FSC named Stefan Salvador as new Quality Assurance Director

Nov 27, 2012. /Lesprom Network/. The Forest Stewardship Council announced that Stefan Salvador has been hired to lead FSC’s new Quality Assurance Unit (QAU), which will become operational in March 2013. The establishment of this unit and Stefan’s appointment reflect a substantial commitment by FSC to further strengthening its system, as the FSC said in the press release received by Lesprom Network. Mr. Salvador is aware of the vital role that the new unit has to play, “Setting high quality standards and assuring they are met is really the essence of what FSC makes so special. I’m truly excited about the new unit as a competence center to further consolidate FSC’s integrity and impact.” The QAU will further increase the quality of FSC certification on the ground, both at forest and product level, to ensure a high standard of service delivery to stakeholders and beneficiaries, and thereby to achieve and demonstrate intended positive impacts of the FSC system at large. In particular, the unit will centralise quality and integrity aspects of the FSC system, bringing together systems and processes from Dispute Resolution and Monitoring & Evaluation. One of the focal areas for the QAU will be to define new quality measures for core service providers such as Accreditation Services International and the FSC Network Partners. The QAU will further design and establish a new screening system for FSC certified products at retail level. For FSC Director General Kim Carstensen, investments in the FSC system such as these are essential to ensuring FSC’s leading position, "FSC is widely trusted as the most reputable system for responsible forest management in the world, and our continued investment into our system’s integrity like the establishment of the QAU is part of the reason why." Stefan Salvador has worked with and for FSC in a number of roles and areas since 1998 when he started as FSC Contact Person and Director of FSC Germany. His first work for FSC International was in 2003 when he managed the Trademark Integrity Project. Stefan permanently joined the FSC International team in 2006 as Policy Manager for the Chain of Custody (CoC) program, overseeing the first review of the CoC standard. From 2009 onwards Stefan increasingly dealt with climate and carbon affairs, resulting in a strategic framework for FSC’s engagement in climate change. More recently, Stefan was heading the new Ecosystem Services Program, with its flagship project “ForCES – Forest Certification for Ecosystem Services”. FSC is a global, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of responsible forest management worldwide.