Draft guidelines for Forest Stewardship Standard

Forest Stewardship Council Australia (FSC Australia) has revealed a first draft of its new guidelines for the FSC Australia - Forest Stewardship Standard. The standard is being developed by the Standards Development Group (SDG) elected by FSC Australia’s members in September last year.

The group of nine representatives is tasked with coming to a consensus position on behalf of the FSC’s membership about how Australian forests should be managed. The representatives have a balance of social, environmental and economic backgrounds - including representatives from the union movement, specialists on environmental issues and foresters.

According to FSC Australia CEO Natalie Reynolds, “There is no better way to come to consensus on highly contentious issues than to bring a group of people with differing views together in a room under FSC’s international framework.” The SDG will reach a consensus on more than 30 key forest management issues, including:

• workers’ rights and employment conditions,
• protecting the interests of and creating benefits for Indigenous communities,
• maintenance and conservation of ecosystems and environmental values where lands are subject to harvesting activities,
• water catchment management practices,
• the protection of rare, threatened and endangered species,
• enhancing the social and economic wellbeing of local communities.

FSC Australia needs to invest a budgeted $1.3 million over two years - half of which has already been obtained or promised - to take the FSC’s global standards and create something locally relevant. Reynolds explained, “Australia has a very specific set of environmental social and economic circumstances to consider, so it’s important that we make the international standard locally appropriate.”

The SDG conducted a forum at FSC Australia’s recent AGM, seeking input and feedback from its members on the first draft of the standard. A public consultation period will be held until the end of July and a final draft is expected by the end of next year.

The process is being overseen by independent chair Dr Evelyne Meier, who said the SDG has worked tirelessly on the first draft. “We’re looking forward to engaging with members to gather vital feedback and input as we progress towards a final consensus position,” she said.