• FSC has published a response, regretting SCA’s decision and responding to SCA’s points. FSC encourages SCA to engage with FSC rather than terminating its FSC certification status.
• FSC argues against a singular focus on carbon and emphasises the need to consider multiple environmental impacts.
• FSC claim the move is likely to reduce environmental considerations of SCA, especially towards preservation of high-value forests and reindeer husbandry.
• As SCA manages nearly a fifth of FSC-certified forests in Sweden, the withdrawal is expected to significantly reduce the volume of FSC-certified products on the market.

• SCA is Europe’s largest forest owner and a major timber, pulp and paper manufacturer.
• A long-standing member of FSC, it announced its intention to temporarily pause its FSC Forest Management certification in Sweden starting June 1, 2025, due to a series of systemic challenges it sees within the current FSC framework.
  • Still supports FSC: Although SCA is leaving the Swedish FSC system on June 1st, they will remain a member, keep its Controlled Wood and Chain of Custody certifications, and maintain Forest Management certification in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
  • Hopefully temporary: The pause is intended to protect SCA’s ability to meet climate and sustainability goals, not to leave FSC entirely.
  • To prompt dialogue: SCA is calling for a meeting with FSC and stakeholders in Frankfurt to work on solutions collaboratively.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification has been a vital component of sustainable forest management in Poland for over 25 years. Until recently, approximately two-thirds of the total forest area of 9.2 million hectares in the country were FSC-certified. The certified forests are managed by the Regional Directorates of State Forests (RDSF) and two Forest Experimental Stations under the University of Poznań.

Despite initiating dialogue in November 2022 between FSC International and Polish State Forests, six Regional Directorates of State Forests (RDSFs), representing an area of roughly 2 million hectares, have opted to discontinue FSC certification in their respective regions. The affected regions include:

• Gdansk (FSC-certified area: 303,938 ha) - expired
• Torun (FSC-certified area: 456,447 ha) - expired
• Poznan (FSC-certified area: 419,535 ha) - certificate expired on 4 April, 2023
• Warsaw (FSC-certified area: 194,960 ha) - certificate expired on 9 April, 2023
• Radom (FSC-certified area: 325,074 ha) - certificate expired on 1 May, 2023
• Pila (FSC-certified area: 362,770 ha) - recertification granted on 10 March, 2023; license agreement was valid until May 31, 2023

The collaboration between Polish foresters and FSC has enabled many Polish companies to grow their market reach through exporting their FSC certified products to regional and international companies. Today, Polish companies are among global leaders when it comes to the production of furniture, doors, windows, panels, and other wood-based products. There are currently 2,500 FSC Chain of Custody (CoC) certificates in Poland, making it one of the top countries for FSC CoC globally.

Kim Carstensen, Director General of FSC International, says: “We will reinforce our engagement and presence in Poland to ensure that we have a solid foundation for responsible forest management now and in the long term. We will continue to promote sustainable practices throughout the country in line with our values, while safeguarding its global credibility”.

FSC acknowledges the significant implications for certified supply in the country coupled with the existing shortages as a consequence of the Ukraine war. To address this issue, FSC is actively working alongside partners and members to develop strategic solutions to fill the supply gap.

WWF-Russia recommends companies to not source nor use wood obtained from salvage logging, and to take additional measures to verify the legality of sanitary wood felling, such as increasing company field audits, until the risk of illegal wood from salvage logging entering supply chains has been minimised drastically.

Environmental activists in Poland have complained about the resumption of logging in a protected forest. NGOs said that trees are being cut down again in Bialowieza, Europe's last primeval forest in eastern Poland. But Poland's national forest administration has dismissed the complaint and says that it is acting legally.