Our History

1994–2004

1994 

• The membership organization FSC Asociación Civil (AC) is established as a legal entity in Mexico.  

1996–1997

• The first General Assembly takes place. 
• The first FSC National Standard (NFSS) is endorsed in Sweden.  
• The first certified product, a wooden spatula, becomes available in the United Kingdom.

1998–1999 

• 10 million hectares of forest certified to FSC standards. 
• First FSC-certified and labeled non-timber forest product (Chicle gum, Mexico). 
• First book printed on FSC-certified paper.  

2000–2002 

• FSC receives the City of Götheberg’s International Environmental Prize.
• Policies developed on group certification of chain of custody (CoC), and sampling for multisite organizations.  
• FSC Board of Directors endorses FSC social strategy. 
• FSC is a founding member of ISEAL. 

2003 

• Re-location of the FSC secretariat from Oaxaca, Mexico, to Bonn, Germany. 
• 40 million hectares of certified forest.
• 20,000 FSC-certified products on the market. 

2004 

• Standards for small or low-intensity managed forests (SLIMF) come into effect.
• FSC wins prestigious ALCAN prize for the contribution it has made to improving forest management around the world. 

2016 

• Much of the timber used in the construction of venues for the 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games was FSC-certified. In addition, millions of FSC-certified products were used at the Games.
• Indonesian trade unionist, Rulita Wijayaningdyah, was appointed Chairperson of the FSC International Board of Directors – the first Asian woman to hold this position. 

2017 

• The Vancouver Declaration is launched as a commitment made by organizations around the world to work towards meeting UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by sustainably sourcing forest products. 
• ÁmaZ in Peru becomes the first restaurant in the world to achieve FSC certification.  

2018 

• The FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure, an initiative to create incentives for the preservation of valuable ecosystem services in responsibly managed forests, is launched.  

2019 

• FSC celebrates 25 years of sustainable forest management. 

2020 

• Launch of the FSC Indigenous Foundation to give a voice to Indigenous Peoples.
• The FSC Core Labour Requirements, based on the principles of the International Labour Organization core conventions, were embedded into the CoC standards.
• FSC joins Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly programme. 

2021 

• Focus Forests initiative begins to co-create solutions for environments of special value.
• The world’s first FSC-certified tyre is launched by Pirelli and BMW.
• Over 200 million FSC-certified areas.
• More than 50,000 CoC certificates.

2022 

• FSC’s strategic framework on gender and diversity is launched.
• The FSC continuous improvement procedure and the FSC remedy framework are approved.  

2023 

• Over 2.4 million hectares of FSC-certified forests were verified with positive ecosystem services impact. 

2024 

• FSC surpasses the 60,000 chain of custody certificates.
• FSC certification provides a strong foundation for meeting the requirements of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

2025

• The Board of Directors approved FSC’s Climate and Biodiversity Strategic Framework 2026–2032.
• FSC began revision of the Principles, Criteria, and Indicators and development of the next Global Strategy.
• The 10th General Assembly brought together members to vote on 36 motions.