Ecosystem services

What are ecosystem services?

Responsible forest management, including situations where forests are left largely unmanaged, can be associated with a range of environmental and social outcomes. While some of these outcomes are commonly assessed from a market perspective, such as timber or food production, forests also provide a broader set of benefits¹, including:

• provisioning services: such as food, forest products and water

• regulating services: such as regulation of floods, drought, land degradation, air quality, climate and disease

• supporting services: such as soil formation and nutrient cycling

• cultural services and cultural values: including recreational, spiritual, religious and other non-material benefits

How the procedure works

The Forest Stewardship Council^® FSC^® ecosystem services procedure provides a globally applicable framework that FSC certificate holders can use to demonstrate the impact of their forest management activities on ecosystem services.

Verified impacts can be used to support FSC ecosystem services claims. These claims are intended to help governments, investors, buyers, and businesses better understand how forestry activities are designed to contribute to the maintenance of ecosystem services, in line with FSC requirements.

Simply put, ecosystem services are the benefits we obtain from nature. Within the FSC procedure, assessment focuses on the following seven services:

1. biological conservation

2. carbon sequestration and storage

3. water services

4. soil conservation

5. recreational services

6. cultural practices values

7. air quality

The FSC ecosystem services procedure aims to help preserve these services for the good of all who use them.

The procedure is designed to support:

• greater recognition of sustainable forest management and its associated benefits

• improved visibility and credibility among a wider range of consumers and forest users, including those outside the timber market

• more informed decision‑making by investors seeking to identify forest management practices aligned with FSC standards

Once impacts are verified by an FSC‑accredited certification body, forest managers may use FSC trademarks to communicate verified impacts through approved ecosystem services claims, in accordance with FSC rules.

How we can help

As an FSC-accredited certification body, Soil Association Certification can evaluate consistency with the procedure and carry out forest management evaluations. We want to assist both our current and potential clients in demonstrating the positive impact of their certified forest management units.

We offer FSC ecosystem services verification internationally as an add-on to forest management certification. This allows clients, where applicable, to make specific, verified claims regarding ecosystem services associated with their forest management activities.

If you are not currently certified to FSC forest management standards and are interested in ecosystem services verification, please visit our forest management page for more information and potential next steps.

¹Based on R. Hassan, R. Scholes and N. Ash (2005), Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing: Synthesis (The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Series), Island Press, Washington DC (from FSC-STD-01-001 V5-0).