The Australian Forestry Standard Marketing Sustainable Forest Management to the World

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The Australian Forestry StandardMarketing
Sustainable Forest Management to the World
J.H Drielsma Chair, AFS Steering
Committee October 2002
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Things arent as black as they seem...
1989
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But how do we convey this story of growth...
1994
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and regrowth to a disbelieving public?
1999
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Why have a Standard?

• Independent verification of performance
  against an independent, credible
  and publically available standard
• Market pressures

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EMS Certification

• Many companies have already achieved ISO
  14001 certification Gunns, FT, QDPI
  forestry, CALM, Timbercorp
• Generic vs specific forestry standard
• Process standard vs performance standard

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International Context
ISO 14001 - 100 mill ha (Canada) -
Technical Guide for Forestry (TC 207/N197)
Forest Stewardship Council - 29 mill ha PEFC
- 43 mill ha National Standards
- Finnish - Canadian - 9 mill ha
- UK - Swedish etc
- US - SFI 20 mill ha - ATFS 10 mill ha
Emerging framework of MR principles
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Certified Forests
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Certified Forests in the World
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Lessons to Date

• Certification is becoming normal business
  expectation
• Markets are increasingly requiring some form
  of certification
• Markets will ultimately accept a variety of
  credible certification alternatives
• Certification is driven more by corporate
  retailers/wholesalers and forest managers, than
  by final consumer demand

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International and Market recognition
FSC has been successful in creating market
demand, but delivery of wood volume is low
PEFC is gaining market strength and together with
the Canadian and US schemes delivering volume
to the market Buyers are increasingly
adopting open purchase policies rather
than favouring one certification brand
Opportunity for Australia to find a place within
these international systems
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Background to AFS

• Joint Initiative of
• Forestry Ministerial Council
• NAFI
• AFG
• PTAA
• Initiated in December 1999
• Funded by equal cash contributions from
  State, Cwlth and industry

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Development of the Australian Forestry Standard
Standards Australia approve development process
Ministerial Council approve standard
Refer approved standard for implementation
JAS - ANZ - recognise standard - offers
accreditation program for auditors
Standards Steering Committee - project
management - appoint Tech Ref Committee -
Standards Development Organisation
Sponsors - Forestry Mins - NAFI - PTAA - AFG
Technical Reference Committee - provide
stakeholder views - balloted on final standard
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Development of the Australian Forestry Standard

• Technical Reference Committee
• - provide stakeholders views
• - develop and approve standard
• Chair
• public forest agencies ( State Cwlth)
• environment agency
• forest industry (NAFI)
• plantation industry (PTAA)
• private forest grower (AFG)
• union (ACTU)
• forest scientist environmental scientist
• environment groups (WWF (NFN))
• retailer and furniture industry
• design professional
• consumer
• forest contractor
• professional forester (IFA)
• indigenous (ATSIC)

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Progress to Date
Achieved Standards Australia accreditation
Multi-stakeholder technical reference committee
- ENGO (WWF and NFN) and indigenous
participation Draft Standard released for
public comment (2001) Final Standard released
as Australian Standard Oct 2002 - endorsed by
Ministerial Councils Benchmarking against
international standards Development of
chain-of-custody Participation in international
discussions on mutual recognition
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How will AFS work?
Performance standard for SFM Voluntary
application Forest Management
Unit/Ownership level
Independent 3rd Party Verification/Certification
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What does AFS cover?
Fibre wood products from forests
Forest Management (to forest gate) All
forest types - Hardwood and softwood
- Native forest and Plantations
Across all Tenures - Public and
private - Corporate and small private
- RFA regions and non RFA regions
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What does AFS require?

• Basic management system ( policy, planning,
  monitoring and review)
• ISO 14001 consistent
• Public Participation and consultation
• Protection and management of environmental
  and social values
• Biodiversity
• Forest Productivity
• Forest Health
• Soil and Water
• Cultural and heritage values
• Social and economic benefits

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How does it Stack up?

• Independent benchmarking against PEFC, FSC
• Indufor
• Substantive equivalence
• process and content
• All relevant issues addressed

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Future Developments
Promote widespread support for the standard
within the forest industry and encourage
early adoption Make sure certifiers are
available and ready Develop labelling
system Establish recognition of the standard
with Australian and overseas markets
Establish links and mutual recognition
arrangements with other international
systems Future review cycles
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International Market Recognition
Develop the AFS brand PEFC FSC Other
emerging Mutual Recognition Systems ( IFIR, ISO
etc)
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AFS What will it mean for you?
?
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AFS What will it mean for you?
Voluntary Opportunity Opportunity and
threat Additional cost Market access
benefits Defence against increased regulation
Increased credibility of forest management
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Thankyou