Accredited official statistics

Area of forestry land under certified sustainable management schemes

Updated 10 December 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/england-biodiversity-indicators/area-of-forestry-land-under-certified-sustainable-management-schemes

Last updated: 2024

Latest data available: 2024

Introduction

This indicator shows the percentage of the woodland area in England that is certified against agreed environmental standards. Certification of woodlands promotes responsible forest management to safeguard forests’ natural heritage and protect threatened species. Woodland certification schemes are used to demonstrate that wood or wood products come from well-managed forests.

Data for this indicator are sourced from the Forest Research Forestry Statistics 2024 publication, they can be found in the published datafile. We also have a similar indicator at the UK level.

Type of indicator

State indicator

Type of official statistics

Accredited official statistic

Assessment of change

Area of woodland in England certified as sustainably managed.

Measure Assessment Time period Result
Percentage of woodland certified Long term 2001 to 2024 Little or no overall change
Percentage of woodland certified Short term 2019 to 2024 Deteriorating

Notes on the indicator assessment

Long- and short-term assessments are based on a 3% rule of thumb. Where possible, the base years for these assessments use a three-year average. See Assessing Indicators.

Key results

In March 2024, there were almost 310,000 hectares of certified woodland across England, representing a little over 23% of the total woodland area in the country (Figure 1).

While the overall proportion of woodland certified as sustainably managed in England was the same in 2024 as it was in 2001, it has fluctuated by several percentage points in the intervening years. It reached a maximum of just over 28% in 2007 before steadily declining to its current value.

Figure 1: Percentage of woodland area certified as sustainably managed in England, 2001 to 2024

Source: Forest Research, Forestry Statistics 2024

Notes about Figure 1

  • All figures relate to data at 31 March each year, apart from 2001 (31 December) and 2002 (30 September), with regular data collection from 2004.

Further Detail

The indicator shows the percentage of the woodland area in England that is certified against agreed environmental standards, derived from the areas reported on certificates and more detailed assessment of selected certificate holders. The total area certified can change if new woodlands are certified, if existing certificates are not renewed, or if there is a time lag in renewal of an existing certificate. Of the 310,000 hectares of certified woodland in England in 2024, almost 214,000 hectares were in public ownership (that is, owned by Forestry England) and almost 96,000 hectares were in private ownership.

Certification in the UK began in 1996, with data collation starting in 2001, and regular annual collation commencing in 2004. All certified woodland in 2024 is certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) scheme, with many woodlands certified under both schemes. New certificates may relate to existing woodland that was not previously certified or to newly planted areas. In order for products produced from timber to be certified as sustainable, both forest management practices and the Chain of Custody, which tracks timber from forest to retail outlet, must be assessed.

The woodland area statistics used in the 2024 update of this indicator are based on the National Forest Inventory (NFI) woodland map of Great Britain at March 2022. This map replaces an interim NFI woodland map from 2021 used to update the indicator over the last 3 years, and this change has resulted in revisions to woodland area figures for England for 2021 to 2023.

Data for Grown in Britain, previously included in this indicator as a valid woodland certification scheme, were removed during the 2024 update. This removal has resulted in revisions to both the total and the private sector area of certified woodland of up to 8,000 hectares (-8%) for 2020 to 2023.

Certified woodland areas are often used as an indicator of sustainable forest management; however, woodland that is not certified may also be sustainably managed. Some choose not to become certified because there is a cost involved in getting certified and there may be little incentive for woodland owners to get their woodlands certified if timber production is not a major objective.

Relevance

Woodland certification assesses management practices against agreed environmental standards. Certification requires that wood products are harvested legally and sustainably, and that important wildlife habitats are identified and are not negatively impacted by management.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the many people who have contributed by providing data and to the many colleagues who have helped produce this indicator.

Development plan

Since our previous publication we have adapted the language and visualisations used in this indicator. We are keen to hear from our users about these changes, as well as our published development plan, please email us.

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