The Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Sid Sidebottom, welcomed recognition of the Australian Government’s $500,000 funding to help develop the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) National Standard for forest management. Source: Timberbiz
The funding has been a key point of discussion at the Annual General Meeting of the FSC in Melbourne.
“The $500 000 grant will help develop a strong Australian brand for sustainably harvested wood,” Sidebottom said.
“Forest certification has developed around the world as a way of providing assurances to consumers that the wood products they purchase are from sustainably managed forests.
“These schemes provide our forest managers with the tools to appropriately market their products into the future.
“The Australian Government supports all credible, internationally recognised, forest certification schemes.
“This is one of the projects the Australian Government is supporting following the historic signing of the 2013 Intergovernmental Agreement by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings.
“We are committed to helping our forest workers, contractors and forestry communities face ongoing challenges, such as the high Australian dollar, by working to maintain and boost market access,” Sidebottom said.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is engaging with FSC Australia on the development of the FSC National Standard.
The FSC has begun the process of recruiting personnel to carry out a public consultation process that will provide durability and certainty to all stakeholders.’
