FOREST CERTIFICATION
About Certification

Evolution and Current Condition of Certification

Period 1993-2007

There are 3.869 million hectares of forests in the world, which cover 30 % of the land surface on the planet.

Of this surface, 95 % (3.682 million hectares) are natural forests and 5 % (187 millions) are plantations (FAO, 2005). Productive forests generate approximately 3,4 trillions m³ a year, which supply the increasing demand for fuel and industrial wood products.

Wood is the most traded commodity in the world (FAO, 2005). Because of it the forestry is considered to be one of the most relevant productive sectors in the world economy. This – together with the fact that the sector supplies raw material extracted from natural resources turns forestry into a highly sensitive sector in environmental terms, which hasn’t been exempt from questioning concerning its long term sustainability.

With the emergence of Sustainable Forest Management Certification as a world trend, a possibility was generated for forest owners to express voluntarily - through a market mechanism - that their management follows principles of environmental, economic and social sustainability. This is a new way to demonstrate before the international community a level of commitment and solidarity with current and future generations, and the avoidance forest degradation which could be a product of poor management.

Forest certification has been identified as one of the most dynamic trends that has experienced any global productive sector. From its creation until today, it has covered 294,8 million certified hectares, which is 7,6 % of the world forests.

At the moment, PEFC is the scheme that covers the largest certified forest area in the world: 201 million hectares representing 68% of certified forests. The certified surface FSC reaches 93,8 million hectares (31%). The national scheme SFI (USA) and CSA (Canada) possess an important certified area, which was incorporated to the PEFC area in the year 2005, since both countries are internationally endorsed by the organization.