FSC standards represent what most experts consider the world’s strongest system for sustainable forestry management. FSC achieves its high standards by having a transparent decision-making process which seeks to balance the interests of all stakeholders.

FSC has ten principles of forest stewardship that form the basis for all FSC forest management standards, including:

• All logging must guarantee opportunities for indigenous people to use the forests;
• All logging must be economically viable;
• All logging must be environmentally sustainable;
• All logging must respect worker and community rights.

While these broad FSC standards always apply, there are variations in the standards for each region depending on the type of forest, the interests of indigenous groups and other factors. Regional groups representing timber companies, environmental groups, timber and mill workers and indigenous people set regional standards on case-by-case basis.

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. Visit this site to learn more about the FSC principles and criteria for forest stewardship.
Forest Stewardship Council (English) > What Is FSC? > Policy & Standards
http://www.fsc.org/en/about/policy_standards