1. Background and purpose

The international timber products market is increasingly demanding assurance about the quality and environmental impacts of woodland management. One way to provide this assurance is through independent verification against a published standard which defines appropriate and effective management. In forestry, this process is widely known as forest or woodland certification.

The UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS) is a certification standard which sets out the requirements which woodland owners and managers and certification authorities can use to certify woodland management in the United Kingdom. The standard is the product of an inclusive and transparent process which has involved a balanced representation from the UK forestry and environmental community. It has been designed to ensure that it reflects the requirements of the Government’s UK Forestry Standard and through this the guidelines adopted by European Forestry Ministers at Helsinki in 1993 and Lisbon in 1998. A list of certification programmes that use the standard as the basis for certification in the UK can be found on the UKWAS website.

The UKWAS recognises that one of the strengths of UK woodland management is its diversity. Therefore, there is broad scope within the standard for owners and managers to decide on appropriate objectives for each woodland. The standard generally prescribes what must, overall, be achieved but leaves it to the owner/manager to decide how this is best done in each situation.