Controlled Wood forest certification

Get a Controlled Wood forest certification if you manage a forest that meets minimum Controlled Wood standards. It confirms that you are taking due care to avoid unacceptable forestry practices.

Forest audit A Controlled Wood forest certificate demonstrates that there is only a negligible risk that your business involves any unacceptable forestry practices, for example harvesting illegally or violating indigenous people's rights.

Controlled Wood forest certification can help your buyers to fulfil due diligence obligations under the EU Timber Regulation and other timber market laws, by demonstrating that they are mitigating their risk of sourcing illegal timber. At the same time, the certification process will bring you along towards FSC certification while enabling you to build business relations with FSC-certified buyers.

For information on the Controlled Wood chain of custody certification see here.

Get started

Key steps

To begin your forest certification process and receive a service quote, fill in our service request form or contact us.

The process of forest certification typically follows these five steps:

	Scope of your certificate: We help you identify the scope of the certificate you need, depending on your needs and company set-up. Once you have accepted our offer, we assign a Preferred by Nature contact person to you.
	Prepare for certification: You develop or update your systems and train your staff to meet the Controlled Wood forest requirements. We review your documentation and provide initial feedback on any major issues detected prior to the on-site visit.
	On-site evaluation: When you are ready, we conduct an on-site assessment to check your compliance with the Controlled Wood forest requirements. This is done through document reviews, field observation and interviews with staff and other stakeholders.
	Draft report: We draw up a formal report which is reviewed by a senior Preferred by Nature expert and sent to you for comments.
	Certification: Based on a positive outcome, we issue you with a Controlled Wood forest management certificate.

A Controlled Wood forest management certificate is valid for five years. Annual audits during the validity period are required to maintain certification. Once the validity period ends, you need to undergo a re-assessment to renew your certificate.

Our experience

Our credentials

Expertise. For 25 years, we have worked extensively within sustainable forestry and the FSC system, not just in assessing companies for certification but in training them as well. Our current FSC portfolio totals over 66 million hectares and over 3500 companies.
Focus on customer experience. We keep you up to speed on the sometimes rapidly evolving certification requirements, and we take pride in providing clear and full answers to your questions. Our client guides provide clarity on complex topics. And we are constantly looking for ways to enhance our customers' experience throughout all points of their engagement with us.
Industry insight. We cater to FSC-certified enterprises of all sizes and from all business sectors along the timber supply chain. Whatever your line of business and company set-up, we possess insight into the specific options and challenges of FSC certification that apply to your organisation.
Local presence, global reach. With staff located in over 40 countries across the globe and backed by an extensive global network of experts, we cater to companies worldwide.

Additional value of engaging with us

Wide choice of service. We can help you to demonstrate legality when supplying to regulated markets, such as the EU, US and Australia, and to cut your carbon emissions through carbon footprint management training and certification.
The non-profit factor. We are a not-for-profit, mission-driven organisation, which is reflected in our focus on quality, information sharing and capacity building. We are actively engaged in the FSC system, where we advocate for credibility, impact and the cost-effectiveness and accessibility of FSC certification.

Your benefits

Benefits of choosing Controlled Wood forest certification

	Access to FSC-certified buyers. Controlled Wood is important in the FSC system because it can make up a limited part of the input material for FSC certified 'Mix' products. In many cases, limited supplies of FSC-certified wood have created a demand for FSC-Controlled Wood.
	Pathway to FSC certification. Controlled Wood forest certification requires you to have certain documentation and procedures in place. This forms a good basis for developing your system and practices further to comply with the full range of FSC requirements.
	Reputational risk management and stakeholder dialogue. You will gain independent assurance that you are minimising your risk of engaging in highly unacceptable forest management practices. This helps you to adhere to minimum standards across your enterprise and to communicate this in a credible way.
	Improved quality and management systems. Many certified operations find that there are hidden benefits such as cost savings to be gained from establishing the procedures required for forest certification.
	Possibility for recently-established plantations to get certified. Plantations that have been established since 1994 on land that used to be natural forest are not normally eligible to get full FSC certification, but are potentially eligible for Controlled Wood status.