FSC-certified forest area in Russia hit the 30 million ha milestone in March.
Russia’s FSC-certified forest area increased from 20 million ha in 2008 and now stands at 30.5 million ha, representing the second largest FSC-certified area in the world after Canada.
“This milestone confirms the phenomenal growth of forest certification in Russia since the first certificate was issued to Kosihinsky Rural Forestry in 2000,” FSC International said.
“With 7-8 million ha in the process of being certified in the Russian Far East, and similar amounts in the European part of Russia, FSC certification is expected to grow even more in the near future.”
In February, Russian timber company Ilim Group was awarded the second largest forest management certificate ever covering more than 3.7 million ha of certified forest area.??
Leading retailer IKEA recently approved a project to strengthen FSC in Russia and help the FSC national office to overcome existing financial and technical constraints.
