Principle 4

Indicators adapted to the UK context are contained in our national forest stewardship standard, familiar to most forest managers as the UK Woodland Assurance Standard, or UKWAS.

In the UK, FSC certification has contributed to bringing local communities more closely into forest management planning processes. Proactive communication and engagement are emphasised within many of the standard requirements, ensuring local communities are consulted throughout planning and operations to make sure their interests and wellbeing are considered and incorporated into management decisions. For example, indicators under Criteria 4.5 and 4.6 include:

• Indicator 4.5.1 Respond to issues raised or requests for dialogue and engagement and demonstrate how the results of the consultation including community and social impacts have been taken into account in management planning and operations. [UKWAS 2.3.1(e)]
   
• Indicator 4.6.1 Respond constructively to complaints, seek to resolve grievances through engagement with complainants in the first instance, and follow established legal process should this become necessary. [UKWAS 5.2.2]

Consultation is also addressed under Principle 7, management planning.

Greater engagement with local communities allows for social impacts to be mitigated and sites of cultural and historical significance to be protected. It also promotes the benefits responsible forest management provides for local communities, in particular improving public access to woodlands (indicator 4.4.1/UKWAS 5.1.2(a)) and sustaining traditional uses of the woodland (indicator 4.1.4/UKWAS 5.1.1(a)). FSC certification in the UK has, in particular, promoted efforts to meet demand for further public access for the purpose of environmental education (indicator 4.4.2/UKWAS 5.1.2(b)).This is all positive, but with access to local nature being ever more important after Covid-19, could certification go further to improve the provision of access?

The ways in which people use woodlands is changing, with more people than ever wanting access to woodlands to manage them for products, for biodiversity and above all for the benefit of people and communities now and in the future. It's important to Llais y Goedwing member groups - all communities who manage woodlands in Wales - for their contribution to the forestry sector in Wales to be recognised alongside the traditional timber sector. To this end, we're committed to working with FSC to make sure the standard is accessible and relevant to all woodland owners and managers.

- Maria Wilding, Llais y Goedwig Programme Manager.

Adaptations to the UK context also recognise situations where public access may not be appropriate and should not be promoted, for example in woodlands that adjoin dwellings or contain sites or species that are particularly vulnerable to disturbance.

Two of the Criteria under this Principles are not considered to be applicable in the UK context: Criterion 4.2, on the basis that local communities do not hold legal or customary rights to control management activities, and Criterion 4.8, on the basis that exploitation of traditional knowledge and intellectual property would be unlikely. For these aspects, the standard refers to UK legislation and links to requirements under Principle 1. However, the applicability of these Criteria remains under consideration through standard review and revision processes.

FSC UK is committed to local communities through our Small Woods project, where we are looking to enable FSC certification and its associated benefits to be more accessible for community managed and owned woodlands. Additionally, we see great potential for the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure to be relevant to community-managed woodlands by connecting them to markets for ecosystem services and rewarding their responsible management of woods.