Is eco-certification the solution to forest destruction?

The FSC's standards rest on some of the most enlightened forestry practices in the world. It’s hard to say for sure whether this has translated into real change on the ground. There have been no comprehensive studies of the FSC’s overall efficacy in preventing forest loss, though some local studies have shown positive results. For instance, a recent study in Indonesia found that FSC-certified forests had a 5 percent lower rate of forest loss and produced 31 percent less air pollution than noncertified ones. And a report by the Indonesia-based NGO the Center for International Forestry Research found that communities living in and around FSC-certified forests in Central Africa had significantly better living and working conditions, as well as better relations and less conflict with the companies harvesting them, than those in non-FSC forests.