Governance

Secretariat

The Woodland Carbon Code secretariat function is provided by Scottish Forestry, on behalf of the Forestry Commission in England, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Forest Service. Before April 2019, it was managed by the Forestry Commission.

Scottish Forestry is the Scottish Government agency responsible for forestry policy, support and regulation. 

Nature Markets Strategy Board 

The Nature Markets Strategy Board oversees the direction and priorities of the Woodland Carbon Code and facilitates co-working across all four forestry authorities. 

Its first meeting will take place on Tuesday 25 June 2024. 

Members

Name Job title  Organisation 
Richard Stanford Chief Executive Officer Forestry Commission
Paul Lowe Chief Executive Officer Scottish Forestry 
Naomi Matthiessen Deputy Director, Landscapes, Nature and Forestry Welsh Government 
John Joe O’Boyle Chief Executive Officer Northern Ireland Forest Service
Pat Snowdon (technical support) Head of Economics and Woodland Carbon Code Scottish Forestry

Executive Board

This board is the executive body responsible for managing the day-to-day running of the code, including its application, promotion and strategic and technical development. It reports to the Nature Markets Strategy Board and meets around six times per year.

Tasks include:

  • Annual review and update of the code
  • Interpretation of the code and its application, including dispute resolution
  • Design of the validation, monitoring and verification process
  • Support for the operation of the registry
  • Project validation/verification support and governance
  • Approval of validation/verification bodies
  • Capacity building, communication and promotion of the code
  • Periodic reports on the uptake of the code and a triannual evaluation
  • Establish sub-committees as necessary to deal with specific issues (e.g. communications)

Members

 Name Organisation 
 Dr Pat Snowdon  Scottish Forestry (UK management team)
 Dr Vicky West  Scottish Forestry (UK management team)
 Andrew Baker  Scottish Forestry (UK management team)
 Dr Mark Broadmeadow  Forestry Commission
Jamie Smith  Scottish Forestry
 Fiona Hay  Welsh Government
 Ben Searle  Northern Ireland Forest Service

Advisory Board

The advisory board advises executive board on:

  • The development and revision of the code and supporting tools and guidance
  • Interpretation of the code and its application
  • Validation, monitoring and verification processes
  • Communication and promotion of the code
  • Monitoring, research and evaluation
  • Market development

The advisory board meets around four times per year or more frequently as required. The Woodland Carbon Code secretariat acts as chair and provides secretariat services.

Members 

Members come from a broad range of forest sector and carbon market stakeholders. Other experts can be asked to attend when necessary. Members are appointed by executive board and membership is reviewed regularly. Any potential conflicts of interest shall be stated by members and the secretariat will manage accordingly.

Stakeholder group  Name Organisation 
Government

Ayse Selcuk

Peter Coleman

Defra

BEIS

Forestry representative bodies

(representatives of each body rotate two-yearly)

Robert South 

Stuart Goodall 

Institute of Chartered Foresters

CONFOR

Landowner representative bodies 

(representatives of each body rotate two-yearly)

Graham Clark Country, Land and Business Association
Academia/ research 

Ewan Mackie 

Matthew Brander

Forest Research

Edinburgh University Business School

Other standard-setters

Peter Wilson

Renée Kervliet-Hermans

Nick Blyth

UK Woodland Assurance Standard/Wilson Applied Consultancy

UK Peatland Code

Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment

Validators/ verifiers

Andy Grundy 

Steve Clarkson 

Soil Association

Organic Farmers and Growers

Project developers

(two-year term)

James Russell

Emma Kerr

Forest of Marston Vale Trust

Scottish Woodlands Ltd

Buyers/ investors  

(two-year term)

Bruce Kennedy (end-user)

Areeb Arshad

Robert Guest

Boston Consulting Group (end-user)

ACT (retail aggregator)

Foresight Sustainable Forestry Company Plc and Foresight Group (investor)

Disputes Panel

The disputes panel deals with any disputes relating to the interpretation of the standard. 

Members

 Name Organisation
 Peter Wilson (Chair) - Advisory board member   Wilson Applied Consultancy
 Stuart Goodall - Advisory board member  CONFOR
 Dr Pat Snowdon - Executive board member  Scottish Forestry
 Dr Mark Broadmeadow - Executive board member  Forestry Commission

If the appointed advisory board members have a conflict of interest concerning any case, then the executive board will appoint an alternative advisory board member. Voting is by majority. In the case of a split decision, the chair has the casting vote.

The panel meets as required and advises the executive board. If you have an issue to bring to the panel, please complete the claimant dispute form and email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

The disputes process is set out below.

  1. The disputes panel will invite the claimant to make their case.
  2. The secretariat and/or the validator/ verifier will also provide information on the case.
  3. The panel will consider all information then share a draft response with the claimant for comment.
  4. The claimant will have a fixed time to comment.
  5. Any new information will be shared with the secretariat to ensure a common understanding of the issues.
  6. The panel will consider any further information and then formally respond.
  7. The panel’s decision is final.

Any complaints about the conduct of Scottish Forestry staff members should follow our standard complaints procedure.

Board minutes  

Read the minutes from our executive and advisory board meetings.

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