FSC Forest Stewardship Standard for Norway is published

After seven years of work and 156 meetings, the official version of the Forest Stewardship Standard (FSS) for Norway is published.    

In Norway, about 10% of the forest area is already FSC certified. The standards group and expert groups have been working on this since 2016 taking into consideration feedback from a wide range of stakeholder groups through two public consultations before and after the required field test.   

The first FSS for Norway applies for all categories of forest management units (including small and low intensity managed forests - SLIMFs), and forest types as described in section A.2 – Scope of the Standard. The standard applies to rough wood, but it does not cover non-timber forest products.   

The standard is an important milestone for Norwegian nature and people because it includes indicators related to intact forest landscapes, high conservation values and Indigenous People..   

Among others, the standard will set stricter rules for environmental consideration when harvesting timber and keep local people involved in the forest management. It will protect forests with high conservation values, an approach that has proved successful in other parts of the world and which distinguishes FSC from any other scheme. The standard emphasizes the prioritizing of close-to nature methods in forest management which eventually favors more diverse forests and forest landscapes. This is the reason why many NGOs in Norway, gathered under the ‘Sabima’ umbrella warmly welcome the FSS.   

The Norwegian FSC standard comes along with a stronger presence of FSC on the ground, read more here. For any queries regarding the standard, please contact Anders Bjurulf from FSC Norge: a.bjurulf@no.fsc.org.

The Forest Stewardship Standard for Norway (English version) can be consulted in the FSC Document Center.
A translation into Norwegian is available on FSC Norge.