FSC Forest Management Digital Reporting

FSC Forest Management Digital Reporting

Earlier this year, FSC developed a standardized template to enable systematic data collection from FSC forest management audits. The FM digital reporting template takes the form of an Excel spreadsheet containing different data tables. The template is available in over 20 languages and is accompanied by a guidance document which is currently available primarily in English.

Certification bodies conducting forest management evaluations will be required to submit a completed FM digital reporting template for all forest management evaluations commencing 1 January 2023 (ADVICE-20-007-20).

What does this mean for your organisation?

A Soil Association Certification officer will contact you prior to your next Forest Management audit, to guide you through the new process and ask you to fill in certain excel sheets, which are applicable to the scope of your certificate.

Digital Chain of Custody reporting will be the next step

FSC has started the Digital Audit Reporting Project with forest management audit reports but plan to digitize chain of custody (CoC) and controlled wood audit reports as next steps. These projects will only commence once digital audit reporting in FM audits has been successfully implemented.