FSC announces Conservation Facility to certify national parks and conservation areas

Conservation areas play a vital role in protecting biodiversity and supporting climate action, yet many remain underfunded and vulnerable to degradation.  

In response, FSC launched the Conservation Facility – an initiative to advance conservation, climate resilience, and equitable forest management by certifying high-value natural parks and conservation areas and unlocking ecosystem services markets.  

The Facility will provide technical assistance and support access to Forest Management certification, including pathways for low-intensity managed forests. This will be complemented by verification of ecosystem services impacts through FSC’s Verified Impact programme, which measures benefits such as carbon storage and biodiversity protection, helping conservation managers demonstrate measurable environmental outcomes and access ecosystem service finance. 

The fund aims to certify at least 25 million hectares in two years, focusing on high conservation value regions in Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia. FSC has already committed USD 1.7 million toward ongoing project work in 2026 and is seeking additional partners to help expand its impact. 

FSC thanks the Slalom Foundation as its flagship sponsor through its 2025 climate grant, and our supporters Building and Wood Workers' International, FSC Indigenous Foundation, Olam Agri, Rainforest Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, and Veracel. 

“Slalom is proud to be one of the inaugural donors to FSC’s Conservation Facility. As a business, we depend on healthy ecosystems for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the products we use every day — and we share a responsibility to protect these natural systems for future generations,” said Meagan Breidert, Senior Director of Sustainability & Impact at Slalom on behalf of the Slalom Foundation. 

"The Nature Conservancy believes healthy forests are essential to a healthy planet and efforts like this work to ensure solutions are good for both people and nature. We support the FSC’s Conservation Fund initiative and believe it will have positive impacts on forests and communities,” said Clare Shakya, Global Managing Director, Climate at The Nature Conservancy. 

Impacts of certification 

Many FSC-certified forests show more environmental benefits and species abundance than uncertified forests, and we expect to see similar benefits as the fund expands FSC’s work: 

Species abundance 

• Country‑level analysis in 91 nations (2008–2019) links greater FSC Forest Management areas to fewer threatened species.
• In Gabon and Republic of Congo, FSC-certified forests host 2.7x more large mammals such as gorillas and forest elephants, than non-certified areas.
• In the Peruvian Amazon, FSC-certified logging concessions show greater species richness like amphibians, insects, and monkeys than non-FSC concessions, with animal densities comparable to protected areas. 

Restored forests 

• Regenerated FSC-certified forests in Mexico support threatened species like the rare bicoloured hawk, endangered spider monkey, and protected king vulture.
• In the southeastern USA, more than 7,000 ha in an FSC-certified forest have been restored to native forestland.
• The Uganda Timber Growers Association is following FSC standards to restore degraded forests in West Bugwe Central Forest, with no logging activities in the conservation areas. 

These impacts are found in FSC-certified working forests – where certification managers must designate at least 10% of the forest for conservation. Certification in forests managed entirely for conservation has the potential for even greater gains in biodiversity and ecosystem services. 

“We believe the Conservation Facility has the potential to unlock the kind of long-term finance and incentives that forest managers need to expand their impact. That means more forests protected, more ecosystems restored, more biodiversity conserved, and stronger livelihoods for the communities at the heart of this work,” said José Román Carrera, Forestry Director, Rainforest Alliance. 

“The FSC Conservation Facility comes at a crucial time to bridge the gap between certified management and verified conservation outcomes. If we want forests to thrive, we must evolve from certifying good management to enabling measurable impact at the scale of entire landscapes. The next frontier for FSC is not about rules, but about results — where stewardship becomes a shared investment between those who protect forests and those who benefit from them,” said Vincent Istace, Head of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability at Olam Agri. 

Pilot projects 

The Conservation Facility has been launched with six pilot projects in 2026-2027 covering approximately 25 million hectares of high-value national parks and conservation areas. 

• Peru: The National Service of Natural Protected Areas by the State (SERNANP) is advancing FSC certification for major national parks, covering 7.4 million hectares of Amazon ecosystems.
• Gabon: The National Agency for National Parks is planning to certify all 13 national parks, nearly 3 million hectares of primarily forested landscapes.
• Ethiopia: Ethiopia’s Oromia Forest & Wildlife Enterprise is working toward certifying its entire concession area of nearly 4 million hectares of forests and protected areas.
• Tanzania: Engagement is underway to certify forest areas managed by national conservation authorities.
• Brazil: Opportunities are being explored with stakeholders to certify more than 8 million hectares of rainforests in the State of Amazonas.
• Kyrgyzstan: Engagement is ongoing to certify all the country’s special protected areas.  

“Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI) strongly endorses the launch of the Conservation Facility. As the only international trade union organization member of the FSC, BWI is committed to cooperate with Facility partners and stakeholders to ensure social dimensions, particularly workers and trade union rights, are embedded in the Facility cooperation framework to give more credence in realizing and fulfilling its objectives and mandate,” said Apolinar Tolentino, Regional Representative of Building and Wood Workers' International Asia Pacific. 

“We are in a world that is now increasingly driven towards actions that destroy nature and this action by FSC is like a breath of fresh air. To finance the conservation of nature is not only bold; it is a necessity to ensure everyone’s survival,” said Minnie Degawan, Managing Director of the FSC Indigenous Foundation. 

Partner for impact 

This Conservation Facility is designed as a collaborative fund, unlocking long-term financing and delivering verified impacts. ​By partnering with the fund, organizations can play a vital role in preserving critical ecosystems while demonstrating leadership in sustainability and climate action.  

FSC has pre-committed USD 1.7 million of the USD 2.7 million pilot budget and is seeking external funding to support conservation managers through certification subsidies and technical assistance. Strategic funding is urgently needed to close the gap and bring more conservation areas into certified, sustainable forest management.  

If you are interested in becoming a partner, please contact ecosystemservices@fsc.org