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This review addresses whether certification actually helps reduce forest degradation and deforestation while strengthening the economic viability of forest enterprises. A systematic search of empirical studies from 1993–2021 (98 studies) evaluates impacts using diverse indicators and schemes, finding stronger evidence for degradation and mixed results for economic viability.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/effectiveness-and-economic-viability-of-forest-certification-a-systematic-review/500860/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/effectiveness-and-economic-viability-of-forest-certification-a-systematic-review/500860.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"xXChrisXx","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-21","2026-10-03",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",12,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What is the main purpose of forest certification according to the review?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Forest certification is intended to reduce forest degradation and deforestation while enhancing the economic viability of forest enterprises, alongside socially and environmentally appropriate management.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"Which impacts were most studied in the reviewed empirical literature?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"Forest degradation was most frequently studied (n = 42), followed by economic viability (n = 45). Deforestation received less attention (n = 11).",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"Do the review results show that certification effectiveness depends on region or certification scheme?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"The review did not find clear evidence linking impacts to a specific region or certification scheme, and it notes limited evidence for PEFC and comparisons hindered by scarce, heterogeneous study designs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},500860,1791029769,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":145,"read_time":146},8796112263567,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Review  \nEffectiveness and Economic Viability of Forest Certification: A Systematic Review  \nSarah Wolff * and Jörg Schweinle   \nCitation: Wolff, S.; Schweinle, J. Effectiveness and Economic Viability of Forest Certification: A Systematic Review. Forests 2022, 13, 798 . [https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050798](https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050798)  \nReceived: 14 April 2022  \nAccepted: 17 May 2022  \nPublished: 19 May 2022  \nPublisher's Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.  \nCopyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) .  \nThünen Institute of Forestry, Leuschnerstraße 91, 21031 Hamburg, Germany; [joerg.schweinle@thuenen.de](joerg.schweinle@thuenen.de)  \n* Correspondence: sarah.wolff@thuenen.de  \nAbstract: In the face of accelerating forest degradation and deforestation, forest certification emerged in the early 1990s as a voluntary and market-based mechanism to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. A key goal of forest certification is to reduce forest degradation and deforestation while enhancing forest enterprises' economic viability. However, whether forest certification contributes to meeting such goals is unclear. We conducted a systematic literature review on such impacts, reviewing empirical studies published between 1993 and 2021 regarding the impact of forest certification on forest degradation, deforestation, and economic viability. Drawing on 98 empirical studies, we analyzed these impactsand provide an overview of the studies' findings in terms of geographical distribution, indicators considered, and the certification schemes assessed. We found that the impact of forest certification on deforestation has been specifically understudied (n = 11) compared to forest degradation (n = 42) and economic viability (n = 45) . On deforestation, studies have focused on Africa (45%) and South America (36%); on forest degradation, studies have focused on Europe (40%) and Asia (20%); on economic viability, studies have focused on Asia (33%), Europe (33%) and South America (20%) . We found positive-neutral (54%; 46%) impacts on deforestation, positive-neutral-mixed (70%; 21%; 9%) impacts on forest degradation and positive-negative-mixed (50%; 33%; 17%) impacts on economic viability. We did not find clear evidence that impact is linked to a specific region or certification scheme. However, scarce evidence on the impacts of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the application of various methods, and site-specific indicators in the individual studies challenge such comparison and hamper the generalization of findings. This systematic review provides an overview of the state-of-the-art research on the effectiveness and economic viability of forest certification, evaluates and discusses the current evidence base, and concludes with future research lines.  \nKeywords: Forest Stewardship Council; deforestation; forest degradation; economic impact  \n1. Introduction  \nForests cover 31% of the global land area [1] . They provide essential social, economic and environmental benefits to society such as employment, forest products, biodiversity, carbon storage and sequestration. However, agricultural expansion, logging of timber and the collection of fuelwood, fires and livestock grazing have been driving deforestation and forest degradation at alarming rates [1,2] .  \nVarious policies have been implemented to slow down deforestation and forest degradation, such as forest laws, their increased enforcement, protected areas, or programs of payments for ecosystem services (PES) [3] . In additi","cbCaida2MVQcACb9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaida2MVQcACb9","pdf",9942169,32,"English","# Introduction\n# Forest Certification Schemes and Uptake\n# Systematic Review Methods\n# Findings on Degradation, Deforestation, and Economic Viability\n# Discussion and Future Research Directions","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of forest certification according to the review?\",\"answer\":\"Forest certification is intended to reduce forest degradation and deforestation while enhancing the economic viability of forest enterprises, alongside socially and environmentally appropriate management.\"},{\"question\":\"Which impacts were most studied in the reviewed empirical literature?\",\"answer\":\"Forest degradation was most frequently studied (n = 42), followed by economic viability (n = 45). Deforestation received less attention (n = 11).\"},{\"question\":\"Do the review results show that certification effectiveness depends on region or certification scheme?\",\"answer\":\"The review did not find clear evidence linking impacts to a specific region or certification scheme, and it notes limited evidence for PEFC and comparisons hindered by scarce, heterogeneous study designs.\"}]","Effectiveness and Economic Viability of Forest Certification - A Systematic Review | PDF",1791015508,81]