WOOD FUEL MATERIALS INDUSTRY NEWS
Woodfuel harvested in Lockerbie, Scotland.
growth of the UK certifi ed forest area has stalled. This is having a growing impact on the UK primary processing sector, which needs an increasing supply of certifi ed timber to meet customer demand. Certifi ed materials are increasingly requested by a growing number of forest product users, including retailers, the construction industry and energy suppliers.
Certifi cation for owners of small woodlands
W 8 Spring 2016 8
ith more than one million hectares of UK forests certifi ed to the
Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certifi cation’s sustainable forest management standard since 2010, Alun Watkins, Executive Director, PEFC UK Ltd, recently explained how its online certifi cation tool is enabling this to grow and help meet an increasing demand for home-grown woodfuel materials for energy. The European Union has been developing sustainability criteria to ensure that any solid biomass used for renewable energy entering Europe is produced sustainably for some time. The criteria covers imported wood pellets, setting
the bar for landowners and pellet manufacturers in the areas of biomass chain of custody, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity conservation and water resources.
With the growing importance of several countries, including the home-grown UK market, as producers and exporters of wood pellets, it is vital that pellet producers and purchasers, along with other participants in the production and export supply chains, are aware of adopting a responsible and sustainable supply. PEFC is the world’s largest forest certifi cation system and the certifi cation system of choice for owners of smaller woodlands. PEFC endorses the UK Woodland
Assurance Standard (UKWAS) as the basis for certifi cation in the UK, but at present, approximately only 50% of UK forests are certifi ed, leaving about 1.5 million hectares of woodland uncertifi ed. To increase the amount of
certifi ed forests in the UK, PEFC has developed an online certifi cation tool designed to enable small and medium-sized woodland owners to participate in forest certifi cation. This aims to provide a simple and cost-effective solution to assist the UK’s private forest owners to become PEFC- certifi ed.
However, research has shown that they currently view forest certifi cation as being both onerous and expensive. As a result, the
The new tool is designed to help increase the UK’s certifi ed forest area and boost the supply of certifi ed material, including that intended for the woodfuel sector. The system works via simple checklists, designed to evaluate whether the current forest management plan meets the requirements of UKWAS. If not, it shows where improvements are required, creating a helpful gap analysis. Each section can be saved so that the whole checklist does not have to be completed in one sitting. The saved results are the basic documentation for the certifi cation body to undertake an audit and potentially remove the need for detailed pre-assessments. The tool can be used by a Group Certifi cation Manager to invite forest owners to participate and evaluate their ability to comply with the requirements of UKWAS. The online forest certifi cation
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