FSC Forest Stewardship Standard for Finland has been published

The standard becomes effective on 01 August 2023.

Finland’s revised FSC Forest Stewardship Standard has been published after the establishment of a standard development group to transfer the standard from Principles and Criteria V4 to V5 (including IGIs). The standard defines the minimum requirements on how FSC-certified forests will be managed in Finland in the future. It creates a cornerstone for environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically profitable forest management. As the FSC-certified surface area increases in Finland, the requirements of the revised standard can have a significant impact on the current major challenges, such as the loss of biodiversity.

With the revised standard, the planning of forest management and the level of nature management will improve in FSC-certified forests, for example by increasing the amount of deadwood, which is important for biodiversity. In the revised standard, small waters that are important for biodiversity are now more precisely defined and better protected with wider buffer zones.  Labour requirements and the rights of employees are more clearly determined in the new standard, and the Sami people's rights are more strongly protected under Principle 3. The revised standard clarifies the requirements to reduce the possibility of various interpretations. 

The FSC Finland Standard Development Group (SDG) is satisfied with the results of the revised standard. In the standard, the relevant provisions for forest conditions are improved with cost-effective methods based on research data. The standard is also economically attractive for the forest owner and sufficiently unambiguous enabling good conditions for the expansion of FSC certification in Finland. The negotiations of the SDG were conducted in a good spirit and all chambers were committed to finding mutually acceptable solutions, says Sirkka Hautojärvi, Chairman of the Group. 

 The SDG consists of representatives of the three FSC chambers: economic, social, and environmental, all of which have equal representation and voice. The social chamber representation on the SDG includes labour unions, recreational organizations, consumers, and representatives of the Sámi Indigenous People; the economic chamber includes forest owners and companies in the forest industry, and the environmental chamber consists of environmental organizations.

For any queries on the standard, please contact Emmi Liias, Forest Standards Expert, FSC Finland: e.liias@fi.fsc.org.

The FSS for Finland (English version) can be consulted in the FSC Document Centre.

A translated version (Finnish) is available on FSC Finland website.