Forest certification is an important tool to ensure that a product originated from a responsibly managed forest. Despite having many environmental, social and economic benefits for participants from forest owners to lumber and paper users, certification faces significant challenges in broadening its adoption-both internationally and in the United States. The participation costs, value proposition and a politically charged environment have been challenges to the market-driven strategy forest certification standards currently use to promote responsible forest management. Statistics on forest certification depend on whether the measurement includes total forests or industrial "working" forests. Internationally, that number ranges from 10 to 25 percent, respectively. In the Unites States, the most often cited statistic is that 20 percent of timberland is certified. Regardless of the statistic or source, there are concerns that forest certification is impeded by a number of challenges that have kept it from broader use in the marketplace. Chief among these is access to an adequate supply of certified forest products, certification standard debates that have exhausted resources that could be spent on promoting use, a general lack of information and education among the public, and a business model that needs better incentives and is cost prohibitive for many small landowners.
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