With forest certification, an independent organization develops standards of good forest management, and independent auditors issue certificates to forest operations that comply with those standards. This certification verifies that forests are well-managed—as defined by a particular standard—and ensures that certain wood andpaper products come from responsibly managed forests.

Basic requirements of credible forest certification programs include:

• A rigorous, science-based standard that covers key values such as protection of biodiversity, species at risk and wildlife habitat; sustainable harvest levels; protection of water quality; and prompt regeneration.
• Independent, third-party certification audits performed by internationally accredited certification bodies.
• Publicly available certification summary documents, with corrective actions listed.
• Transparent standard setting and complaints processes.
• Support from conservation organizations that share similar goals for responsible forest management

Today there are more than 50 certification programs worldwide. Globally, the two largest umbrella certification programs are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes programs (PEFC).

While the original intent of forest certification was to stem tropical deforestation, it has had the most uptake in developed nations such as North America. In North America, there are four certification programs, the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), FSC, and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Program.

While forest certification is becoming more popular, it still remains that only 10% of the world’s forest are certified to any certification program^{[citation needed]}, so there is still a large supply of non-certified fiber in the market. Customers that choose to buy certified products are supporting the top tier of environmental performers in the forestry industry.

The concept of certification was pioneered in the early 1990s by the Forest Stewardship Council, a collaboration between environmental NGOs and timber companies. However, many competing systems quickly emerged throughout the world. Some commentators, including Jared Diamond, have suggested that many competing standards were set up by logging companies specifically aiming to confuse consumers with less rigorously enforced but similarly named competing standards. ^[1] The effectiveness of the Forest Stewardship Council has received the ultimate compliment from logging companies opposed to it: they have set up their own competing certification organizations with weaker standards. These include the Sustainable Forestry Initiative in the U.S., set up by the American Forest and Paper Association; the Canadian Standards Association; and the Pan-European Forest Council.

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