According to the FSC, certification:

• benefits the environment and preserves habit that for birds and forest animals.
• unifies all the stakeholders responsible for forest management.
• provides oversight, ensuring forest management practices are responsible and will be continued to be improved.
• protects the rights of workers and the rights indigenous communities to use the forests.
• benefits business, as sustainable forest management preserves the forest for the long-term.
• creates new markets for products produced as FSC.
• allows consumers to know where their product originated and enables them to make more conscious choices about their purchases.

FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL (FSC)
Founded in 1993, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global, non-profit organization that promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests through the process of forest certification. FSC standards represent the world's strongest system for guiding forest management toward sustainable outcomes. Read about the many benefits of the Forest Stewardship Council.
Forest Stewardship Council > What Is FSC? > About FSC > Learn More > Benefits
http://www.fsc.org/en/about/about_fsc/benefits

Read about FSC stories from around the world and find out how FSC certification benefits the environment, biodiversity, and indigenous and forest-dependent communities.
Forest Stewardship Council > What Is FSC? > FSC’s Case Studies
http://www.fsc.org/en/about/case_studies

RAINFOREST ALLIANCE
Rainforest Alliance's mission is to protect ecosystems and the people and wildlife that depend on them by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Rainforest Alliance sets standards for sustainability for farms and forestry enterprises and tourism. The Rainforest Alliance, an international non-profit organization, is the world's leading FSC Forest Management certifier. This report examines the changes that 129 SmartWood-certified operations in 21 countries were required to make during their certification assessments, as a means of describing the impacts of forest certification.
Rainforest Alliance > Programs > Forestry > Perspectives > The Global Impacts of SmartWood Certification
http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/programs/forestry/
perspectives/documents/sw_impacts.pdf

WORLD WILDLIFE FUND
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) leads international efforts to protect endangered species and their habitats by promoting sustainable approaches to the use of renewable natural resources and pollution reduction. Check out WWF's Good Wood Guide to learn about the environmental, social and economic benefits of FSC.
Home > About WWF > What We Do > Forests > What You Can Do > Supporting information > Benefits of certification
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests/
what_you_can_do/additional_information/benefits_of_
certification/index.cfm