Congratulations Forest Stewardship Council!
Since our last newsletter, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has approved Regional Forest Certification Standards for British Columbia. Like standards for organic foods, FSC forest certification standards allow consumers to choose wood products from sustainably managed forests. This announcement marks the culmination of seven years of broad public input and consensus building amongst representatives of the BC forest industry, First Nations, labour, communities and environmental organizations.
West Coast Environmental Law is an active FSC member at the provincial, national and international levels, and staff lawyer Jessica Clogg was a member of the Standards and Technical Advisory Team that was responsible for drafting the Standards.
Since 2000, West Coast Environmental Law has also played a key role in coordinating the “Good Wood Watch” initiative, aimed at ensuring the integrity of the FSC-BC Standards throughout the process. Among other things, this included a website and a set of province-wide information and strategy sessions to support informed input from the public on earlier versions of the standard.
The BC Standards have been approved under FSC’s Preliminary Accreditation Policy for 18 months to allow for field-based experience with standards implementation prior to final endorsement. West Coast Environmental Law will continue to be actively involved in ensuring that the FSC-BC Standards become a reality on the ground in BC (see
Introducing the Canadian Eco-Lumber Co-op, in
this issue).
Contents:
The gift that keeps giving, and giving, and giving...
We are grateful to all our donors and supporters, but each month, we
say a special thank you to the members of our West Coast Protectors’
Club. These special donors make small monthly donations to our operating
costs, through an automatic withdrawal from their chequing account or VISA
card. It’s a very simple way to give, and also very painless.
For example, you might allow us to draw just $10 a month from your
account (about the price of one movie, or two lunches, or three coffees).
You’ll hardly notice the money is gone, and at year-end, when we send
you a tax-deductible receipt, you’ll have made a significant
contribution of $120!
And the value of your monthly donation to us goes beyond the face value
of your gift. We can reduce renewal notices to monthly donors (saving
paper and other resources), and your generous gift provides an ongoing,
reliable source of operating funds, allowing us to focus our attention on
emerging and critical issues.
The Protectors’ Club is critical to West Coast’s long-term plans.
It is our most reliable and important means of support on a month to month
basis. We invite you to now become part of this important program. Your
gift, of any amount, is greatly appreciated. However you choose to give,
thank you.
If you have a credit card, we can accept your donation online!
To make a tax-creditable donation to West Coast, click
here, and you will be taken to our secure, encrypted payment
page.
For more information about benefits and how to get started, call us at
604-684-7378 in Vancouver and 1 800 330-WCEL toll-free
throughout British Columbia.
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