Program Governance
The Natural Forest Standard program is governed by Ecosystem Certification Organisation (ECO). ECO is a UK-based not-for-profit limited company, registered with company number 7669379, established in 2011.
As the governing body of the NFS program, ECO provides the operational, procedural and implementational functions of the program. ECO also provides the secretariat administration for the Standard and oversight of the NFS Registry. The Technical governance of the NFS is provided by the independent Technical Advisory Panel (TAP).
The role of ECO is to help align the NFS with best practices within the voluntary carbon market (VCM) whilst upholding the core principles and integrity of the NFS approach. ECO is also responsible for making policy decisions on the direction of the NFS within the market, and for ensuring its recognition within the market.
Executive Team
Victoria Kelly, BA
Chief Program Officer
Vicky holds a BA in Business Administration and is fully ISO 14064-1, 2 and 3 qualified. With over 20 years of expertise in administrative and project management roles, working for environmental and not-for-profit organisations. Vicky was a key member of the original development team for the Natural Forest Standard and has been integral to its coordination and administration since its inception in 2012. Bringing together a blend of business acumen and environmental stewardship enables her to bridge the gap between commerce and conservation, contributing meaningfully to sustainability initiatives and the development of innovative environmental standards.
Her role within the NFS has provided her with deep insights into forest protection projects and nature-based project development, enhancing her knowledge of environmental standards and carbon market mechanisms.
Jonathan Bowie BSc, MBA
Chief Commercial Officer
Jonathan holds an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Aberdeen University (1989) and an MBA In Finance from the Johnson Business School at Cornell University (1991). He co-authored a paper with Cornell Professor Peter Carr that kick-started a branch of research into the static hedging of barrier options (“Static Simplicity”, Risk Magazine (Aug 1994)). He was awarded a St Andrews Scholarship to study at Cornell.
Jonathan then went on to leadership roles in the UK retail sector helping start-ups and mature businesses grow sales and profitability. In 2003 he was recognised as the Ernst & Young Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year and his company appeared in the Sunday Times Profit Track 100.
More recently, Jonathan has taken on non-exec and exec roles in organization that use market-based solutions to solve climate problems.
Technical Advisory Panel
The Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) is an independent panel of experts, convened and chaired by Resilience Constellation (RC). The TAP is responsible for providing the necessary technical advice and support to the EGP. They provide the appropriate range of experts to carry out technical reviews, development, and assessments to inform their recommendations to the EGP. They provide the technical input, reviews and recommendations for the EGP to formally ratify and operationalise.
Grievance Policy v1.0
Additional policy documents will be published shortly