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BC Timber Sales - Forest certification

Last updated on August 28, 2024

Certification of forestry activities is a best practice in forest and sustainable resource management. BC Timber Sales (BCTS) is committed to maintaining an environmental management system and following third-party sustainable forest management certifications.

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Environmental Management System (EMS)

Maintaining an effective Environmental Management System (EMS) supports BCTS' commitment to sustainable forest management certification. Environmental management systems help meet due diligence requirements under the Forest and Range Practices Act.

Licensees, permittees, contractors and staff are guided by BCTS's province-wide environmental and sustainable forest management policies, and related program documents:

Related provincial program documents can also be found on the BCTS Business Area Environmental Management System (EMS) and Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) web page. 

After April 1, 2019, previous versions of EMS and SFM documentation is found here.

Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) certification

Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) certification addresses the ecological, cultural, social and economic aspects of sustainable forest management. One hundred percent of BCTS’ allocated volume is certified to the internationally recognized Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Forest Management Standard.  BCTS is also a member of the Western Canada SFI Implementation Committee which supports the growth of sustainable forest management.

Sustainable forest management certification provides assurance to the public and customers that timber originates from legal and well-managed sources. The certification process is outlined in policy, planning and strategy documents:

Sustainable Forestry Initiative standard

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) provides parameters (objectives, performance measures, and indicators) for sustainable forest management:

Inconsistent practices may be reported to Western Canadian SFI Implementation Committee (WCSIC).

Chain of custody

Wood purchasers may prefer or require forest certification in their corporate procurement policies and/or building codes may require that timber originate from legal and well managed forests.

Certification status is verified through the chain of custody. Chain of custody refers to the independent and credible verification that timber and forest products are tracked through all phases of ownership, processing and transportation, from the forest of origin to the end-consumer.

BCTS does not hold chain of custody certification, nor does it provide a system for tracking chain of custody. However, we provide the following information to clients to assist in their planning and for their chain of custody certification systems:

  • Identification of timber sale licence certification status
  • Clauses in the timber sale licence document (provided in bid packages) verifying that the timber to be harvested under the license is certified
  • A letter in timber sale licence bid packages verifying timber sales licence sustainable forest management certification status and transferring the certification credits to the licensee

Timber sale licence sustainable forest management certification status is available for each BCTS business area. Clients should contact the applicable BCTS business area to receive a letter verifying certification:

View results of the BCTS certification audits within selected business areas against the requirements of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) 2015-2019 (extended through December 2022) Forest Management Standard.

Contact information

For questions about forest certification, contact the BCTS Headquarters Certification Officer or BCTS business area.

For general questions about BC Timber Sales, contact BCTS Headquarters staff:

Office
250-356 -1918
Email
Forests.BCTimberSalesHQOffice@gov.bc.ca
Mailing
BC Timber Sales
PO BOX 9507 STN PROV GOVT
Victoria, BC
V8W 9C1