The Standard

Since the mid 1990s there has been growing consumer demand for credible proof that timber products come from sustainably managed forests. This demand is increasing as Government, both at the central and local levels, seeks to buy timber from legally logged and sustainably managed forests. These developments have driven the development of independent forest certification.

Effective forest certification involves the independent assessment of forest management against a credible standard. In the UK the benchmark standard is UKWAS.

UKWAS has been developed by a partnership of forestry and environmental organisations. It is recognised by international forest certification schemes such as FSC and PEFC which means that wood products from UKWAS certified forests can carry the label of one of these schemes if the rules of the individual scheme have been met.

Forest certification has expanded rapidly in the UK, and there are now around 1.2 million hectares of UKWAS certified forest and woodland - about 40% of the UK's total forest area. As the area has grown there has been increasing recognition that certification can provide benefits over and above just credible proof of sustainability. However, to best exploit these benefits forest certification has to be relevant and accessible to all forest owners.