Open Knowledge (FSC OK)

�Some of us thought becoming FSC certified would only take six months,� laughs Ricardo Schaffner. �We never imagined the impact it would have.� Ricardo is Director of Forestry Development at Arauco, which decided to pursue Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification in late 2009. By the time they became certified, in September 2013, the Chilean company had been turned upside-down. Arauco was already certified by PEFC, the industry-led forest certification scheme. But it quickly became apparent that the more rigorous demands of FSC would be a different challenge: becoming FSC certified was not just about improving forest management practices, but about reassessing the way the company related to society. �The changes necessary were bigger than we�d visualized and different from what we were used to,� says Ricardo. �The solutions had to be developed with other stakeholders.�