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Timber NSW is calling on the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation to release details of its latest marketing campaign including the opening statement, full list of questions, sample size, and margin of error from its latest push-polling effort to end timber harvesting in NSW. Source: Timberbiz About Regional, a widely read online news source, reports that Ken Henry’s Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation commissioned a poll which apparently suggests overwhelming support among South Coast voters for converting state forests into national parks and significant support for ending native forest logging in the region. The Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation says polling found 67% of NSW voters would support the creation of large, protected areas like the Great Southern Forest National Park proposal. The foundation says that for residents of the South Coast electorate, this number jumped to 72%, while 63% of voters in Bega supported the proposal. And it says the pollsters found the support held fairly strong across party lines. According to Timber NSW Chief Executive Maree McCaskill, the published headline figures could not be judged as reliable measures of informed support for the park proposal. “This was nothing more than a push poll to support Ken Henry’s campaign to destroy the timber industry in Australia,” Ms McCaskill said. “The skewed polling was released by the National Parks Association to further muddy the waters as to the true intention of this campaign in which respondents were asked about large new protected areas without being given a detailed description of the boundaries, effects on forestry or park-access. “An enormous amount of what we do is trying to educate people about forestry. Our job is made much harder when we have to counter the false narratives perpetrated by people and organisations trying to ruin Australian industry by disguising their intent and wilfully ignoring hard facts and proven statistics,” she said. “The obsession with destroying the timber industry in Australia has already led to bizarre outcomes – Australia now relies on imported hardwood from questionable sources. This includes Merbau, a listed threatened species imported from unregulated forestry operations across Asia.” Timber NSW says some other information some commentators and numerous politicians ignore is: 90% of publicly owned forests are already in national parks and conservation reserves in NSW (nearly 8M ha) State forests cost less than a tenth of the cost of managing National Parks State forests contribute to an industry that generates $1.1b annually in value added to the NSW economy. State forests that have been well managed for timber over 100 years remain full of native species.

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PEFC is strengthening its presence in New Zealand, with a refreshed national governing body, a new board representing experience from across the forestry and timber supply chain, and a clear ambition to grow certification in step with the markets it serves. Source: Timberbiz Formerly the New Zealand Forest Certification Association, PEFC’s national member has been renewed and revitalised as PEFC New Zealand. The renewal was launched publicly at the New Zealand Timber Design Awards in Auckland in June, bringing the announcement to an audience of designers, engineers, manufacturers and forest owners. It marked not just a change of name, but a signal of intent: to strengthen PEFC’s presence in New Zealand, grow certification and continue adapting the PEFC approach to the country’s needs. Chaired by Mark Ross, the new board brings together experience from across New Zealand’s forestry and timber supply chain. Its early priorities are already clear. “One of PEFC New Zealand’s first priorities is supporting the current revision of the Australian/New Zealand Sustainable Forest Management Standard,” said Mr Ross. PEFC New Zealand’s renewal is a living example of the PEFC approach: national systems, built and governed locally, endorsed against shared PEFC’s international Sustainability Benchmarks rather than imposed from the top down. It is a model designed to fit each country’s own forests, ownership structures and communities, and to evolve as those needs evolve. Central to New Zealand’s next chapter is its trans-Tasman partnership. “As part of the global PEFC alliance, PEFC New Zealand is working closely with Responsible Wood, the PEFC member for Australia, which continues to provide technical and administrative support as the New Zealand scheme grows,” said PEFC South Pacific Programme Manager, Richard Laity. “By drawing on shared experience across the Tasman, we are helping ensure the scheme remains credible, cost-effective and fit for purpose, while meeting the needs of both New Zealand businesses and their customers.” New Zealand’s renewal comes as businesses and specifiers face growing expectations for transparency about the sourcing of forest and tree-based materials. Architects, specifiers and buyers are increasingly looking for credible information and independent assurance to support responsible sourcing decisions. PEFC certification can help respond to this demand by providing independently verified assurance of responsible forest management and traceability of forest and tree-based materials through the supply chain. PEFC New Zealand’s renewal offers a useful reference point for other national members navigating change. It shows how renewed governance, stronger market focus and collaboration across the PEFC Alliance can help a national member prepare for its next stage of development, while remaining firmly rooted in local context.

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A new Senate Committee report highlighting the need for stronger action and tougher reforms to prevent Russian timber products entering Australia has been welcomed by AFPA. Source: Timberbiz The Senate report featured strong recommendations to combat conflict timber entering Australia, including urging the Federal Government to explore tighter sanctions against Russia and ensure penalties evolve with global developments to keep pace with circumvention efforts. AFPA Acting CEO Richard Hyett said sanctions had stopped direct imports from Russia but there has been increased timber imports from third countries known to be using Russian fibre. “Russia has the largest forest estate in the world, and timber is an important economic driver, so it beggars’ belief that a resource of this scale could simply be turned off and replaced by other sources,” Mr Hyett said. Mr Hyett said recent forensic testing by Source Certain continued to identify Russian fibre in timber products around the world, often with documentation that mislabelled or misrepresented the product’s origin. “Addressing this imports issue is vital for Australia’s $6 billion timber manufacturing industry, which supports around 80,000 direct and 100,000 indirect jobs and supplies essential materials for hundreds of thousands of Australian homes every day,” Mr Hyett said. Mr Hyett said stronger testing and enforcement was also needed to protect Australian jobs, manufacturers and consumers while ensuring sanctions against Russian timber were genuinely effective. “It’s time for the Government to act and implement a testing program that can tell Australians what is actually being imported, and not just rely on paperwork from high-risk importers,” Mr Hyett said. “We also need to introduce Country of Origin labelling. “As part of the Senate inquiry, we sincerely thank Senator Raff Ciccone for his support by encouraging producers to seek an Anti-Dumping Commission investigation into Russian timber entering Australian markets.  We appreciate Senator Ross Cadell and Senator Susan McDonald for supporting industry and raising serious concerns about the lack of policing of timber imports. “Enforcing stronger sanctions will ultimately support Australian manufacturers, uphold our international commitments and ensure a level playing field for domestic producers.”

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