What are the facts and figures?

By mid-2003, the global area of certified forests has reached over 150 million hectares, about 4% of the world’s forests (3,9bn ha). The potential supply of certified forest products has grown in parallel with the area, and is estimated at almost 300 million m3 annually worldwide (UNECE/FAO). Chain-of-custody certificates increased by 20% since last year to about 3700 today; 2/3 of these are held in Europe and 80% by the FSC. Markets of certified forest products continue to be mainly located in Germany, the UK, and the US, and are now often supply-driven rather than by demand. Consumer awareness and especially attendance to pay higher prices continues to be low. An important driver of demand is public procurement in key importing countries like the UK and Germany. The illegal logging issue dominating public discussion in 2002/2003 is likewise encouraging forest certification as proving legality at the same time.

Although certification schemes developed rapidly over the last years, certification is still a challenge. Only a fraction of the timber supplied from certified forests is traded as a labelled certified forest product, reflecting the difficulty of finding viable markets and stable supply through the chain-of-custody. About 97% of the total certified forest area is in Europe and North America and only about 1% of the world’s traded timber is currently certified. Especially in the tropics certification is still at a rather incipient stage due to its costs and other constraints.

If you want to support forest certification, make sure that wooden goods you buy carry a certification label. Please note that the different certification schemes have got different reputations by stakeholder groups such as NGOs or governments.