'Full house' for FSC Australia launch
08 Mar 2007
Melbourne 7 March - A near capacity audience of almost 300 people packed one of Melbourne's most high profile venues, Zinc, this week for the official launch of the Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) Australian national initiative.
Less than a year after efforts to develop the national initiative began, FSC now boasts almost 40 Australian companies who are participating in the global system for verification of wood and wood products from responsibly managed forests.
The organisation also has almost 50 members including 24 companies, 9 environmental groups and five social groups including the Australian Conservation Foundation, Timber Communities Australia, the Institute of Foresters and The Wilderness Society.
FSC Australia CEO Michael Spencer says: "This diversity of membership is what gives the organisation its strength. Anyone can claim to promote responsible forest management. What makes FSC different is that all parties need to work together with mutual respect."
At the launch, the Chair of FSC International, Grant Rosoman, announced that FSC Australia had now officially been accredited by FSC International as a national initiative; one of more than 35 national organisations that bring stakeholders together on forest issues.
Michael Spencer said the FSC system in Australia was now already worth billions of dollars and employing thousands of Australians with companies such as Paperlinx, Hancock Victorian Plantations, Timbercorp and ITC Limited with all or part of their operations certified.
He said the size and strength of the system in Australia provided a very solid foundation on which Victoria and other states could build to become recognised participants in the rapidly growing global market for FSC certified wood and paper products.
In Europe, North America and Japan major retailers of wood and paper products, responsible corporations, the environmentally responsible building industry ("green building") and local government have become major drivers of demand for FSC certified products.
"FSC is the only inclusive 'stakeholder owned' standard for responsible forest management and that is why it is able to achieve the level of recognition it has with customers for wood, paper and other forest products around the world," Spencer said.
President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Professor Ian Lowe AO, stressed at the launch the importance of responsible forest management for protecting biodiversity and responding to climate change.
Andrew Hewett, Executive Director of Oxfam Australia, pointed out that 90 percent of the 1.2 billion people in the world who the World Bank describes as living in extreme poverty has some relationship with forests for their food and livelihood.
He said FSC was an important tool for consumers to say no to products of illegal logging.
Steve Ross, Executive Officer of the Murray and Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations, said FSC offered an opportunity for traditional owners to have a say in forest management practices affecting their country.
Vince Erasmus, Managing Director of ITC Limited, said he had worked with the FSC system in South Africa and found it to provide management benefits as well as environmental and social benefits.
He said the experience of ITC Limited was that customers demanded FSC more than any other system of forest certification.
With the launch of FSC Australia, Australian customers can expect to see the FSC logo starting to appear on a much wider range of products. For instance, Paperlinx Office recently launched its FSC certified range of Reflex office papers.
For more information
Michael Spencer
Mobile: 0439 381 144
