Open Knowledge (FSC OK)

Forest certification is widely seen as an important component of strategies for conserving the world's forests. During the 1990s concern about the loss of biodiversity in logged forests was a key driver behind the emergence of forest certification. It was thought that production forest could play a bigger part in conserving nature by adhering to a strict and widely agreed forest management standard that considers the effects of logging and other forest management activities on biodiversity. Since the introduction of forest certification more than 300 million hectares of forest have been certified under a variety of schemes, the majority of which are located in temperate and boreal areas. Less than 20 million hectares are in the tropics, mostly certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Although interest in forest certification has waxed and waned, it remains a cornerstone of forest policies. But does it work? As more than 15 years have passed since the first certificate was issued, it should be possible to evaluate the effectiveness of certified forest management by comparing the conservation performance of certified forests with non-certified forests.