Forest and Wood Products Australia Limited (FWPA) has announced the establishment of a reference group to provide strategic direction to its new Statistics and Economics Program. Source: Timberbiz
After receiving nominations from across the forest and wood products sector, the FWPA has selected candidates that had senior experience and a passion for improving the information base available to the industry.
Ric Sinclair, FWPA managing director, expressed his thanks for senior members of the industry contributing their time and effort to this important collaborative activity.
“It is very pleasing to have senior industry leaders from the growers, processors and importers involved in the reference group,” he said.
The Statistics and Economics Program has been established to improve the timeliness and accuracy of the information, which is available to industry and other key stakeholders.
After extensive consultation to identify industry concerns the program is focused on improving the base line data in four key areas
1. Information to support/improve commercial operations
2. Information to support investment decisions
3. Safety
4. Socio Economic Data
Progress is being made in expanding the data aggregation opportunities for the industry including; expanding the coverage of the Softwood Timber Survey and establishing a new Hardwood Timber Survey.
“The reference group will provide valuable guidance on the key statistics required for improved decision making. In addition due to the range of skills present, the Reference Group members will also provide real operational perspectives on the specific data which needs to be gathered,” Sinclair said.
