World Wildlife Fund

WWF's Work and What You Can Do to Help

WWF's work
Forests are essential to the web of life: they are home to millions of species, protect soil from erosion, produce oxygen, store carbon dioxide, and help regulate climate. Forests are also essential to human beings: they provide us with food, fuel, shelter, medicines, and a variety of wood products. They also purify our air and water and provide us with places of recreation and renewal. With irresponsible forest practices, many of these functions are severely debilitated.

Almost half of the planet's original forests have disappeared. Of what remains, only about 10 percent are protected. In the minute it has taken you to read this page, some 64 acres (that's roughly the size of 60 football fields) of forest have been lost. Threats such as illegal or irresponsible logging, land clearance for agriculture and development, and fires destroy these ecosystems at astounding rates.

Working internationally, regionally, and locally with a wide range of partners, WWF's Forests For Life program combines on-the-ground fieldwork and coordination at governing levels to develop policy and influence market behavior to help ensure a sustainable future for forests. Through the Forests For Life program, WWF is working to protect, manage, and restore the world's most important forests by identifying threats and developing solutions to them.

Loading of tree trunks illegally felled in the region of Duri, Tesso Nilo, Indonesia.
© WWF-Canon / Volker KESS

The forest program at WWF-US uses its relationships with the international foundations, development banks, government agencies, and NGOs based in the U.S. to create partnerships, facilitate solutions, and leverage support that contribute to the Forests For Life targets and programs in the field.The forest program takes a leadership role in some of WWF's most important partnerships to achieve its forest targets, including the World Bank/WWF Forest Alliance and the Sustainable Forest Products Global Alliance. Forest program staff at WWF-US also play leadership roles in WWF's efforts to address forest threats including illegal logging and climate change, and cross-cutting issues such as community forestry. The forest program works to ensure that WWF's science-based focus on conservation - including the ecoregional approach - is incorporated into its programs.

While WWF employs a multi-faceted approach to protect, manage, and restore the world's forests, certification is one process that may help mitigate these affects. However, for this system to be effective, forest managers, logging companies, manufacturers, retailers, and builders must adopt practices that maintain or restore the health and integrity of forest ecosystems.

About 2.3 million square miles of forest are harvested annually to supply global consumption. And this is where you come in. As a consumer of forest products - things like paper, furniture, and cosmetics - your purchasing decisions have an important impact on forests. The companies that produce and sell forest products depend on your dollars, so they will listen to your opinions and react to your behavior.

Certified Amazonian rainforest managed by Precious Woods Amazon.
© WWF-Canon / Edward PARKER

Certification
Outside of the protected areas, about 2.3 million square miles of forest are harvested annually to supply global consumption. Poor forestry practices can leave a forest unable to support wildlife, create optimal conditions for forest fires, and hinder its ability to provide clean water. To ensure the highest environmental, economic, and social standards of management for forests around the world, WWF supports independent certification of forest management practices. Certification under systems supported by WWF helps ensure that forests are not subjected to practices like illegal logging or egregious clearcutting.

WWF believes that the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) offers the best way forward with respect to forest certification and that the logo of the FSC currently is the only credible label for good forest management. Through its chain-of-custody monitoring, FSC tracks timber products from the forest floor to the retail shelf. Thus, the FSC provides credible independent verification of good forest management and is currently the only certification scheme that ensures environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of forests. Customers purchasing products bearing the FSC logo know their purchase supports sound forestry.

What You Can Do

• Purchase conscientiously - Look for wood and paper products displaying the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label. The FSC label guarantees that your chair, plywood, snowboard, guitar, or hairbrush is made from wood harvested to rigorous environmental standards, and your purchase supports responsible forest management. You can find these products on the Web at www.certifiedwood.org. Ask for FSC certified products at The Home Depot, The Body Shop, and from your housing contractor or architect.
• Encourage suppliers -If you cannot find the FSC logo on the products, ask the shop to stock them. The more customers request for products from well-managed forests, the greater the incentive for forest owners and retailers to provide them.
• Specify FSC -If you work in a company, organization or statutory body encourage them to request FSC-endorsed sources every time they make a purchase.
• Provide information -If there are no suppliers near you, provide local stores with information about FSC, and send them the list of certified forests, or other certified suppliers. More details can also be obtained from FSC accredited certification bodies.
• Get involved -If you would like to get involved with a local group, get in touch with a national FSC contact person. If there is no local group and you are interested in setting one up, read the FSC Guidelines for developing Regional Certification Standards and the FSC Protocol for Endorsing National Initiatives.
• Join WWF's Conservation Action Network and help us reach out to lawmakers, corporations, and other institutions that influence forest management.
• Learn more by visiting WWF's Forest Conservation Web site.