Welcome to UKWAS
the UK woodland assurance standard
It
is my pleasure to welcome you to the UKWAS website.
The UK Woodland Assurance Standard is an independent certification
standard for verifying sustainable woodland management in the United
Kingdom.
The UKWAS is not a certification scheme but uniquely, it is designed to
provide a single common standard for use within those forest
certification programmes that operate in the UK; these programmes
provide a way to assure buyers and users that wood and wood products
come from sustainably managed woodlands.
The UK’s forestry sector and its stakeholders chose to develop and
publish an independent standard as the best way to define appropriate
and effective woodland management in the UK context. It was developed on
a consensus basis through an inclusive multi-stakeholder process with a
balanced representation of economic, environmental and social interests.
The launch of the standard in May 1999 was a landmark event for forestry
in the UK; it was achieved through a sense of common purpose and through
the sheer hard work of those involved. It is something of which all the
UKWAS partners are immensely proud. The first revision of the standard
was completed in 2006 with the second edition launched formally on
November 1st.
The success of our inclusive approach is clear as the UKWAS standard is
currently the central component of the forest certification programmes
operated in the UK by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC UK) and the
Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Programmes (PEFC
UK).
One measure of our success is that the UKWAS process continues to
attract international interest; we frequently receive international
visitors wishing to learn whether our experience might be helpful to
them in formulating their own national processes.
Not content with having completed the standard revision in 2006, the
Steering Group has identified its two key priorities for 2007. These are
to consider how to make the standard more accessible for owners and
managers of small woodlands or those managed in a low intensity manner,
and to consider how best to manage the working relationships between the
UKWAS Steering Group and FSC-UK and PEFC UK.
Peter Wilson FICFor
Executive Chairman