Fact sheet on LEI

LEI (Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia) is a constituent-based organization that develops forest certification and accreditation systems that promote its mission of just and sustainable forest resource management in Indonesia.

Over the more than ten years of pursuing its mission, LEI has been supported by numerous stakeholders in Indonesia, including businesses, indigenous communities and farmers, NGOs and academics.

Membership in LEI gives these supporters the opportunity of influencing LEI's actions; under LEI's membership structure, members have an equal say in determining LEI's direction and activities. As a constituent-based organization, LEI retains independence and transparency, both of which are necessary for the credibility of forest certification.

Lei's certification includes schemes for:

1. Sustainable Production Natural Forest Management Certification (for natural production forest)
2. Sustainable Plantation Forest Management Certification (for plantation forest)
3. Sustainable Community-Based Forest Management (for community-based forest)
4. Chain of Custody Certification which is designed for wood factories or wood processing industries
5. Phased Certification is designed for forest management units committed to improve their performance but still experiencing some problems in complying with the existing standards

LEI's certification schemes have already been implemented in production forests, plantation forests, community forests and at wood industry sites; over 1 million hectares of forest are LEI certified.

Source: Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia (LEI)

FSC's core business is to ensure responsible forest management of both tropical and non-tropical forests. FSC certification monitors the origin of products and assures consumers that a product originates from forests that are responsibly managed.

In addition, certification means that the supply chain - from raw material through to end product - is transparent. To this end, FSC provides forest management and chain of custody certification. Certification is carried out by one of the fifteen independent accredited organizations.

Forest Management Certification

Forest management certification requires a management plan that complies with the FSC regulations. These regulations are laid down in a so-called national standard. Such a national standard is based on the ten FSC principles and is drawn up in close collaboration with all stakeholders in a country, including environmental organizations, forest owners and trade unions.

Independent controllers check the compliance of the management plan and certify and audit each individual forest management operation. Such an inspection also includes consultations with as many stakeholders as possible. According to FSC, responsible forest management requires a balanced approach towards ecological, social and economic interests.

Chain of Custody Certification (CoC)

Chain of custody certification provides assurance about the production of FSC-certified products. Chain of custody means that all the parties in the supply chain are able to keep the FSC-certified products separate from other products. Operations that have been verified by an independent certifier are issued FSC certification with a unique CoC number. In this way, consumers are assured of the origins of their purchased products.

Highlights FSC

More than 100 million hectares of forest worldwide were certified to FSC standards in April 2008, distributed over 79 countries. FSC-certified forests represent the equivalent of 7% of the world's productive forests. 

FSC is the fastest-growing forest certification system in the world (UN FAO, 2007)

With over 7,500 certificates, the number of companies along the forest product supply chain committing to FSC certification peaked at 40% in 2007.

The value of FSC-labelled sales is estimated at over 20 billion USD.

Source: FSC Netherlands, FSC International