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