Public Notification Letter
To: Interested Parties
From: SCS Global Services
Date: February 19th, 2014
Re: Notification of FSC Preliminary Assessment of Forestry Tasmania
Summary: As part of an upcoming Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Preliminary Assessment, SCS Global Services is seeking stakeholder input regarding the forest management policies and practices of Forestry Tasmania. Please comment via email, or call our offices or representatives to provide input or to ask questions (contact information, below). Forestry Tasmania is undergoing a preliminary assessment against the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) Forest Management standard. The FSC is a non-profit organization devoted to encouraging the responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC sets standards that ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable way.
Forestry Tasmania is a State-Government Business Enterprise with the fundamental statutory responsibility to manage and control the Permanent Timber Production Zone Land (PTPZL) of Tasmania’s public forests, and to harvest and sell high quality sawlogs and other forest products. This involves managing approximately 50,000 ha of plantation and approximately 700,000 ha of native forest in order to make available at least 137,000 cubic metres of high quality sawlog to the veneer and sawmilling industries, plus peeler billets and other forest products. The scope of FT’s operations include harvesting and regenerating forest, stand maintenance activities, road construction and maintenance and fire management. These operations are supported by a comprehensive management system that aims to minimise potentially adverse impacts of FT’s activities.
Scope and Certification Evaluation Process
SCS Global Services (SCS), a FSC-accredited certification body based in Emeryville, California, will conduct this FSC preliminary assessment. FT will be seeking full FSC certification for approximately 720,000 ha of the PTPZL, and FSC controlled wood certification for approximately 30,000 ha of plantations that were established on land converted from natural forest since November 1994 and as a consequence do not qualify for full FSC certification. The preliminary assessment will be conducted against the FSC/SCS Interim Standard for Forest Management Certification in Australia, Version 1.1 and the FSC Controlled Wood Standard FSC-STD-30-010.
Results of the Preliminary Assessment will enable Forestry Tasmania to understand and begin to address any areas where management policies and practices may not presently be in adequate conformance with the certification standard. Award of certification is not an option associated with a preliminary assessment.
At a later date, and after it has addressed any gaps identified in the preliminary assessment, Forestry Tasmania may opt to undergo a full certification evaluation where, depending on the outcome, award of certification is a possibility. A full evaluation, were one to be undertaken, would be accompanied with prior public notification as well as stakeholder consultation.
The preliminary assessment process includes the following phases:
• Public notification: distribution of the standard and solicitation of comments about the certification applicant; audit planning and document review;
• Field assessment: a representative sample of field sites and operations within the defined forest area are inspected by a team of auditors; review of management and planning documents; interviews with management and planning personnel;
• Stakeholder consultation;
• Synthesis of findings: possible gaps relative to the certification standard are is ascertained;
• Reporting: a report describing the assessment process, findings, and an assessment of Forestry Tasmania’s readiness for a later certification audit is produced.
Audit Team
The audit team consists of Lead Auditor Dr. Robert J. Hrubes, Executive Vice-President of SCS Global Services, Mr. Graeme Lea, and Dr. Hugh Stewart.
Call for Public Participation
SCS welcomes comments on the forest management of Forestry Tasmania, such as whether the organization complies with the legal, social, technical, and environmental requirements of the standard or identification of high conservation value forests[1] within the lands managed by Forestry Tasmania. All comments and sources will be kept in strict confidence at the request of the commenter.
Comments can be submitted via email, standard mail, or facsimile to Robert Hrubes – contact information below.
Dates
The field audit is scheduled to take place during the week of March 31st, 2014. SCS may make arrangements to meet with interested parties during the evaluation if appropriate, but it is preferred that comments are submitted before the field audit commences.
Dispute Resolution Procedure
As provided by the FSC Interim Dispute Resolution Protocol and the SCS Forest Conservation Program Quality Manual, dispute resolution procedures are in place and available to interested parties at http://www.scsglobalservices.com/your-feedback
Additional Information
More information about FSC and SCS can be obtained from www.fsc.org and www.SCSglobalServices.com. Information on Forestry Tasmania can be found at http://www.forestrytas.com.au/
Please contact us:
Robert Hrubes, Ph.D.
Executive Vice-President
SCS Global Services, 2000 Powell St, Suite 600; Emeryville CA 94608, USA
USA: Tel +1 (510) 452-8000, Fax +1 (510) 452-6882
[email protected]
Hugh Stewart, Ph.D.
Audit Team Member, Local Contact
AUS: Tel +61 3 9374 4265
Eric J. Smith | Program Coordinator, Forest Management Certification
Natural Resources Division
SCS GLOBAL SERVICES
+1.510.452.8035 | eric.smith.scs1 skype
[email protected]
www.SCSglobalServices.com
