A Certified Forest Saviour
A 'Trees and Us' podcast with Antony Marcil.
Antony Marcil runs the Forest Stewardship Council.
Trees and Us
- Trees and Us
- Why Humans and Nature Collide
- Why Rocket Science Is Easier than Forestry
- Tree Love and Murder
- Building Treeless Houses
- BC's Vanishing Timber Worker
- BC's Eco-Activist 'Rock Star'
- Green Is The New Black
- A Certified Forest Saviour
- Beyond 'Molly's Reach'
- Simpson Chops Coleman
- Velcrow Ripper's 'Fierce Light'
- Reviving Forest Protests in BC
- Leiren-Young and His 'Green Chain'
- Betty Krawczyk, Proud Fanatic
- How Adbusters Grew on Trees
- He Sees Our Hot Future
- 'Wild Foresting'
- Ken Wu Wants to Save 'the Avatar Grove'
- Patrick Moore, Proud Heretic
[Editor's note: This is the latest in Leiren-Young's series of podcast conversations with people who have a relationship -- political, economic, spiritual -- with trees. To find the rest, go here.]
One of Harry Potter's biggest magic tricks was letting the world know about the Forest Stewardship Council. When J.K. Rowling announced that the final installment of her beyond bestselling saga was going to be released on FSC certified paper, it was hard to miss the existence of an international organization that was founded in Toronto back in 1993 to look for better ways to manage the world's forests.
And when Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty made switching government papers to FSC certified paper part of his recent reelection campaign, it was a major triumph for Antony Marcil, president and CEO of FSC Canada since 2005.
Close enviro ministry?
Before taking over FSC Canada, Marcil spent 10 years as president and CEO of the World Environment Center. In 1997, he was included in the first worldwide listing of "The Top 100 Figures in Environment, Sustainable Development and Social Issues" by The Earth Times. He did a two year stint as "planner-in-residence" at the School of Planning, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo after devoting five years of his life to an unexpected way to save the planet: tax reform.
I met Marcil at the FSC office in downtown Toronto to talk about the history and future of the FSC, how tax reform could save the world and why he'd trash Canada's Ministry of the Environment.
And when I checked in just before posting this he was thrilled to tell me that there's so much demand for FSC-certified paper that FSC certified mills can't produce it fast enough. Fortunately, we don't need to worry about that since you're reading this online. . .
Related Tyee stories:
- The Threat to BC's Bear Heaven
In Flathead Valley, zero people makes paradise for other predators. Not for long? Part one of two. - Trees and Us
A Tyee interview series about our relationship to the trees around us. - Why Humans and Nature Collide
A 'Trees and Us' Tyee podcast with John Vaillant.
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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jimmy_laroux
3 years ago
SAVI-OU-R
The title should read "A Certified Forest Saviour".
Geoff
3 years ago
Ack.
You're right, Jimmy. Thanks for the heads up.
Geoff
x4estworker
3 years ago
The Forest Stewardship Council's Dubious Credentials
The Forest Stewardship Council was formed primarily by the more extreme environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund to promote an ideological (as opposed to science based) environmental agenda.
The FSC indirectly participates in the so-called "market campaigns" carried out by such groups as the misnamed "ForestEthics". These campaigns essentially utilize threats of market boycott campaigns in order to attempt to force companies to stop doing business with certain suppliers fo forest products.
These "market campaigns", which are nothing more or less than economic blackmail, almost always include a demand that the target company use only FSC certified products. This despite the fact that there are several other more credible certification systems (CSA, ISO) out there that are based on more reasonable standards of forest management.
It is truly unfortunate that the FSC maintains any credibility in the marketplace,although it is difficult to determine whether the FSC is considered credible, or whether companies just cave in to demands to support the FSC rather than resist the ongoing bullying tactics of FSC supporters.
Moat
3 years ago
Yeah, sure....sounds familiar
x4estworker wrote:
Hmmmm, I think you forget odd little organizations such as the "Forest Alliance of BC". Most of their materials featured vast tracks of green forest, but made little mention of declining fish stocks, loss of biodiversity, and impacts on other industries. Hey - Patrick Moore (a rumoured founder of Greenpeace) even served on their board. Please remember that these campaigns go both ways.
I personally would prefer, that in the end, Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund were were wrong about the state of the environment. In fact, it would be good news. Although there would be some short term suffering by our present generation, future generations could still use the resources that are not being used today.