Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Moving Forward with UKWAS 4
© Forestry CommissionThe UK Woodland Assurance Standard, or UKWAS, is the standard used in FSC forest management certification in the UK. The draft of the next edition, UKWAS 4, was not approved when it was considered by FSC International’s Policy and Standards Committee last year.
Back in November we reported that further feedback had been received from Policy and Standards Unit (PSU) at FSC International on those areas where the draft of UKWAS 4 did not fully address the FSC Principles and Criteria.
At the beginning of December the UKWAS Steering Group met to discuss proposals put forward by FSC UK to deal with the outstanding issues.
“I cannot praise highly enough the constructive attitude of the Steering Group,” says Dr Owen Davies, Forest Standards Manager at FSC UK. “Everyone overcame their disappointment that the draft standard had not been approved, and concentrated on the discussion of practicable solutions for fulfilling the Principles and Criteria. FSC UK does, of course, share that commitment to finding a workable way forward.”
FSC UK continues to work closely with PSU to ensure that the concerns of FSC International are being addressed in a way that works for the UK.
The latest draft was discussed with PSU staff shortly before Christmas, and the feedback received will inform the version resubmitted for approval.
Delays to controlled wood national risk assessment revision
In the September 2016 edition of Forest Matters we talked about the revision of the controlled wood national risk assessment for the UK, and mentioned that a public consultation on the revision would be held before the end of the year.
Unfortunately, the need for further work on UKWAS has resulted in delays to this process, and the public consultation is now expected to take place in the first half of 2017. If you have any questions about the revision process, please contact Dr Owen Davies at owen at fsc-uk point org
Relevant links:
UKWAS website: http://ukwas.org.uk/
Press release: More work to do on UK Woodland Assurance Standard version 4: http://www.fsc-uk.org/en-uk/newsroom/id/377
Press release: Clearer way forward for
UKWAS 4: http://www.fsc-uk.org/en-uk/newsroom/id/392