Greenpeace is withdrawing from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the global group for certifying sustainable wood products, saying that the group is not doing enough to protect forests from exploitation.

Greenpeace was a founding member of the FSC, and has gained several successes across the globe, but believes that it has done too little in areas where governance is weak. Matt Daggett, Global Campaign Leader for the Forest Campaign at Greenpeace International, said: “We are firmly committed to advancing the best possible forest protections for people, biodiversity, and the climate. We believe robust timber certification is a helpful but imperfect tool for protecting people’s rights and improving forest management, which is why Greenpeace International will not renew its Forest Stewardship Council membership nor participate as a member of any other timber certification scheme.”

Greenpeace said that one of the issue was a lack of transparency with the FSC, and cited a greater need for it to publically publish digital maps that locate the commercial forests certified by the Council.

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