Definition: this indicator shows the proportion of forest area with an FSC label (Forest Stewardship Council) or a PEFC label (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) in the total forest area of the Belgian territory. These forest certifications and their evaluation are based on defined principles and criteria and compliance is verified by independent certifications organisms, which guarantees the compliance with this standard. The forest area includes all types of forests as well as the other wooded areas. This indicator is calculated by the FPB on the basis of data from the Forest Stewardship Council, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes and Statistics Belgium.

Goal: the forest area with FSC or PEFC label must increase.

The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 15.2: “By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally”.

The Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity of December 2022 has adopted new goals, among which "Ensure that areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry are managed sustainably " (target 10, CBD, 2022).

The Federal Long-Term Strategic Vision for Sustainable Development contains objective 37: “The goods and services provided by ecosystems will be restored, valorised and used prudently and sustainably, contributing directly to the maintenance of biodiversity (Belgian Official Gazette, 08/10/2013).

The National Biodiversity Strategy 2020 also states as operational objective 4f.1: “Promote the conservation of forest biodiversity through independent credible forest certification systems that provide a guarantee for sustainable forest management” (National Focal Point to the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2013).

International comparison: no comparison can be made, since there are insufficient data available on the Eurostat website.

UN indicator: the selected indicator corresponds to indicator 15.2.1 - Progress towards sustainable forest management.

Sources

• General

  • SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals: United Nations (2015), Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, document A/RES/70/1.

  • Indicators: United Nations (2017), Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, document A/RES/71/313.

  • UN Sustainable Development: https://sdgs.un.org/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).

  • UN Sustainable Development Goal indicators website: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).

• Specific

  • Belgian Official Gazette: http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/welcome.pl; research on http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/doc/rech_f.htm (consulted on 24/09/2020).

  • CBD (2022), Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity framework, CBD/COP/15/L.25.

  • Point focal national belge pour la Convention sur la Diversité biologique (2013), Biodiversité 2020 – Actualisation de la Stratégie nationale de la Belgique, Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles, http://www.biodiv.be/implementation/docs/stratactplan/biodiversity-strategy-2020 (consulté le 24/09/2020).

More information is available in French and Dutch.