ISO 14001

The ISO 14000 certification program series of standards  are published and administered by the International Organization for Standardization. The ISO 14000 series of standards, particularly ISO 14001, relate to Environmental Management Systems (EMS). ISO 14001, first published in 1996, requires that an organization put in place and implement practices and procedures that, when combined, result in an environmental management system which guarantees that they are able to conform to performance standards established by the organization seeking certification. ISO 14001 is the only standard in the 14000 series against which an organization can be certified by an external certification authority.

The ISO 14001 standard requires that an organization:

• Implement, maintain, and improve an environmental management system
• Assure itself of its conformance with its own stated environmental policy
• Demonstrate conformance
• Ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations
• Seek certification by an external third party organization
• Make a self-determination of conformance

This "plan-do-check-review" process lies at the heart of the ISO 14001 EMS, and incorporates the intent of Adaptive Forest Management in its certification requirements.

More information related to the ISO 14000 series can be found at the ISO website, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agencys website, and at http://www.iso14000-iso14001-environmental-management.com/.