22,6% of the global industrial roundwood production is now FSC certified

A recent analysis across FSC forest management audit reports revealed that approximately 423 million cubic meters of wood are harvested per year in FSC-certified forests around the world.

This represents 22,6% of the global industrial roundwood production.

This number represents the maximum volume of FSC-certified wood which is potentially available across the globe. A margin of uncertainty of +/- 5% has to be considered.

Compared to the FAO wood production data from 2016, this volume corresponds to:

• 22,6% of global industrial roundwood production (all roundwood excluding fuel wood); and
• 11,3% of global roundwood production (which includes industrial roundwood and fuel wood).

To measure FSC-certified wood volumes, data from the most recent public reports of all 1509 independently verified forest management certificates were analyzed in 2017. Of these reports, 1138 reported volumes on a voluntary basis and in a non-standardized way. An estimate was made for the remaining 371 certificates. Overall, the reports covered an area of just under 200 million hectares of forests.

“The 200 million hectares of FSC-certified forests in the world correspond to approximately 17% of the world’s production forests, an area the size of 200 million football fields,” says Jeremy Harrison, Chief Marketing Officer at FSC International. “Not only does FSC ensure the highest standards of sustainable forest management, but this new indication of the volume share of production shows that FSC certification is becoming an important factor in global forest products markets.”

An infographic displaying the results of this analysis is available here.