2022 CONTROLLED WOOD REGIONAL MEETINGS
Welcome to the FSC US Controlled Wood Regional Meeting site. During the last few months of 2022, FSC US gathered key stakeholder input about the FSC Controlled Wood system.
The focus: Improving risk mitigation
To improve and clarify risk mitigation options originally developed in 2018 with certificate holders, conservation groups, and local experts in the context of the initial FSC US Controlled Wood National Risk Assessment (NRA).
Additionally, we gathered information to inform refinement of risk designations in the risk assessment, and to inform FSC US’s monitoring and evaluation efforts.
A summary of the valuable contributions are provided below.
NOTE: If you are looking for the NFSS public consultation materials, please follow this link.
OUTPUTS SUMMARY
2022 Informed Consultative Process
With several years of experience with the innovative approach to Controlled Wood implemented in the US (i.e., risk designation, mitigation, and effectiveness monitoring at a landscape level), the FSC US Board of Directors wished to revisit its 2018 risk mitigation decisions sooner than when a full US Controlled Wood National Risk Assessment (NRA) revision process would be necessary.
The Board indicated that it would like an evaluation of FSC US’s monitoring and evaluation efforts, certificate holder and partner experiences, as well as any additional new information that might suggest the need for a course correction in the short-term regarding risk mitigation. This revisitation also provided an opportunity to identify potential refinement needs for NRA risk designations to inform the NRA revision, when it occurs.
With these intentions, during the final months of 2022, FSC US hosted a kick-off engagement webinar, three regional meetings and an online discussion forum as part of an informed consultative process to help identify whether mitigation changes were needed, and if so, which ones.
Drawing from meaningful feedback received across all engagements, the US Controlled Wood approach/framework is perceived overall by stakeholders to be working, resulting in on-the-ground mitigation of risks that are both feasible and effective, with no immediate urgency for mitigation changes prior to the next scheduled NRA revision.
The following resources from the 2022 informed consultative process may be downloaded:
Next Steps
At its April 2023 meeting, the FSC US Board of Directors will be asked to decide whether to initiate a formal, but focused, revision of the NRA and associated materials to make changes to expectations regarding risk mitigation (i.e., the control measures and/or mitigation options). The primary sources of information available to the Board to inform this decision will be the outputs from the FSC US monitoring and evaluation efforts, and inputs received from participants during the 2022 Controlled Wood Regional Meetings. While improvements are suggested in both of these information sources, neither indicate a critical failure of the US Controlled Wood system.
Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming Board decision, FSC US will initiate stakeholder outreach efforts in 2023 to identify and prioritize opportunities for FSC US to support risk mitigation. FSC US will then begin to implement priority opportunities as capacity and resources allow.
FSC US will support and coordinate stakeholder engagement in revision processes for the National Risk Assessment Framework (FSC-PRO-60-002a) in 2023, and for the Controlled Wood Standard (i.e., FSC-STD-40-005; Requirements for Sourcing FSC Controlled Wood) in 2024-2025. Stakeholders will be encouraged to apply for membership (once open) of the Technical Working Group that will be established for the Controlled Wood Standard revision, so that the U.S. context is well represented.
A full formal revision of the FSC US Controlled Wood National Risk Assessment, with consideration of the outcomes from the above processes, is anticipated to be initiated in 2024 or 2025.