From the Chief Executive
From the Spring 2006 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.
Alastair Howard, Acting Chief Executive
One of the most important developments in forestry across the world over the past decade has been the strong shift towards forest certification based upon independent third party auditing of forestry and environmental management practices.
The aim of forest certification is to ensure responsible forest management and provide assurance to our timber industry customers and, in turn, their customers that the wood, paper and other forest products they consume have come from sustainably managed forests.
Forests NSW has achieved a major milestone in our drive to achieve independent and internationally recognised certification of our forest management activities. Our new environmental management system (EMS) has passed an independent and rigorous assessment, reaching the standard required by the International Organisation for Standardisation for ISO14001:2004.
While many might see this as just a number or industry jargon, for the staff of Forests NSW it is a very significant achievement and the culmination of many years of work.
Forests NSW is charged with the stewardship of the state’s publicly owned native and plantation forests. This is a complex and challenging management task involving the balancing of many environmental, social, economic and cultural values the community expects their forests to provide.
Our EMS is about ensuring we comply with legal obligations, minimising any negative environmental impacts of our activities, improving operational efficiency and fostering a culture of continual improvement.
Reaching the international ISO14001 benchmark for our EMS positions us to push on to seek full certification of our forestry business. I would like to thank all staff who have worked tirelessly on the EMS project and congratulate them in reaching this milestone.
We look forward to achieving forest certification by the end of 2006.
