Welcome to UKWAS

the UK woodland assurance standard

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the new UKWAS website.

The UK Woodland Assurance Standard is an independent certification standard for verifying sustainable forest and woodland management in the United Kingdom.

The UKWAS is unusual because it is a certification standard rather than a certification scheme. It is designed to provide a single common standard for use within forest certification programmes operating 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, environmental and social communities chose to develop and publish an independent standard as the best way to define appropriate and effective woodland management in the UK context. It has been developed on a consensus basis through an inclusive multi-stakeholder process with a balanced representation from across the forestry, environmental and social communities.

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 of us in the forestry, environmental and social communities are immensely proud.

The success of this 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).

The Steering Group has been working hard on a revised standard and we anticipate that this will be available for use in early 2006.

Peter Wilson
Executive Chairman