Sunday, 15 December 2002
FSC Holds Third General Assembly in Oaxaca
From November 22-26, FSC International held its third General Assembly (G.A.) in Oaxaca, Mexico. Held every three years, the G.A. is an opportunity for all FSC stakeholders, including National Initiatives, Working Groups, and members, to gather to discuss the state of the FSC, and for members to vote on motions for changes in FSC statutes and policy.
This year, the FSC-U.S. had excellent representation at the G.A., with more than 45 attendees, including board members, members, staff, and other interested stakeholders.
Highlights of the G.A. include:
- FSC International Executive Director Heiko Liedeker announced that the new FSC headquarters, the “International Center," will be established in Bonn, Germany as of January 2003. The office in Oaxaca will remain open as the FSC Latin America Regional Office.
- There was unanimous multi-chamber support for the FSC to develop certification procedures and policies to improve access for small and low-intensity managed forests (SLIMFs).
- Endorsement of the draft FSC Social Strategy and its implementation.
- A statutory motion was approved, with strong support from all chambers, giving the Economic Chamber three positions on the FSC Board of Directors, attaining balance with the Environmental and Social Chambers.
- Extensive “pre-G.A" chamber meetings were held, giving each chamber an opportunity to discuss their stands on motions. This was also the first time the Economic Chamber gathered for such meetings.
- Interesting success stories, mostly from the Southern chamber, were presented to the group describing how FSC is making a difference in communities.
A complete list of motions that were passed will soon be distributed from the FSC International office, and will then be posted on www.fscus.org for your information. FSC-U.S. would like to thank everyone at FSC International for their effortless work in making the third General Assembly an enormous success.