Forestry and Development E-News – May 2008
Forestry and Development (F&D) is an online resource on sustainable forestry. It supports commercial forestry as a viable source of economic growth which is compatible with sustainability.
AIC report on illegal logging fails organisation's own professional standards 16 April 2008: The PNG Forest Industries Association has complained to the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), an Australian Government legal research agency, that a recent report on imports of "illegal timber" fails the Institute's charter obligation to produce impartial and high standard research. The report repeats Greenpeace claims that an Australian subsidiary of an arm of forest company Rimbunan Hijau imports and sells illegal timber in Australia and that illegal logging is prevalent in PNG. The Association says that this is untrue and that the report defames the Australian company. It points out that the report is full of errors, for example underestimating plywood production in PNG by two-thirds, because it draws mostly on reports by Greenpeace and the Australian Conservation Foundation. These are political documents which are heavily slanted to push anti-forestry positions. They are notorious for sensationalist claims about illegal logging and forestry which cannot be substantiated. There is ample material on the record from industry and government sources which illustrates this, but virtually none has been drawn on in the report. As well as being full of errors and slanted, it is outdated. Rimbunan Hijau and the PNG forest industry have taken the lead in PNG in initiating the adoption of independently verifiable systems to demonstrate the legality of timber production in PNG. This is on the public record and the PNG industry was commended by the Australian Government for taking this action. The industry has also offered to work with the Australian Government to develop pro-climate change forestry strategies in PNG. Yet the report virtually ignores these developments. Instead, it serves as a vehicle for the now virtually moribund NGO campaign which puts it political ambitions ahead of the development interests of the people of PNG. The PNG Forest Industries Association has asked the Australian Institute of Criminology to withdraw and correct the report.
Political disputes spell commercial trouble for FSC 1 April 2008: FSC's ambition to become the world's leading forest certifier has been seriously harmed by deep internal political divisions which make it a very undependable partner. The World Rainforest Movement (WRM), a key member and one of the founders of FSC (along with the initiators, WWF and Greenpeace) has demanded that FSC cease certifying plantation forestry. It recently publicly described FSC's decision to certify eucalypt forests in Brazil as the system's 'death certificate'. Anti-forestry groups have been criticising FSC for some time through the website "FSCWatch" for certifying legitimate forestry in native forests.Ecological Internet has described such activity as a "big lie". Under this sort of pressure, FSC is now unilaterally cancelling commercial arrangements. It recently revoked the right of Indonesian pulp and paper company APP, one of the largest in the world, to use the FSC logo on paper products, despite formal verification by inspection agency SGS, as it had in the past, that the product met FSC rules. No formal justification was provided. FSC's spin was that the company's forest practices were poor. There is long-standing bitterness between WWF and APP over a failed effort to collaborate several years ago. FSC competes with the PEFC forest certification system. Companies prefer PEFC because it is more arm's length and technically-based. FSC is formally linked to Greenpeace and WWF and is more politically-oriented. Forest companies often sign up to FSC to buy peace and stop products being attacked in Western markets. FSC's commercial strategy has depended on certification of plantation forestry. The WRM action spells trouble for FSC. Forestry equals climate solution: Gabon, Indonesia 22 April 2008: Submissions by Gabon and Indonesia to the UNFCCC on reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) indicate support for carbon absorption in sustainably managed commercial forests. Gabon's submission, which was made on behalf of the Congo Basin countries, states that emissions from the exploitation of sustainably managed forests should not be included in carbon accounting, and that "enhanced forest carbon stocks achieved through sustainable management should also be estimated and compensated". Indonesia also states that "Countries would be compensated for any carbon stock accrual or enhancement through forest management between a first and a second carbon stock inventory". Greenpeace and WWF clearly had hoped to use the UNFCCC process to further constrain forestry in developing countries. Developing countries are showing what all people in forestry know - forests are carbon sinks and expanding sustainable forestry is the cheapest and most effective way to reduce greenhouse gases.	Australia foreign carbon policy evolves 23 April 2008: Australian climate change Minister Penny Wong has earmarked A$3 million for forest-carbon programmes in PNG. It is not yet clear how it plans to advance strategies in Indonesia and PNG to promote climate change abatement measures. The current focus is on assisting the development of forest monitoring systems and the promotion of sustainable forestry. The recently released Garnaut Review Discussion Paper on emissions trading shows that misconceptions remain in some quarters in Australia about what drives forestry and de-forestation. The Garnaut Review reflects the line of Green NGOs that the forest industry is the leading cause of deforestation in PNG. As the FAO constantly points out, population pressure is the leading cause of deforestation worldwide and in the Highlands in PNG where it is most pronounced. More than 75 per cent of wood removals in PNG's forests are for fuelwood. Success with climate change policies will depend on collaboration with forest industries to advance sustainable forestry. Greenpeace moves attacks to Solomons 25 April 2008: Greenpeace's failed campaign against the commercial forestry industry in Papua New Guinea has now shifted back to the Solomon Islands. Greenpeace had previously run a campaign against forestry in the Solomons in 1999 and 2001. Its campaign then constituted a broadside at the Solomons' poor. One report stated that after receiving income from forestry, "People started to buy things they didn't really need like tinned and processed foods". The NGO is now voicing the same rhetoric against the Solomons' commercial forestry industry as it did in PNG, accusing it of bribery, tax avoidance and poor labour practices. It is also attempting to re-mount the same campaign for 'small-scale eco-forestry' operations for local operators, promising access to significant premiums for an FSC-certified product. This is despite clear market indications that demand for certified eco-timber remains low, and World Bank reports indicating that 'eco-forestry' is only viable with heavy subsidies. The new Greenpeace report also suggests that the Solomons' timber stands will have a high value if carbon financed, despite the non-existence of an international trading mechanism. Also on Forestry and Development News > About F&D > Contact Us >
You have permission to forward this email newsletter to other interested persons provided it is passed on in its entirety. Forestry & Development E-News is published monthly by ITS Global (http://www.itsglobal.net/). ITS Global are accredited assessors for the International Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) Questions and feedback can be sent to forestrydevel@bigpond.com If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please click here. © 2008. All rights reserved | Forestry & Development Website | Contact |