The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a non-profit organisation that sets standards to evaluate whether forestry is practiced in an environmentally, socially beneficial, and economically viable way. FSC Controlled Wood standards ensure manufacturers and traders avoid timber and timber products, including; illegally harvested wood; wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights; wood harvested in forests in which High Conservation Values are threatened through management activities; wood harvested from conversion of natural forests; and wood harvested from areas where genetically modified trees are planted.

VicForests applied for certification in 2017 and as a first step has engaged SCS Global Services, a FSC-accredited certification body, to conduct an evaluation of VicForests operations against the FSC Controlled Wood Standard for Forest Management Enterprises.

The RFPG December 2017 submission can be downloaded here.  

VF was not endorsed by the SCS Global audit in 2017 but in 2019 committed to reapplying (see VF's Controlled Wood Roadmap). 

In October 2019 SCS Global advertised that it was embarking on a further evaluation of VF against the revised Controlled Wood standard using a revised HCV evaluation framework. In a note circulated in July 2019 Ed Hill commented that the new framework better aligns the evaluation of HCVs (for controlled wood audits) with the new National Standard. He highlighted the new category of HCV 3.4 - mature habitat in degraded landscapes (plenty of that on the TRP) and the mandatory requirement to demonstrate that wood is not being harvested from old growth forest (HCV 3.3).

See RFPG post (of October 2019) VicForest faces new audit for FSC accreditation for more detail.

RFPG to the new consultation in Nov 2019 with a supplementary submission in May 2020.

RFPG Submission 1 (6 Nov 2019)

Attachment 2.3a 'Fire and logging as biodiversity threat' (28 August 2019)

Supplementary submission to SCS (4 May 2020)

Att 1. Dismissal of expert advice of
Prof. David Lindemayer

Att 2. Logging of oldgrowth forest
in Snobs 13

Att 3. Failing to prevent serious
erosion along road into Gnu

Att 4. Logging in place of a wildlife
corridor

Att 5. Blackberry exacerbation

Att 6. Ceasing to provide coupe
plans and maps ahead of
operations commencing

Att 7. Refusing to remove Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang from
Timber Release Plan (TRP)

Att 8. Logging of Snobs 13 and Shackle

Att 9. Failure to pay proper regard to RFPG’s TRP submission