According to a press release from the WWF a conservation program reached the mark of one million hectares of forests in China being certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
This is done to fight the important local illegal logging and improve the management of forests as they represent a strong defense against climate change as well as valuable goods.
A sound management of all our natural resources is needed to reach truly sustainable development and forests management is part of this.
As the WWF noted:
Forests owned by members of the Chinese chapter of WWF’s Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) went beyond 1,000,000 hectares for the very first time late last year.
Set up and managed by WWF, GFTN aims to eliminate illegal logging and improve the management of valuable and threatened forests.
By facilitating trade links between companies committed to achieving and supporting responsible forestry, the GFTN creates market conditions that help conserve the world’s forests while providing economic and social benefits for the businesses and people that depend on them.
This latest news marks a significant step for GFTN-China in its widescale promotion of FSC certification. The FSC is an independent, not for profit, non-governmental organization that provides standard setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services for companies and organizations interested in responsible forestry.
WWF is one of the main supporters of FSC globally and has been working on FSC certification for about eight years in China.
(…) As a priority region for forestry development, the collective forest area in south China faces many challenges due to the abundant forest species, complex forest features and diversified land tenure. “The complex situation there makes it difficult to carry out large-scale FSC forest certification,” said Dermot O’Gorman, WWF-China Country Representative.