Norske Skog in the spotlight

Public Briefing Paper for Forest Management Certification Pre-assessment of Norske Skog in Tasmania, Australia, June 1, 2010

Introduction – The SmartWood Program of the Rainforest Alliance is conducting a forest management certification pre-assessment of Norske Skog located in Tasmania, Australia. The pre-assessment will be implemented from 21-23 June, 2010.

Scope of the Certification Pre-assessment – The forest management certification preassessment will assess the environmental, silvicultural and socioeconomic aspects of the forest plantations managed by Norske Skog, using the SmartWood Interim Standards for Australia
version June 2008. The area under the scope of this pre-assessment is plantation located in Tasmania with the total area of 18,150 hectares. The majority of the forest management area that is managed by Norske Skog is Pinus radiata plantation.

Included in this defined forest area is smaller areas of eucalypt plantations as well as small area of informal native forest reserve.

To obtain a copy of the applicable guidelines or to make comments about these standards, please contact SmartWood by telephone, FAX, email or website listed below. SmartWood is accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and this pre-assessment process must follow procedures which have been approved by the FSC.

Preassessment Team Composition – The pre-assessment team will be led by Graham Lea (Smartwood Lead Auditor). The other team member will be Irwan Gunawan (Asia Pacific Region Forestry Services Manager, Rainforest Alliance/SmartWood).

Pre-assessment Steps and Schedule – Following is a short description of the certification process and a tentative agenda:
♦ Pre-assessment organization – The SmartWood team will assemble in Hobart on June 21, 2010.
♦ Field pre-assessments – The team will visit sites managed by Norske Skog from June 21-23, 2010.
♦ Stakeholder consultation – Throughout the fieldwork, the team will contact local stakeholders regarding forest management in local communities surrounding the forest area. This will include private interviews and discussions, and public stakeholder meetings.
♦ Final pre-assessment briefing – Prior to departure the team will meet with Norske Skog’s managers and other parties to finalize their data collection and present preliminary findings.
♦ Draft report production – The pre-assessment team will produce a confidential draft report that will be circulated for comment to Norske Skog. This should occur 30 days after completion of the pre-assessment field work.

Your Input Sought – As a part of the forest certification pre-assessment process we invite stakeholders to offer comment and feedback on Norske Skog forest management in relation to the requirements of the forest management standard referenced above. We welcome input, either public or confidential, in whatever form is easiest and most secure for you. Your input will be valuable at any stage of the pre-assessment process, but we would prefer to receive your comments either prior to the pre-assessment, during the pre-assessment, or prior to July 2, 2010 so that we can take them into consideration. Your options for communicating your observations to us are as follows.

1. Meet with a SmartWood pre-assessment team member during or shortly after the fieldwork.
2. Call and give comments to either Graham Lea, lead auditor, or Irwan Gunawan, the SmartWood staff person responsible for coordinating this certification pre-assessment from Asia Pacific Regional Office. If Irwan Gunawan is not in the office, please give your comments to Indu Sapkota.
3. Submit written comments by mail, FAX or email to Indu Sapkota. Unless you request otherwise, these comments will be kept confidential and are solely for the purposes of assessing Norske Skog.

The source of any information provided will be kept confidential available to only the FSC and SmartWood staff.
Stakeholders who may wish to dispute any aspect of the forest certification process or decision can access SmartWood’s dispute resolution procedures at www.smartwood.org

Contacting SmartWood
Attn: Graham Lea
SmartWood Lead Auditor for Australia.
Phone: 08 8254 6143
Mobile: 042 972 0013
Email: [email protected]
SmartWood Asia Pacific Regional Office
Attn: Irwan Gunawan and Indu Bikal Sapkota
Jl. Ciung Wanara No. 1X, Lingkungan Kertasari, Kelurahan Panjer, Denpasar Selatan 80225 BALI INDONESIA
Tel :+62 0361 224356
Fax :+62 0361 235875
Mobile: +62 812 3859500
Email:
[email protected];
[email protected] or
[email protected]

NORSKE SKOG SEEKS FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL CERTIFICATION

The Tasmanian Greens today welcomed the announcement that the Rainforest Alliance has been engaged to undertake forest management certification under its SmartWood program which, if successful, will provide Norske Skog with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for its plantation estate in Southern Tasmania.

Greens Member for Lyons, Tim Morris MP, said FSC certification will allow Norske Skog to achieve better market access for its paper, providing additional job security for workers at Boyer and forest contractors who supply logs to the mill.

“Norske Skog’s decision to engage the Rainforest Alliance and seek FSC certification is great news for hundreds of workers in the timber industry and at the Boyer paper mill who require the job security that FSC will bring,” said Mr Morris.

“The high standard of FSC certification will bring some challenging issues for Norske Skog, but I am confident that they should be able to achieve certification which will be a first for a Tasmanian forest management company.”

“This company is one part of Tasmania’s forest industry that is not in crisis, because of Norske Skog’s decision to move with the times on certification,” said Mr Morris.

Reference: “Norske Skog under the spotlight,” Media Release, Smartwood Program of the Rainforest Alliance, available at http://oldtt.pixelkey.biz/index.php?/weblog/article/norske-skog-in-the-spotlight/

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