The Forestry Commission is believed to have become the first public forest service in the world to achieve ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system (EMS).
Since 1999 the Commission’s forest management has been independently certified as meeting the standards of the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS) and more recently it developed an EMS to complement its forest certification programme.
“The combination of forest management certification and ISO 14001 certification means that we can now confidently say that all of our business operation is run on a sustainable footing. This represents a major achievement for the Commission,” said Forestry Commission chair Pam Warhurst.
The organisation has new monitoring programmes for its energy use, travel and waste management, and is increasing efforts to reduce waste by introducing recycling and reuse schemes.
“It’s not been an easy task, but if the government‘s forest service isn‘t as green as it gets, there‘s something wrong,” said Ms Warhurst.
The assessment was carried out by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance.
At the same time it certified that the Commission’s three main sites – its head office in Edinburgh; Alice Holt Lodge in Surrey; and Northern Research Station in Midlothian – are fully compliant. The Commission has now also achieved certification for all of its offices and workshops across Scotland, and is working to achieve compliance throughout England and Wales by mid-2012.
