Responsible Wood Certification

SCS offers Responsible Wood certification under the Australian Standard (AS 4708) and the New Zealand Standard (NZS AS 4708) to all types and sizes of forest operations including private companies, government forestry agencies, timberland investment management organizations, and community forests, as well as individual and groups of small landowners.

Forest Management for Single-site or Multi-site: A forest management entity with one or several sites operating under a single forest management plan.

Group Certification: Certification protocols for multiple landowners or forest managers seeking certification under one certificate, under the direction of a group manager.

Complementary Services

In addition to Responsible Wood Certification, SCS provides certification to the FSC Forest Management, FSC Chain of Custody, and PEFC Chain of Custody standards, as well as timber legality, carbon footprint, and forest carbon offset verifications. Contact us to find out which certification best suits your organization.

Getting certified under Responsible Wood helps organizations:

• Drive sustainable wood production in Australia and New Zealand
• Ensure that proper procedures are in place for responsible forest management to make reputable claims
• Minimize negative impacts and maximize positive impacts including social, economic, and environmental
• Reduce risks and identify additional steps that can be taken to further reduce risk
• Demonstrate commitment to sustainability to stakeholders

1. Apply for Certification
   • Representatives of your forest management operation fill out an application.
2. Audit Proposal
   • SCS evaluates the application and prepares a proposal, including the costs and a timeline for the evaluation process. The applicant then authorizes a work order and the certification process begins.
3. On-Site Audit – Stage 1
   • The assessment team conducts an on-site preliminary audit to review the applicant’s management system, processes, procedures, and stakeholder information to determine the readiness of the applicant for the stage 2 audit.
4. On-Site Audit – Stage 2
   • The SCS team evaluates the implementation, including effectiveness, of the applicant’s management system. The SCS team assesses forest conditions and conducts stakeholder consultations to acquire outside input regarding the applicant’s management performance throughout the certification cycle. Upon completion of all audits, a report is produced that details the results of the evaluation.
5. Certification Decision
   • The SCS certification committee reviews the assessment report and decides whether or not to approve certification. If granted, a certificate is issued for a three-year period, subject to annual surveillance audits.

View a list of Responsible Wood certified clients here.

You can see all Forest Management certificate holders by selecting “Sustainable Forest Management” under Certification Category.
Then once you click “Go”, it lists all the certificate data including the Certification Body.