There are now more than 10 million hectares of forest independently certified to meet the Forest Stewardship Councils (FSC) criteria. And in only two years after the first certification body was accredited. More than 115 forests in 25 countries meet FSCs standards.
The largest area of certified forest is in Sweden. The 3.3 million hectares there are owned by AssiDoman. Muzama Crafts in Zambia owns 1,273,700ha. Notes FSCs executive director Tim Synnott, Many companies enrolled when it was clear FSC was on a roll, thats why the area of certified forest doubled in the first half of 1998. There are 3,000 certified wood products available. One of Europes largest forest owners, SCA, recently secured FSC-endorsed chain-of-custody certification for a UK paper mill. The World Wildlife Fund announced a new
target – 25 million hectares by 2001.
In the U.S., Scientific Certification Systems (a certifier) has seen requests for
chain-of-custody certifications triple in the last year. Debbie Hammel, program director, observed that two years ago, there was more supply than demand for certified products. Now the situation is reversed and demand is easily outstripping supply.
For a listing of companies that sell certified products:
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World map of certified forests: [sorry this link is no longer available]
FROM FSC Notes: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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