A coalition of environmental and social NGOs has released an investigation exposing the failings of forest-industry-controlled certification worldwide. The On the Ground report details 21 case studies from eight different countries, including Finland and Sweden.

In Norway the forests have been intensely harvested for hundreds of years, and virgin forests are almost completely gone, while some regions still holds larger tracts of rather old forests that have been subjected only to selective loggings in the past. More than 50% of the forest is under 60 years of age, and it has been estimated that no more than 10% can be classified as near-natural.