More than 296 million hectares of global forests are now certified under PEFC International’s forest certification scheme — a figure that is more than 7 per cent of the world’s 4.06 billion hectares of forest. That is according to PEFC’s 2025 Annual Review, published overnight, which comes as representatives from 57 PEFC member states gather in Istanbul for PEFC’s Forest Forum.
Whilst the total reflects a slight decrease of 1.2 million hectares over the past 12 months, strong gains in Africa, Europe and Oceania have offset reductions elsewhere, with PEFC’s certified forest estate now spanning 46 countries. The Republic of the Congo recorded the largest increase, at 2.2 million hectares, followed by Chile at 730,000 hectares and Cameroon at 610,000 hectares.
Beyond the forest gate, the PEFC Chain of Custody base grew to 13,977 certificates covering more than 33,000 companies worldwide, with over 500 additional businesses certified across Europe, Central and South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania during 2025. The first-ever certificates were issued in the British Virgin Islands, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Qatar and Sri Lanka, extending the scheme’s commercial reach into five additional jurisdictions.
At the 2025 General Assembly held during last May’s Forest Forum in Ho Chi Minh City, the PEFC Alliance endorsed the national forest certification systems of Türkiye and Lithuania, alongside the Croatian national forest management standard, which will become part of the Balkan Regional System. The Lithuanian system offers “another approach to sustainable forest management, especially for small forest owners,” said Alfredas Galauné, National Secretary of the Center of Sustainable Forest Management.
Across the broader strategic agenda, PEFC opened a regional office in Gabon to deepen its presence across the Congo Basin and launched its Indigenous Peoples Engagement Programme using a Human Rights-based approach to forest governance. The alliance also began work on a national forest certification system in Lao PDR with the country’s Department of Forestry and the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Science, with the system targeted for PEFC endorsement in 2027.
As regulatory pressure intensifies across Europe, the PEFC RED certification scheme was recognised by the European Commission under the amended Renewable Energy Directive RED III, with 109 companies achieving certification within six months of launch and the first PEFC EUDR Due Diligence System certificate in Cambodia issued to Chu Se – Kampong Thom Rubber Joint Stock Company. The same group had earlier become Cambodia’s first PEFC Chain of Custody-certified company in 2023, with the 2025 DDS milestone embedding the country’s rubber sector within PEFC’s EUDR-compliance pathway.
