Responsible forestry: Certification

A groundbreaking milestone in improved, sustainable forest management

Forest Certification is widely seen as the most important initiative of the last decade to promote better forest management.

Forest certification has led to greater recognition of the importance of environmentally and socially sound wood products and has engaged producers, consumers and retailers in a positive effort to help clean up the timber industry. It has also strengthened a global debate on the future of forestry.

Forest certification is a system of forest inspection plus a means of tracking timber and paper through a "chain of custody" - following the raw material through to the finished product. This is all to ensure that the products have come from forests which are well managed - meaning they take into account environmental, social and economic principles and criteria.

The key to improving the way forests are managed through forest certification is the credibility and quality of a certification system. In the last decade however, an inflation in the number of certification systems of dubious quality is making it difficult for companies and consumers to judge the effectiveness of these tools.

Currently WWF considers the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification system to be the only credible system to ensure environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management of forests. WWF therefore recommends the FSC system to consumers, forest managers, policy makers, businesses and the public.

FSC enjoys the support of most national and international environmental NGOs, unions, social groups, indigenous peoples, private, communal and state forest owners, timber industries, scientists and numerous individuals in more than 60 countries worldwide.

Find out more

Delve deeper for detailed information about certification

• FSC International
  Forest Stewardship Council
• FSC contacts in your country
• FSC Certificates
  The FSC Certificate Search site enables users to verify the status of FSC registered certificates.
• Sustainable Forest Products online resource
• Certified Wood
  Information on forest management and product certification worldwide
• Global Forest And Trade Network
  WWF's initiative to eliminate illegal logging and improve the management of valuable and threatened forests.