Market opportunities thanks to sustainability certificates

The PEFC and FSC certification standards go far beyond the minimum requirements of legality, setting out more extensive demands in regard to environmental and social sustainability in forestry as well as an uninterrupted chain of custody. The increasingly stringent legal requirements in importing countries will benefit trade in sustainably certified timber in the medium term. The total forest area under FSC certification was 238 million hectares at the beginning of 2022, which roughly corresponds to the area of Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy combined. But only about 9 % of that area covers tropical forests and afforestation, which means they are still highly underrepresented in terms of FSC certification. Precious Woods manages about 5.5 % of the total FSC-certified tropical forest area.