Two events are planned in the two countries that have played important roles in our history: Cancún in Mexico and Bonn in Germany.
The celebration in Cancún will take place in September. A number of stakeholders, including members, will be present for the occasion. As the birthplace of FSC, Mexico has a special place in our hearts and in our history. In 1994, FSC was registered as a legal entity in Mexico and the FSC Secretariat opened its doors in Oaxaca with only 3 staff members.
In 2003 we relocated our headquarters to Bonn. At that point, over 40 million hectares of forest land was certified to FSC standards, and there were over 20 thousand FSC-certified products on the market. The city of Bonn has always been an incredible source of support for our organization, and continues to play that role, including the oversight of our celebration in Bonn on 25 June.
Director General Kim Carstensen weighed in on our 25 year history. “FSC has a lot to celebrate. We have grown to become the world’s most trusted solution for sustainable forest management. By using our democratic system to improve our standards, we continuously improve the responsible management of the world’s forests. Issues like the climate crisis or the extinction of biodiversity are becoming more pressing, and FSC will continue to be an important contributor in providing solutions on the ground.”
Today over 200 million hectares of forest are FSC-certified, and over 38 thousand chain of custody certificates have been issued across the world.