Is there such a thing as "responsibly" cutting down trees for paper products like toilet paper?
"Sustainable forestry" and "working forests" may sound like oxymorons — but the President of the Forest Stewardship Council U.S., Sarah Billig, told The Cool Down in an exclusive interview that it's the organization's holy grail: "It's very possible to harvest trees and sequester more carbon at the same time."
In fact, you've probably seen the end result: FSC-certified paper products like toilet paper and paper towels. They're the ones with the logo of the green tree that turns into a check mark.
Billig is a forestry expert who used to work with an FSC-certified company managing a redwoods forest and now oversees that rigorous FSC certification program, which verifies responsible forest management among suppliers, corporations, and nonprofits.
"We think that [any] product can be an excellent product when it comes from sustainably managed forests, and that's an important thing for people to understand," she told The Cool Down.
Protecting the 'superpowers' of the forest
"There are those folks who will say you should never harvest a tree, and certainly not for toilet paper that we're going to wipe with and throw down the toilet," Billig said.
But in reality, "Ecosystem services can actually be improved with sustainable forest management," she explained. "It can actually improve the forest condition."
That's where the FSC comes in — it's an independent entity that launched over 30 years ago to address concerns about deforestation in the tropics, and since then has brought together environmental nonprofits, corporate partners, and representatives of forest workers and Indigenous peoples to come up with solutions that incentivize companies to do better sustainable forest management, Billig explained.
"We've been around a long time. We're trusted. We have very rigorous standards. I think this is what brings us to the top and the trusted level," she said.
To earn an FSC certification, organizations must preserve what Billig calls the "superpowers of the forest," complying with a series of principal indicators and criteria that ensure the forest will be protected in the future.
What does that look like in practice?
"You're not over-harvesting, and you're making sure that you are regrowing the next generation of trees that can be used for harvest and for wood products," Billig said. "At the same time, you're maintaining a semi-natural ecosystem that does all the things that we love from forests," which includes "clean water, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, [and] protecting the soil."
FSC's certification requires both biodiversity and economic protections, including no deforestation (i.e., when a forest is altered so it's no longer functional, like if you turned it into a parking lot), safeguarding of ancient and endangered forests, fair wages and a safe work environment, biodiversity preservation, and community rights including the protection of jobs and Indigenous peoples.
"Typically, forest management occurs in rural communities … and those communities need that economic productivity to continue functioning," she said.
Third-party auditors inspect the forest on a regular basis, and consumers can report any potential non-compliance issues directly to auditors.
Protecting biodiversity
Billig gave additional insight into how the forests are managed to maintain biodiversity — including animal life — and ensure the land can carry on as naturally as possible.
"Basically every natural community or all the wildlife that are out there are considered, and threatened/endangered species get special protection," Billig said.
"Natural communities or plant ecosystems that may be different than elsewhere, waterways are protected from negative impacts, very careful use of pesticides — that is very limited in terms of our system. We have to make sure that [any pesticides are] well researched, that there's a plan in place for assessing that they're not going to cause harm to unexpected things in the environment."
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Breaking it down: 'New growth' versus 'old growth' forests
One of the big debates in the forestry industry is harvesting ancient, intact, or old-growth forests that have only been exposed to limited human impact versus harvesting new-growth forests that may have already been altered not long ago.
Another challenge is the relatively small percentage of FSC-certified working forests out there — only about 7.5% globally. To meet the demand for certified wood, it's critical that more forests are certified to accelerate responsible forestry and make it easier for big companies to reach sourcing 100% of their needs through FSC-certified operations. However, a hurdle to getting there is that it can be expensive to meet the FSC's requirements.
"Our standards are incredibly rigorous, and it costs to implement those standards," Billig explained, which can include reporting costs, changing processes, and protecting high conservation areas. Members also pay a small fee to support the FSC's work and earn the check mark.
A big focus for increasing certification is the southeastern U.S., often called the "wood basket of the U.S.," where many small private land owners or "family forest owners" might not be as focused on responsible forestry practices or have the funds to support the certification work.
The bottom line
For consumers looking to make a more sustainable choice, Billig's advice is simple: "I really believe in this organization [FSC] and what it can do in terms of positive impact on forests and people."
"I really encourage people to look for the tree check mark logo because it really does signify people coming together, finding shared interests, and moving forward on those shared interests," she said.
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