Almost 20 years ago, the world's governments failed to protect our forests. Their failure has been our challenge, and millions of people around the world have been working harder to save the world's green lung.

The Rio Forest Certification Declaration is based on the idea that a common set of principles is needed, a set of principles that provides guidance to all of us about what is needed to better promote forest certification and its continuous growth to advance sustainable forest management.

Much like forests, ideas sometimes take a long time to grow. Over time, they become more complex and diverse and eventually reach maturity. The sustainable management of the world’s forests is one of these ideas.

The idea of sustainable forest management is based on the concept of ‘sustainable development’ and rests on three integrated and equally important pillars: environmental soundness, social justice, and economic viability.

We know now that missing out or not paying sufficient attention to any one of these crucial elements will seriously undermine the chances of success of achieving sustainability in forest management just as in development.

The concept of ‘sustainable development’ and the interrelationship of its three pillars was originally popularized in the 1987 Brundtland report, yet it was at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 where the idea finally took hold.