Newsletter Stories


Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Revised 2025 Ecosystem Services Procedure Released

By: Tom Kain


The revised Ecosystem Services (ES) Procedure V2-0 was published on January 2, 2025. This revision is an update to the original procedure published in 2018 and includes two new ES categories: cultural practices and air quality.

The ES Procedure is a voluntary add-on for FSC Forest Management certificate holders. It offers a voluntary framework to demonstrate the positive impact of responsible forest management practices on ecosystem services, thereby generating verified ecosystem services impacts. It also allows forest managers and sponsors to make ecosystem services claims to promote and communicate about verified ES impacts as part of broader sustainability strategies.

The ES Procedure’s effective date is July 1, 2025. The transition period ends December 31, 2026. You can find the revised procedure V2-0 on FSC’s Document Center.

The ES Procedure allows for claims to be made in seven different areas for a total of 35 impacts:

1. Biodiversity Conservation, twelve impacts
2. Carbon Sequestration and Storage, five impacts
3. Water Services, four impacts
4. Soil Conservation, four impacts
5. Recreational Services, four impacts
6. Cultural Practices and values (new), four impacts
7. Air Quality (new), two impacts

Webinar Series and Topics
FSC US will be hosting a three-part webinar series in February. We will be doing a deep dive into three different aspects of the procedure with an expert from the working group Wesley Snell.

1. Tuesday, February 4th, from 1 pm to 2 pm, Session 1: Introduction to Verified Impact: FSC in the Climate & Biodiversity Crisis - REGISTER HERE.
2. Tuesday, February 11th, from 1 pm to 2 pm, Session 2: Generating Verified Impact as a Certificate Holder - REGISTER HERE
3. Tuesday, February 18th, from 1 pm to 2 pm, Session 3: The Critical Role Sponsors Play in Verified Impact - REGISTER HERE