Sustainable Forests and Eco-Certification
Many New Zealand plantation forests were established on steep land that was previously in pasture, but where soil loss following storms triggered erosion and made farming unsustainable.
New Zealand's Douglas-fir forests have helped to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, increase biodiversity and reduce greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere.
Third party Eco-certification of sustainable forest management practices provides you with the assurance that a forest is managed in accordance with environmental and legal standards.
Many markets in Europe and the US now require Eco-certification for the forestry products they purchase (to ensure the forestry products are from environmentally sustainable and legitimate sources).
All New Zealand Douglas-Fir Association forests growers are third party Eco-certified.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is the most common certification system amongst NZ forest growers, and is one of the longest established and most recognised systems in the world. FSC is a non-government, non-profit organisation that manages the FSC Certification programme that provides Environmental, Social, and Economic standards against which forest management systems are measured.