Coilltes forests are certified to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme since May 2001, which demonstrates that they are well managed in accordance with strict environmental, social and economic criteria . The certificate is issued for five years and in 2006 Coillte successfully retained its FSC certificate following a full audit of its forests.   In the interim years, strict audits were carried out on Coillte’s forests to ensure that FSC criteria were being met. 

As the world becomes more conscious of environmental issues consumers are increasingly seeking reassurance that the goods they purchase have been produced in an eco-friendly and sustainable fashion. Certification and eco-labelling have become an important means of giving that independent reassurance and Forest Certification is a way of assuring consumers that the timber or timber products they buy come from sustainably or well managed forests.

There are a number of forest certification schemes world wide, but in Europe the two most active schemes are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC).   

FSC is an international, non-profit association whose membership includes environmental and social groups and progressive forestry and retail companies working in partnership to improve forest management.  For further information, please see www.fsc.org

FSC Certification

In 2000, when Coillte decided to seek forest certification, the  FSC scheme was chosen for a number of reasons:

• The UK markets were increasingly demanding FSC certified timber
• The FSC scheme was one of the most credible of the forest certification schemes  emerging at the time;  and
• Being the most demanding scheme, it was considered that compliance with FSC standards would ensure that all environmental and social requirements expected from the company would be met, or exceeded.

Coillte has committed itself publicly to complying with the FSC Principles and Criteria and is an active participant in the Irish Forest Certification Initiative which aims to develop an FSC national standard for Ireland.

The specific commitment given by Coillte is as follows:

We have adopted Responsible Forest Management (RFM) as the guiding principle by which we manage our forests now and in the future. In practising RFM we will:

• Develop our forests in a way that is both environmentally sensitive, socially beneficial and economically sustainable;
• Choose to independently verify that RFM is being practiced in our forests through the Forest Certification Process;
• Undertake to work, with our stakeholders, towards full compliance with Irish Forestry standards;
• Comply with applicable legal requirements and the FSC's International Principles and Criteria as embodied in the FSC Irish Forestry Standard;
• Strive to achieve full compliance with the Standard at the earliest possible date with the resources available;
• Abide by the Forest Service Code of Best Forest Practice and related guidelines on Archaeology, Fisheries, Landscape, Biodiversity among others; and
• Strive for continuous improvement of forestry practices.

The Certification  Process

To achieve certification Coillte changed its management systems and practices to comply with the  FSC requirements. The FSC International  Standard,  which was modified by the Irish Forest Certification Initiative ( see below ) to make it relevant to Ireland, requires Coillte  to comply with 10 Principles and 56 Criteria that describe how forests should be managed if economic, environmental and social sustainability are to be achieved.

Compliance with the Standard is verified by independent professional FSC accredited  auditors who carry out regular surveillance visits to Coillte’s headquarters,  district  offices and forests.  The audit process  thoroughly examines all aspects of  forest management  and operations as they pertain to the FSC Standard. 

As part of the audit process, consultations are undertaken by the auditors to determine if stakeholders have any issues regarding the management of Coillte forests. If the auditors consider that issues raised  warrant investigation, then visits are made to the areas concerned. Following the field visits a comprehensive report of the audit is compiled. Any minor non-compliances with the Standard give rise to Corrective Action Requests which Coillte are obliged to address, usually before the next audit.  Major non-compliances, however, must be addressed within a month, which if not done, can lead to a withdrawal of the certificate.

A public summary of the report is posted on the auditors web site. 

2003 – 2009    Soil Association  www.soilassociation.org