Money, money, money
It's a sligthly boring subject, and quite far from the woods; nevertheless it's important - also in the FSC system. Securing the long-term financial viability of the FSC network may necessitate changes in the system's fee structure.
FSC General Assembly 2008
Editorial by Søren Dürr Grue, NEPCon
The presentation of the new FSC Market survey on Wednesday morning highlighted the positive development of the FSC brand. The market value is increasing, and stakeholder feedback on the survey is mainly positive.
Today, we bring a case story from Denmark, showing the effect of national FSC promotion campaigns. The case could just as well have been from Germany, UK or Canada – the general picture is that increasing recognition of the FSC label follows the level of activity. This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to many FSC stakeholders, but it does serve to underline the value of having strong National Initiatives promoting the FSC brand.
The distribution of funds is being scrutinized and intensively debated in the hard quest to solve the puzzle securing adequate funding for all parts of the FSC system. Only one thing remains clear: more money is needed. To curb this problem, the fee structures of FSC are under revision, certainly ending up increasing the cost of using FSC services.
While this may not immediately seem like a positive development to certificate holders, it should be seen as an investment in local marketing and securing the credibility of FSC. As such, it is a needed and sound long-term investment.
