SDG 15.2.1 Forest area certified under an independently verified certification scheme

This dataset reports forest area recorded as certified under an independently verified forest-management certification scheme, expressed in thousands of hectares. It is one of five sub-indicators used in the SDG 15.2.1 dashboard for progress towards sustainable forest management. Certification schemes are voluntary, market-based systems in which compliance with defined standards is verified by an independent accredited certifier. The uploaded series records 0 thousand hectares for every reported year. The source notes that certification bodies were not yet established for the 1990 reference point and that no certified forest area was recorded in FSC and PEFC records for later years. The zero values therefore mean that no certified area was recorded in the referenced certification databases; they do not prove that no forest was sustainably managed, because sustainably managed forest may be uncertified.