Table of contents:1. Introduction to FSC2. FSC3 control entities. Benefits of FSC4 accreditation. Process for obtaining FSC5 certification. Problems that FSC poses for South Africa6. Bibliography1) Introduction to FSCThe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-profit organization created in 1993 by several stakeholders. The main objective of the FSC is to positively influence the sustainable and responsible management of forests on plantations around the world. They do this by setting standards and certifying competent companies, organizations and individuals producing wood products commercially. (Wikipedia, 2014)The FSC establishes specific standards that incentivize wood-dependent entities to use their resources responsibly and sustainably. The entity's product is then marked as FSC certified. This certification gives consumers confidence that their consumption of the product does not contribute to deforestation or other environmentally harmful processes, as non-FSC approved products would most likely do. FSC has become the benchmark for global certification of wood products and must meet a standard. (Boehnke, DE, 2014)Many means of regulating deforestation have been implemented in the past, but few have been successful due to the economic and social repercussions. Some regulatory mechanisms include the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, 1975, and the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1983. The FSC promotes compromise and is the most successful initiative to date. (International Tropical Timber Organization, 2004) The FSC was founded in 1993 following the failure of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro as well as the failure of the government...... middle of paper ......concept of Long term sustainability is difficult to understand for the general population of South Africa. “Long term”, i.e. a long period of forestry practice until measurements can be taken and the long-term sustainability of the processes can be assessed. (Boehnke, DE, 2014) The main stakeholders of the FSC are from developed countries, so the P&C will be more compatible with developed countries. Some developing countries simply cannot comply with the P&Cs and compromises must be made. South Africa is still a developing country, therefore some property and casualty insurance is not feasible for us and we simply cannot meet the standards. (Boehnke, DE, 2014)6) Bibliography• Wikipedia (2014) www.wikipedia.org• FSC website (2014) www.fsc.org• Niekerk (2012) www.info.gov.za• Rogers (2011) www. mnn.com• International Tropical Timber Organization (2004) www.itto.int