76% of respondents to FSC UK's 2025 survey[i] say they recognise the FSC logo; 24% are confident they know what the FSC logo means, and a further 25% say they know roughly what it means.
Recognition and understanding of the FSC logo tends to be higher amongst the younger generations with 77% of Gen X, 80% of millennials and 80% of Gen Z recognising the tick-tree; 58% of millennials, and 55% of Gen Z, also say they know (at least roughly) what the FSC logo means.
78% of people say they are likely to give preference to FSC-certified products. Preference for FSC-certified products is highest amongst millennials at 83%. 8 in 10 believe trustworthy certification is important to help people choose more sustainable products, and 73% would have a more positive opinion of a brand or retailer if they saw the FSC label on their products.
Not everyone can see the wood from the trees
The survey also revealed that 35% of the UK public don’t know that cardboard is a tree-based product, 15% are unsure about paper and 11% claim to be unaware that wood itself is made from trees.
In addition to misidentifying materials sourced from trees, significant numbers of those surveyed also thought that non-tree-based, natural materials such as bamboo (53%), cotton (14%) and flax (10%) could be made from trees.
Baby Boomers scored best regarding their knowledge about the source of more mainstream products from forests, such as wood (96%), paper (91%) and cardboard (76%), and even the less ubiquitous cork (73%) and rubber (68%), while millennials and Gen Z jostled for last place.
Younger generations also performed no better than their more mature counterparts regarding less conventional tree-based products such as viscose, lyocell and modal, used for clothing and textiles.
Environmental literacy is essential
FSC UK Executive Director, Rosie Teasdale commented on the results, “Three in every four people in the UK are aware of the FSC logo, found on products and packaging which support responsible forestry, and even more (78%) demonstrate a preference for FSC-certified products once the concept is explained. However, a lack of knowledge regarding the source of materials, which is worryingly most prevalent in younger generations, could be undermining people’s efforts to live more sustainably.”
The Department for Education confirmed the launch of a new natural history GCSE earlier this year, which education minister, Catherine McKinnell, says will enable young people “to understand and respect the natural world and contribute to the protection and conservation of the environment locally, nationally and internationally”.
“Environmental literacy is essential for everyone, but most pressingly for those growing up in a world ever more impacted by climate change and biodiversity loss,” said Rosie.
More information
[i] FSC UK Consumer Survey 2025, conducted 20/03/2025 - 24/03/2025 by Kantar (1,279 adults in United Kingdom aged 16+)
See our report below and the Consumer Insights page for more information, including results from previous UK and global consumer surveys.