FSC Forest Week 2023

This year, from the 23rd to the 29th September we are proud as punch to be participating in FSC Forest Week, a campaign led by the wonderful people at the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This campaign aims to highlight the value of forests and how choosing sustainably sourced products can protect our forests of the future (this includes bamboo too, woohoo!)

So, what is FSC? Good question! Colin has been busy fact checking so let us break it down for you. 

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an organisation dedicated to ensuring responsible management of the world’s forests, this basically means they make sure people aren't chopping them down left, right and centre for silly things (would it be cheeky of us to say 'like toilet roll', cheeky is in our name after all).

FSC certification means that you can be sure that the product you are purchasing has come from a forest that is being managed in a sustainable way! This ensures the forests aren't left bare and we keep these important green spaces protected to help our planet, and future generations too! 

When you choose FSC-certified products, like The Cheeky Panda!, you’re helping to take care of our forests and all the wonderful and important animals and habitats they sustain. 

Forest play a BIG role in tackling climate change and provide a wonderful home for millions of animals, plants, and even humans too! However, threats to these important forests are growing due to deforestation from a growing demand for agriculture (meat especially!), and illegal logging (fancy word for cutting trees down), usually resulting from the demand for cheap wood and paper (you know the type of toilet roll that scratches your bum? Yep probably the result of some illegal logging!). For this reason, organisations like FSC are SO important to promote sustainable forest management so forests and people alike than thrive.

We are proud to be supporting FSC forest week to celebrate our commitment to forests by ensuring each and every Cheeky Panda product that we sell is made from FSC certified bamboo, and that's a promise! Now, we are all aware of the importance of tree forests, but what about bamboo forests?

We all know by now that bamboo is a wonder plant, if you need to refresh your memory on why its so great, check out last weeks blog for World Bamboo Day, linked here!. Bamboo forests supply more ecosystem services than any other type of forests (told you, wonder plant!) and this is why we ensure we only use sustainably sourced bamboo to make our wonderful products. 

This years theme is 'Trust the Tree and Choose FSC' - by choosing FSC-certified products, you help to protect biodiversity and endangered species who rely on these forests to survive.

Together, let’s make a lasting impact! We invite you to celebrate forests with us and share what you’re doing to protect them, let us know in the comments below, do you check for the FSC logo?