Celebrating 30 Years of FSC UK

After the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio failed to produce an agreement to stop deforestation, a committed group of environmentalists, businesses, and community leaders joined to create a revolutionary market-based approach to improve forestry practices worldwide.   

That was the seed of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), founded in 1994 as a voluntary certification for sustainable forestry, promoting environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests.

After FSC was founded, national offices were set up to provide country-specific support for the global certification system. The first of these was the FSC UK office, founded in 1995.  To celebrate their 30th anniversary this year, the FSC UK team looked back at some of their key milestones and achievements from over the years.

The journey so far 

• 1995: FSC UK was FSC’s first national office, closely followed by FSC Netherlands and FSC Germany 
• 1996: The world's first FSC-labelled product went on sale, a wooden spatula, sold by Sainsbury's UK.  

• 1999: The UK Forestry Commission became the first state forest service to have all its land FSC-certified, over 800,000 hectares. 
• 2005: Over 1.5 million hectares (over 50%) of forests were certified in the UK.  
• 2006: Westside Apartments in Ilford, Essex, was the first building in the world to achieve full FSC project certification. 
• 2008: FSC UK launched the FSC Friday campaign in September 2008 to help raise awareness about the importance of responsible forest management. This has now evolved into the annual global FSC Forest Week campaign.  
• 2010: 2,000 chain of custody certificate holders in the UK.  
• 2012: The London 2012 Olympic Park and Athletes Village achieved FSC project certification. 

• 2014: The FSC UK consumer survey revealed that 50% of UK consumers recognised the FSC logo. 
• 2018: 100 FSC promotional licence holders in the UK 
• 2023: Ardura Community Forest, on the Isle of Mull, achieved the first Ecosystem Services (now Verified Impact) Verification in the UK.  
• 2025: Over 1.62 million hectares of forest certified, 2,250 chain of custody certificate holders, and over 120 promotional license holders in the UK. Recognition of the FSC logo has also increased, with 76% of UK consumers recognising the logo.  

A chance to celebrate 

To mark its 30^th anniversary, FSC UK held a celebration event at the WWF Living Planet Centre in Surrey. FSC members and other stakeholders gathered to reflect on three decades of promoting responsible forest management and to look ahead to the future.  The event was not only a celebration of past achievements but also a call for continued action and innovation in forest stewardship, watch some of the highlights below.  

Reflections from Rosie Teasdale, Executive Director of FSC UK since 2015 

FSC UK’s success is not just about growth and innovation. It is built on the continued support of our members, certificate holders, and promotional licence holders. While we rightly celebrate new achievements, sector expansion, and key milestones — such as our 30th Anniversary this year — we must also acknowledge that our progress depends on those who remain committed to the mission every single day. 

 In my early days with FSC UK, we ran a poster competition and the winning poster used the strapline 'FSC — putting forests first to make them last'. We are grateful for the firsts we’ve celebrated over the years, but also for the lasting commitments — it is these that will help to ensure we have Forests For All Forever. Looking forward to the next decade, or even the next 30 years, we are all too aware of the challenges. We need to clarify FSC's role when it comes to mitigating climate changes and biodiversity loss and navigate new regulations and increasing demand for transparency of supply chains. Only by continuing to work together, balancing environmental, social and economic demands, can we hope to deliver on FSC's mission. 

Ultimately, we need to care. As Dr Seuss advised in The Lorax 'Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.' Thanks to all those who have cared and continue to care for FSC and for the world's forests. Let's continue to put forests first to make them last."