property rights of Third Parties.

3.1. Access to the FSC GIS Portal is only possible with a valid User login.

3.2.  For purposes of authorization, the Users shall be registered in FSC’s databases as part of a conformity assessment body (hereinafter: CAB). Upon registration, access will be granted to Users.

3.3. When using the FSC GIS Portal FSC grants to User a single-user license, i.e. the access credentials can be only used by one person, royalty-free, nontransferable and non-exclusive license, subject to limitations set forth herein. 

3.4. User must immediately report to FSC any incidences of loss of control of its account or Login Data on the FSC GIS Portal.

3.5. FSC reserves the right to deny registration and/or access requests to User and is entitled, at any time and without obligation to give reasons, to deny the right to access the password-protected area by blocking its Login Data.

3.6. These Terms and Conditions are agreed between the User with FSC when logging in to the FSC GIS Portal for the first time or once Terms and Conditions have been modified.

4.1. FSC is only liable under the German Telemedia Act § 7 Abs.1 TMG (“Telemediengesetz”) for any Material in the FSC GIS Portal which FSC has created itself. According to §§ 8 to 10 TMG, FSC GD is not obligated to monitor Third Party information that is transmitted or stored in the FSC GIS Portal, or to investigate circumstances that indicate illegal activity by Third Party users of the FSC GIS Portal. While FSC’s legal obligations to remove or block the use of infringing information remain unaffected. FSC shall only be liable from the date it receives knowledge of a specific infringement. Therefore, upon notification of relevant violations, FSC may remove such content immediately.

4.2. Subject to the limitation in Section 4.1, the FSC GIS Portal and any Material published on the website, is provided “as-is” and FSC shall not be liable for defects in quality, including but not limited to fitness for a specific purpose and usability. FSC shall only be liable in cases of personal injury, health damage or death, and under the German Act on Product Liability (“Produkthaftungsgesetz”).

4.3. FSC provides the FSC GIS Portal to the Users free of charge. 

4.4. FSC may stop the operation of the FSC GIS Portal in full or in part at any time. Due to the nature of the internet and computer systems, FSC is under no obligation to ensure the continuous availability of the FSC GIS Portal for Users. 

4.5. In all cases, FSC reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to remove or edit any Material uploaded by Users for any or no reason. FSC may take these actions without prior notification to Users or any Third Party. 

4.6. Although FSC takes reasonable endeavors to keep the FSC GIS Portal free from viruses, spammers, DoS or phishing attacks, FSC does not warrant that it is free of such threats. The User acknowledges that, for its own protection, it should take all appropriate security measures and utilize effective security measures before using the FSC GIS Portal.

4.7. The User shall indemnify and hold FSC harmless from and against any Third Party claims alleging that use of the Material in line with these Terms and Conditions infringes any right of any Third Party and shall compensate FSC and its directors, officers, employees or subcontracting parties for any financial losses, claims, property damage, personal injuries and expenses, including attorney fees, incurred by or in connection with any such Third Party claims.

4.8. When using the FSC GIS Portal the User may use Third Party content (“nonFSC content”), and some of this content may be inaccurate. We do not endorse any non-FSC content, under no circumstances will FSC be liable for or in connection with the non-FSC content, including for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions in any non-FSC content, any intellectual property infringement regarding any non-FSC content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any non-FSC content.

5.1. Upon acceptance of these Terms and Conditions by completing registration for using the FSC GIS Portal, FSC allows the User to upload Material to the FSC GIS Portal and use it to have access to this Material.

5.2. The User warrants, with respect to any Materials it has uploaded to the FSC GIS Portal, that: (i) it has all necessary rights to submit these materials to the FSC GIS Portal and grant the licenses set forth herein; (ii) FSC and User will not need to obtain licenses from any Third Party or pay royalties to any Third Party with respect to use of the Material; (iii) these Materials do not infringe any Third Party's rights, including intellectual property rights, data protection, and privacy rights; (iv) these Materials comply with these Terms and Conditions and all applicable laws.

5.3. The User agrees that it will not upload any Material comprising, featuring or otherwise including any infringing, illegal, or inappropriate Material, including but not limited to materials which: (i) contain any pornographic, obscene, offensive, defamatory, or otherwise unlawful or immoral content; (ii) exploit minors; (iii) depict unlawful or violent acts;(iv) depict animal cruelty or violence towards animals; (v) promote fraudulent schemes or gives rise to a claim of deceptive advertising or unfair competition; or (vi) violates any law, statute, or regulation.

5.4. With the limitations set in the Privacy statement or otherwise explicitly mentioned in these Terms and Conditions and accepted by the User, generally by uploading the Material the User grants to FSC an unlimited, worldwide, nonexclusive, sub-licensable, royalty-free, perpetual, transferrable and irrevocable license to any uploaded Material in any manner now or in the future known; exemptions required by law remain unaffected. These rights in particular explicitly include commercial use, the right to make the uploaded Material publicly available, to copy, to distribute, to modify, translate or otherwise amend the Material and to transfer or sublicense the rights to Third Parties, including any user downloading the Material. To the extent allowable under applicable local laws and copyright conventions, User also waive and/or agree not to assert against FSC any moral rights that User may have in the Material.

6.1. Either Party can send a written notice of termination within two (2) weeks to terminate the account on the FSC GIS Portal. The FSC e-mail address for providing the notice is maps@fsc.org.

6.2. The license granted to FSC under Section 5.4 remains perpetual; exemptions required by law remain unaffected.

7.1. If any provision of these Terms of Conditions is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be deemed superseded by a valid enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remaining provisions shall remain enforceable.

7.2. These Terms and Conditions - and all disputes relating to or in connection with these Terms and Conditions or their subject matter - shall be enforced under, subject to and governed by the laws of Germany. 

7.3. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (CISG) of 11 April 1980 is excluded.

7.4. Where the User is a merchant within the meaning of the German Commercial Code (“Handelsgesetzbuch”), the exclusive place of jurisdiction shall be Bonn, Germany.

7.5. Considering the international nature of the FSC Group and the purpose and scope of this FSC GIS Portal, both Parties have chosen the English language for these Terms and Conditions. Notwithstanding the foresaid, in case of usage of technical or legal terms in German language the Parties agree that these shall have the meaning under and shall be interpreted exclusively in accordance with German law and language; the English translation of terms shall be for ease of reference only.

7.6. FSC have the right to unilaterally change the content of these Terms and Conditions, insofar as these changes are only made for compelling reasons, including new technical developments, new case law or legislation, or other relevant events, provided such changes are reasonable. FSC will send an email notification to the User regarding any changes to the Terms and Conditions. The change becomes an integral part of these Terms and Conditions unless the User terminates this Agreement with FSC GD in writing within six (6) weeks after receiving notice.