The Forest Stewardship Council is an international association of members consisting of a diverse group of representatives from environmental and social groups, the timber trade and the forestry profession, indigenous people's organisations, responsible corporations, community forestry groups and forest product certification organisations from around the world.
FSC has a unique governance structure that is built upon the principles of participation, democracy and equity. FSC has three levels of decision making bodies as follows:
The General Assembly of FSC Members is the highest decision-making body in FSC and is made up of the three membership chambers Environmental, Social and Economic. The purpose of the chamber structure is to maintain the balance of voting power between different interests without having to limit the number of members. All members should demonstrate an active commitment to FSC and its Principles and Criteria.
- The Social Chamber includes non-profit, non-governmental organisations, indigenous peoples associations, unions as well as research, academic, technical institutions and individuals that have a demonstrated commitment to socially beneficial forestry. This means that they support forest management and believe in delivering forest products to the market in a way that does not infringe on the rights of other stakeholders.
- The Environmental Chamber includes non-profit, non-governmental organisations, as well as research, academic, technical institutions and individuals that have an active interest in environmentally viable forest stewardship.
- The Economic Chamber includes organisations and individuals with a commercial interest. Examples are employees, certification bodies, industry and trade associations (whether profit or non-profit), wholesalers, retailers, traders, consumer associations, and consulting companies. Applicants with economic interests must have demonstrated active commitment to implementing FSC Principles and Criteria in their operations.
The Board of Directors is accountable to the FSC members. It is is made up of nine individuals who are elected from each of the chambers for a three-year term. Click here to see the Board of Directors
The Executive Director, with the support of a multicultural professional team, runs FSC on a day-to-day basis from a head office in Bonn, Germany. Click here to see the Executive Director
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