FSC: Good wood comes to "Holly"wood
Copyright 2001 WWF
September 26, 2001
Star Wars director, George Lucas, has become the latest big name to flag his environmental credentials in the building of his new Big Rock Ranch Studio Project in California.
He's just bought over 100,000 board feet of western Red Cedar from a creative new company based on Canada's Vancouver Island. The company Iisaak, means respect in the local language.
It is native controlled, with a minority stake held by Weyerhaeuser, the third largest timber processing company in the world.
After decades of widespread logging, there's little natural cover left on Vancouver Island. Ten years ago loggers and environmentalists clashed in Canada's largest ever civil protests.
More than eight-hundred people were arrested, prompting one of the country's biggest logging companies to stop operating in the area.
However, in Clayoquot Sound, logging has resumed. But this time, with Iisaak, it's sustainable.
The one-year old company harvests by carefully removing a small number of trees while ensuring that a real forest remains. No destructive roads have been built.
It also gains native permission before any trees are cut down.
"The controversy led to conflict and those two things were a catalyst for change in the forests of Clayoquot Sound," says Eric Schroff, Iisaak Forester and Managing Director. "And the forests here include people and communities and those changes came through into the environmental issues, the cultural social and economic issues."
Nature wasn't the only concern. Communities were in turmoil too - socially and economically.
Native leaders worked with environmental groups and industry to find a solution. They're also working hard to make sure the solution is permanent.
"That's what I'd like to see; for the company to eventually profit and to have a really good reputation in the global economy so that our wood is in demand and that it's come with a great deal of respect," points out Anne Atleo, Ahousaht elected chief.
Crucially part of this credibility is certification by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC label on wood means that the timber comes from a well managed forest.
Local manufactures and artisans on Vancouver Island say there's already a growing consumer demand - and being able to source FSC wood will be a boon for their businesses.
WWF, the conservation organization, helped establish the Forest Stewardship Council in 1993.
"WWF helps with forest projects like Iisaak around the world," says Steven Price, from WWF-Canada. "Very often they're small projects with very high environmental standards and social participation in forestry."
FSC certification helps those operations to get exposure and credibility in the international market place in countries on the other side of the globe.
Companies like the world's largest home improvement retailer, North American based Home Depot with an annual turnover of more than 45-billion dollars, are selling FSC lumber.
The chain wants to see all of its wood products FSC certified to meet increasing public demand.
This is illustrated by movie producer George Lucas. It's an example others can follow, to ensure that forests last forever.
For further Information, please contact:Tori Lyall, WWF Forests for Life Programme, tel.: +44 1483 412 460, e-mail: tlyall@wwf-forests.org
Olivier van Bogaert, WWF International, tel: +41 22 364 9554, e-mail: ovanbogaert@wwfint.org