FSC in Croatia

Are you looking for an FSC-certified forest in Croatia? That's a piece of cake! Nearly three-quarters of the total forest area in Croatia are already FSC-certified! Furthermore, Croatia has the highest share of FSC-certified forest area in the world. According to the document Šumskogospodarska osnova 2016-2025, the total forest area in Croatia amounts to 2,8 million ha (M ha). Forests (high and coppice) cover 1,8 M ha (i.e. 63%), shrubs, maquis and other kinds of vegetation cover 0,7 M ha (i.e. 27%), while 0,3 M (i.e. 10%) ha are bare forest lands.

2 M ha of various forest cover in Croatia is FSC-certified, ensuring and demonstrating responsible forest management, according to the 10 FSC principles.

Forest ownership and management responsibilities in Croatia are distributed between the state (76%) and private forest owners (24%). Most of the state-owned forests and a part of private forests in Croatia are FSC-certified. 

There are three forest management companies in charge of FSC-certified forests:

• Hrvatske šume d.o.o. (state-owned forests) Read more about this FM company.
• Sunčane šume d.o.o. (private forests) Read more about this FM company.
• Udruga šumovlasnika (private forests)

High conservation values (HCV) are biological, ecological, social or cultural values of outstanding significance found in forests. FSC requires that the forest managers maintain and/or enhance the HCVs in their forests through applying the precautionary approach. 

Due to its specific geographical location where Pannonian, Dinaric, Mediterranean and pre-Alpine biogeographical influences intertwine, Croatia is extremely rich in terms of landscape and biological diversity. There is over 300 thousand hectares of FSC-certified forests in protected areas according to the national classification. That includes:

• special reserves
• nature parks
• regional parks
• nature monuments
• protected landscapes
• park-forests

In addition to over 80 thousand hectares of:

• other protective forests (soil, watercourses, erosion, settlements)
• seed stands containing local valuable gene pool
• forest for research and defence

There is over 400 companies in Croatia that are FSC-certified. This means that they source forest materials from the FSC-certified forests and other controlled sources, thus ensuring responsible forest management and use of forest materials. More than a third of all certified companies are wood processors (primary and secondary), while half of the certified companies primarily trades with FSC-certified products.

Look for the FSC-certified companies from Croatia here.

Solid wood is a term often used to distinguish between ordinary lumber and engineered wood. While solid wood is the same all the way through, engineered wood products are manufactured by binding together wood strands, fibres, or veneers with adhesives to form a composite material. 

Considering a variety of forest-based materials, 7 out of 10 FSC-certified companies from Croatia process or sell solid wood (sawn, chipped, peeled), followed by 6 out of 10 FSC-certified companies processing or selling wood in chips or particles or rough wood.