The UK Forestry Standard: what GOV.UK, Forest Research and Scottish Forestry say it covers and who applies it

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes the standard and does not summarise its requirements, which sit in the document itself.

What it is

On the GOV.UK publication page from the Forestry Commission, the text says the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) defines the government requirements for forestry in the UK and gives a basis for regulation and monitoring, including national and international reporting. It calls the UKFS the technical standard for sustainable forest management across the UK and says it applies to all woodland, regardless of who owns or manages it. It says the UKFS rests on sustainable forest management criteria agreed internationally, traced to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the Global Forest Goals and Targets 2030 that grew from it, and that it is aimed at professional foresters, regulators and advisers, and also of interest to other land managers.

Editions and dates

GOV.UK shows the 5th edition, ISBN 978-1-83915-021-0, a 139 page PDF, added on October 3, 2023. First publication of the page was on December 21, 2017.
The page says the 5th edition applies from October 1, 2024 for all woodland creation and management activity in England, after a 12 month transition period. It says approvals received before October 1, 2024 are assessed using the 4th edition, which it links on The National Archives site.
It says updated good forestry practice requirements are applied to existing woodland plan approvals at their next renewal.
Scottish Forestry says the 5th edition was published in 2023 after a review, has been the standard for all forestry operations since October 1, 2024, and that existing approvals under the 4th edition remain valid. It dates the four country review from February 2021.

Topics the standard covers

GOV.UK lists biodiversity, climate change, historic environment, landscape, people, soil and water. Scottish Forestry's UKFS page adds general forestry practice to its list and says the scope takes in every kind of UK forestry activity, all woodland whoever owns or manages it, the whole forest environment from trees to open ground and water, and the creation of forests and management of existing ones. It says the UKFS is endorsed by all UK governments and applies international agreements on sustainable forest management, climate change, biodiversity and the protection of water resources.

Who applies it

GOV.UK and Scottish Forestry both name four bodies as responsible for regulating, monitoring and implementing the standard: the Forestry Commission in England, Scottish Forestry, Natural Resources Wales and the Northern Ireland Forest Service. They assess forestry proposals against the UKFS before approving them and check that owners and managers follow forestry regulations. Scottish Forestry adds that the four countries will have different plans to implement and monitor the standard.

Scottish Forestry says compliance with the UKFS is a prior condition for getting grant support and permission to fell and plant trees in Scotland, and that compliance is checked and monitored while a permission is valid. For felling licences and grants in each country see felling licences and woodland grants.

Supporting guidance

The Forest Research UKFS page describes the standard as based on internationally agreed criteria and as balancing environmental, economic and social objectives. It lists downloadable supporting guidance as practice guides, practice notes, technical guides and technical notes, and country guidance from the four bodies above. It says the Institute of Chartered Foresters runs an online e-learning programme on the 5th edition.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from GOV.UK and Forest Research.