Satisfaction of Certificate and Promotional Licence Holders with FSC has doubled according to its latest Global Client Survey

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) conducts a Global Client Survey every two years to understand the main benefits and perceived importance of belonging to the FSC system.

The survey measures levels of satisfaction and intentions of certificate and licence renewal and identifies areas for improvement.  

This year, 8,975 FSC Forest Management (FM) and Chain of Custody (CoC) Certificate Holders and 323 Promotional Licence Holders (PLH) participated in the survey – the highest participation rate since the launch of the survey. Key findings include:

Increased levels of satisfaction 

Overall satisfaction is higher than in previous years and the proportion of “very satisfied” respondents more than doubled. More than 75 per cent of Forest Management and Chain of Custody Certificate Holders and 70 per cent of Promotional Licence Holders are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with FSC.  

In addition, the percentage of “very satisfied” increased markedly in 2022, from 18 to 47 per cent for FM, from 22 to 52 per cent for CoC, and from 18 to 38 per cent for PLH. 

Most valuable benefits 

For Forest Management Certificate Holders, the most valuable benefit of the FSC certification is its role in the protection of forest ecosystems (49 per cent), while for Chain of Custody certification holders it is the prevention of deforestation and forest degradation (46 per cent). For nearly 90 per cent of the Promotional Licence Holders, the main perceived benefit of FSC is to build brand image and sustainability credentials.  

More than 60 per cent of Certificate and Promotional Licence Holders believe that the importance of FSC certification and promotional licences will increase in the next two years. 

High renewal intentions 

Regarding their intent to renew, 85 per cent of FM and CoC Certificate Holders and 78 per cent of FSC Promotional Licence Holders plan to renew their certification. In addition, the Net Promoter Score, which measures how willing respondents are to recommend an organization, was positive for all surveyed groups. 

Improvement opportunities 

Opportunities for improvement identified by Certificate Holders include raising awareness of the value of sustainable forest management and reducing certification costs. Promotional Licence Holders see opportunities to improve promoting the importance of sustainable forest management and awareness of FSC's mission and activities. 

FSC values the feedback received, which will be helpful in moving FSC forward. 

Read the full 2022 FSC Global Client Survey report here.