FSC runs a global forest certification system with two key components:

• Forest Management
• Chain of Custody

FSC also licenses retailers and other end users to promote FSC labelled products, without holding FSC certification.

The FSC system allows businesses and consumers to identify, purchase and use wood, paper and other forest products made with materials from well-managed forests and/or recycled sources.

FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION

As a forest manager or owner, certification is a way of ensuring that your careful and long-term forest management is recognised. Certification is voluntary. It involves an audit of forest’s management by an independent organisation to check that it meets internationally and nationally agreed standards of responsible forest management. Forest products like timber can then carry the FSC label, ensuring that it comes from a well-managed forest and enabling you to pass on the benefits of certification to your customers.

What are the benefits of forest certification?

1. Receive the public recognition which responsible forest management deserves.2. Meet customer demands: UK retailers and specifiers such as local councils and architects increasingly ask forest managers for an independent proof that their forest is well-managed.

   3. Gain a competitive edge for your timber.

   4. Meet internal policy: certification helps forest managers to demonstrate to owners, investors and/or themselves that they are meeting their objectives of responsible long-term management.

Achieving FSC forest management certification

FSC does not carry out audits itself, this is done by independent, FSC accredited certification bodies.

The time is takes to become certified can vary depending on existing management practices and documentation systems. Click here for more information on how to achieve FSC forest management certification.

What standard is used?

At the international level, FSC has developed its Principles and Criteria of responsible forest management. In the United Kingdom, FSC forest management certification is based on the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS).

What are the costs?

The costs for certification vary a lot depending on size and complexity of the woodland. It is very difficult to generalise and you should contact the certification bodies to get an estimate for your woodland. Costs can be considerably reduced if several forests are being assessed together in a group scheme or if the size of your woodland holding or intensity of management fall within the SLIMF (Small and Low Intensity Managed Forests) thresholds, as outlined below. For large forests costs increase with the size of the holding as the assessment requires more time for the field visit, but costs per hectare will be lower. Certification bodies and group schemes will be able to provide an estimate for your woodland.

Group certification

Group forest management certification has been developed to help smaller woodland owners achieve FSC certification by reducing the costs of certification.

Small and Low-Intensity Managed Forests (SLIMFs)

Groups of small or low intensity managed forests (SLIMFs) benefit from streamlined auditing procedures designed to reduce the costs of certification. In the UK context, the threshold for small forests has been set at 500 hectares. The intensity of management is assessed in terms of rate at which timber is harvested.

Ecosystem Services Procedure

The ecosystem services procedure has been developed as an addition to forest management certification to allow forest managers to demonstrate their positive contribution to conserve or restore forest ecosystem services.

Small and Community Woods

We know that small and community woodland managers in the UK are passionate about their woods, and value them for a wide variety of reasons. Right now, though, only a handful of such woods hold FSC Forest Management certification. On this page, we set out why we think interest in certifying these woods is growing, and how owners and managers can learn more.

CHAIN OF CUSTODY CERTIFICATION

Chain of custody certification from forest to end-user ensures that FSC materials and products have been checked at every stage of processing so that customers purchasing FSC labelled products can be confident that they are genuinely FSC certified.

What are the benefits of chain of custody certification?

• Improved market access
• Enhanced public image
• Corporate Social Responsibility compliance
• Meeting customer expectations
• Government Procurement Policy compliance
• Use of the iconic FSC trademarks and supplementary marketing assets

Who needs chain of custody?

Any company involved in the processing or transformation of FSC certified products (e.g. manufacturing, repackaging, pack-splitting, relabelling, cutting to size or adding other forest-based components to the product) must be FSC certified in order to apply an FSC label to their products and/or sell them with an FSC claim.

These include manufacturers, timber traders, wholesalers, importers, builders, contractors, publishers, printers – in fact, all those whose customers want to promote products as FSC certified or say that they have brought or used certified products (for example in an annual environment report).

Achieving chain of custody certification

FSC does not carry out audits itself, that job is done by independent, FSC accredited certification bodies. The time is takes to become certified can vary depending on existing management practices and documentation systems.

FSC also offers the following certificates:

Project certification

Individual objects or buildings of any size or scale that are built or renovated on a one-off basis can achieve FSC certification through attaining FSC project certification, which can be used for virtually any type of new build or refurbishment, civil engineering projects, or events such as exhibitions and festivals.

Multi-site chain of custody

Multi-site chain of custody has been designed for larger companies that have a number of sites which share the same functions, methods or procedures. This makes use of elements of scale and thus is more economical than seeking a separate certificate for each site.