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) and the
Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Programmes (PEFC).
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.
Since the launch of the Second Edition the
Steering Group has focused on two key priorities:
- making the standard more accessible for owners and managers of small woodlands or those managed in a low intensity manner: the Steering Group developed an amended standard which came into effect in November 2008
- formalising the working relationships between the UKWAS Steering Group
and FSC UK and PEFC UK: new Standard Setting Procedures were developed
and Concordats were agreed with FSC UK and PEFC UK setting out each
party's respective role.
The process of revising the standard has now commenced; this is a 3-year process and the aim is for the 3rd edition of the UKWAS to be available for use in November 2011. Further information is available here:
- UKWAS Revision Process 2009-2011 & Standard Setting Process document
- UKWAS Revision Initial Stakeholder Consultation Paper
Peter Wilson FICFor FRICS CEnv
Executive Chairman