“We just cannot leave the forests alone”: Former director for FSC Russia on saving FSC values in sanctioned Russia

The lobby of a smart resort hotel in Panama hums with conference chatter: lanyards, coffee carts, and the steady hum of air conditioning. In a quiet corner overlooking a pool, Nikolay Shmatkov speaks softly but with conviction. The former director of FSC Russia, he now leads Forest Etalon, a small team of 12 Russians. Nikolay, as an FSC International Member and 5 other International Members from Russia are in Panama trying to convince the Forest Stewardship Council to support their work back home—without crossing political red lines.

“It’s important to note that all these things happened before sanctions actually started,” Shmatkov says. “If sanctions had come first, and then FSC withdrew, it would have been easier for people to understand. For me it is clear that FSC had a lot of reasons to leave Russia, including the team's safety and quality control. But authorities and many stakeholders still believe FSC left for political reasons.”

After the exit

On 8 March 2022, FSC announced its withdrawal from Russia—ending certification in the world’s largest forested country. At the time, 62 million hectares of Russian forest were FSC-certified, more than any other nation on earth. Within weeks of Ukraine-Russia military conflict , all that collapsed.

“Working with an organization perceived as part of the sanctions could be dangerous,” Shmatkov explains. “You could easily go to prison for that.”

FSC first suspended its chain-of-custody certificates, which track timber through supply chains, then halted forest management certification altogether. “Audits could no longer be verified,” he says. “And many companies stopped paying for certification they couldn’t use.”

Rather than watch the system disappear, Shmatkov and his team created Forest Etalon—literally, “Ideal Forest” “We didn’t change a single letter in any of FSC’s standards and procedures,” he says. “Same auditors, same approaches. The only difference is the name and that quality control now comes from an independent Russian organization.”

“What FSC planted in Russia—it’s sustainable. We are still working, keeping the standards alive.” 

Nikolay Shmatkov

Former Director of FSC Russia and current Head of Forest Etalon

Today, Forest Etalon certifies 6.5 million hectares in 22 regions—a fraction of what FSC once covered, but enough to keep the idea of sustainable forestry alive. “We’re not working for anyone outside the country,” he says. “We’re working for the forests and the people who depend on them.”

Competing systems, shrinking forests

The vacuum left by FSC’s exit has been filled by four rival certification systems. Forest Etalon remains the most rigorous, preserving protections for intact forest landscapes and Indigenous and local communities’ rights, but it is struggling to compete.

“Without support, we will lose,” Shmatkov admits. “Our standards are strict. Others are more relaxed about old-growth forests and Indigenous peoples.”

Some systems, he notes, are effectively state-controlled.. “They kept parts of the FSC framework,” he says, “but removed requirements they saw as excessive.”

The result is a steady erosion of protection. Under FSC, about three million hectares of intact forest landscapes were conserved. Today, Forest Etalon oversees just 12 thousand hectares. “Companies managing high conservation values no longer see the point,” he says. “They switch to friendlier systems.”

Timber flows east

Sanctions may have rerouted Russia’s timber trade—but they haven’t slowed it. “China, Vietnam, India, Turkey—they’re all buying,” Shmatkov says.

He cites one example from the Russian Far East: a company that once exported FSC-certified oak flooring to Japan. “Now they do the same, via China, without any certification. They’re logging in high conservation value forests that used to be protected. The Japanese are buying it again. Nobody cares.”

He looks out toward the tropical garden beyond the hotel windows. “Somebody has to make them care—or at least make them aware.”

Seeking FSC’s engagement

In Panama, that awareness is what Shmatkov hopes to spark. He and 5 FSC International Members from Russia representing 3 Chambers have come not to demand official recognition, but to argue for engagement. “The world is getting polarized—and paralyzed,” he says. “FSC is a global organization. You can’t just exclude 20 percent of the world’s forests because they’re in Russia.”

Russia’s forests represent roughly 21 percent of the planet’s remaining intact forest landscapes, home to more than 50 Indigenous nations. “They are not responsible for this geopolitical situation,” Shmatkov says quietly. “But they are suffering from it.”

He wants FSC to at least provide transparency: “Compare the certification systems working in Russia. Look at their standards, their audit quality. And communicate that to companies in Europe, the US, Japan, China and other countries. Many don’t know what’s happening.”

An enduring legacy

When Shmatkov founded Forest Etalon, he thought it would last months, not years. But three and a half years later, the system survives—under pressure, but intact. “What FSC planted in Russia—it’s sustainable,” he says with a faint smile. “We are still working, keeping the standards alive.”

Before the military conflict, 70 million hectares were certified under FSC and PEFC combined. Today, the total area across all Russian schemes is about 35 million hectares—half the former level. The area managed according to FSC’s requirements has dropped “9.5 times,” Shmatkov says.

Still, he refuses to compromise. “The only heritage we have is what FSC built in Russia 25 years ago. If we weaken that, we lose the point of existing.”

As he gathers his papers for another meeting, his voice softens. “I’m not afraid to lose my job,” he says. “My team would find other work. But we just cannot leave the high conservation value forests and forest-dependent communities alone. That’s what keeps us going.”