Forest Stewardship Council

Canfor is the only major license holder in British Columbia with operations certified to the FSC forest management standard. The 2016 annual audit, finalized in March 2017, found that Canfor’s East Kootenay operations met the requirements of the FSC's BC Standard. The FSC Certificate is renewed every five years and expires in 2019. The audit report presented the findings of an independent team of specialists, based on office and field reviews and interviews with key stakeholders.

The team reviewed areas with active logging and water crossings, and sites with a range of values. They notified community, tourism and environmental stakeholders, unions, municipalities and all Aboriginal communities with a known interest in the forest.

The audit showed that Canfor had addressed the non-conformances identified in previous evaluations, and identified one new minor non-conformance related to management strategies for cultural and conservation value areas (CCVA). The report noted three issues that could lead to future non-conformance if not addressed. These included the need to record resolutions to all public disputes in the company’s correspondence database (COPI), a block where two grizzly bear habitat objectives were not achieved, and an issue related to erosion control at a stream crossing. Overall, the results demonstrated that Canfor’s Kootenay operations continue to comply with the FSC standard.

When FSC held its General Assembly in Vancouver in October, we took the opportunity to show a dozen foresters from Russia, Latvia, Chile, Sweden and Indonesia our Kootenay operations. Delegates saw how we are meeting the four pillars of the FSC standard – indigenous peoples, social, environmental and economic. They visited the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre, and toured areas we harvested to restore ecosystem services, our whole log chipping facility, our Elko sawmill and an active fire salvage operation. Feedback from FSC was that many of the participants said this was one of the best field tours they have ever participated in.