Forest Certification is a process that is designed to ensure that forests are being well managed and that the interests of local people are being protected. It helps to ensure that forests are being properly managed so that they can continue to provide their range of benefits and services for current and future generations. Forest Certification also helps to ensure that people who live in or close to the forest benefit from its management and use.

Under forest certification schemes, independent auditors issue a certificate to the forest manager. This is only done after the quality of forest management has been assessed using standards agreed to by all stakeholders. These standards should be in accordance with global criteria for good forest management. Once a certificate is given, the auditor makes annual follow-up visits to ensure that the forest continues to be managed to the agreed standard.

All products under the FSC certification scheme can be traced back to their origin through a "chain of custody" system. This provides a guarantee to buyers of FSC certified products that these actually come from well-managed forests.

The most widely recognized and best-regarded system for forest certification is that of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Globally there are more than 75 million hectares of FSC certified forests and over 5000 Chain Of Custody certificates in more than 80 countries.