Like most resources in China, wood use has boomed recently. According to the latest news issued by the State Forestry Administration (SFA), China’s outputs of forestry and major forest products rose significantly in 2007. The total forestry output value of the nation reached RMB1.25 trillion yuan, up RMB188.12 billion yuan or 17.66% over the last year. The output of sawn-wood was 28.29 million m³ in 2007, up 13.78% over the previous year. Production of wood based panels over the same period was up 18.98% and wooden flooring up a massive 46.77% over the last year.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has launched an online survey to monitor the implementation of the Standard for Company Evaluation of FSC Controlled Wood (FSC-STD-40-005 V2-1).

As of January 2008, all chain of custody (CoC) certificate holders using non-FSC certified material for their FSC mixed production are obliged to implement the standard. FSC invites all interested parties to take part in a short, easy to use, online survey before September 10, 2008. Stakeholders, National Initiatives, certification bodies and certificate holders have already submitted some comments regarding critical aspects of the standard. This survey is targeted to FSC certificate holders and certifiers in order to better understand the challenges associated with implementation of the standard. Additionally, some areas of the standard are also subject of concern to FSC stakeholders and FSC National Initiatives, so these key persons are encouraged to offer feedback through the survey. The information from this survey will be used to build case studies in order to provide rationale for future decision-making in relation to the FSC Controlled Wood Program. At the same time, this information will be valuable to define which tools should be developed by FSC to facilitate the uptake of the standard.

You can access the survey at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=FMQdqp8KroVBonQml0NGEA_3d_3d

The standard is available in the FSC web site at: http://www.fsc.org/fileadmin/web-data/public/document_center/international_FSC_policies/standards/FSC_STD_40_005_V2_1_EN_Company_Evaluation_of_Controlled_Wood.pdf

Family forest owners in the USA, who own nearly two-thirds of the country’s forest lands, have cheered the endorsement of the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC). This step that will open the door to new green markets for wood that is sustainably produced on their land.

PEFC made the announcement after a 14-month rigorous review designed to provide assurance to purchasers that certified wood and paper products are in fact produced from sustainably managed forests. “This is fantastic news for conservation-minded family forest owners who are struggling to survive in tough economic times,” said Laurence Wiseman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Forest Foundation, the parent group of ATFS. “PEFC approval is the key to connecting more of the good operators to the rapidly growing marketplace of green manufacturers, distributors, retailers and consumers.” Forest owners who voluntarily commit the extra time and expense to produce wood sustainably under the ATFS system will now qualify for access to international markets they never had before. Although many people mistakenly assume that forest land they see is owned by either the government or large paper companies, in fact 60% of all the wood harvested in the US comes from family forest lands. Many communities depend on private forests to provide benefits including water purification, clean air, recreation, wildlife habitat and education. “By joining the largest forest certification system in the world, the American Tree Farm System is creating new markets for American growers,” said Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC International. “The demand for sustainably-procured wood is rapidly increasing because more businesses and more consumers are stepping up to the plate on issues like climate change. PEFC endorsement means that more American growers can now serve this rapidly growing market.” The American Tree Farm System was first launched in 1941 as a private initiative to address concerns that America’s forests were being cut at unsustainable rates without reforestation. It now represents more than 90,000 family forest owners in 45 states, most of whom manage woodlots of less than 100 acres. ATFS is the largest private forest conservation and forest restoration initiative in the history of the US.

Congo, home to the world’s second largest tropical forest, has launched a review of all timber contracts in an effort to clean up a business rife with corruption and to recoup millions of dollars in lost taxes, according to a report by Environmental News Network (ENN).

The World Bank-sponsored initiative will look at 156 deals, most of which were signed during a 1998-2003 war and under a subsequent interim government that was accused of awarding numerous dubious logging and mining contracts.In 2002, with the country partially under the control of rebels, the Democratic Republic of Congo issued a five-year moratorium on new logging contracts as part of efforts to stem rampant deforestation aggravated by the conflict, the ENN reported. However, the measure was inaffective and companies continued to sign new deals. “Logging and land clearance for farming are eating away the Congo Basin, home to more than a quarter of the world’s tropical forest, at the rate of more than 800,000 ha a year,” the report said. “Many contracts are expected to be cancelled outright by a review panel made up of government officials and independent experts.” Environment Minister Jose Endundu: “What I’m hoping for is fewer concessions. What I’m hoping for is more revenues for the state. What I’m hoping for is better management of the forestry sector.” He said he wanted to reduce land attributed to logging companies to 15 Mha from 20 Mha. Amongst the biggest timber firms operating in Congo are Siforco, which is a subsidiary of Germany’s Danzer Group, and Portuguese-owned Sodefor, a unit of holding company NST.

The Tembec and Kruger joint venture, Marathon Pulp., has received Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for its forestry practices on the Big Pic Forest in Ontario, Canada.

“This certification demonstrates our desire to expand Tembec’s 2001 commitment to seek third-party FSC certification for all of its forest operations by working with external supply partners to further extend the forest areas under certification,” James Lopez, President and CEO of Tembec said. “With 10.4 Mha of FSC-certified forestland under our management, Tembec offers the largest range of FSC-certified products in the marketplace and is a leading supplier of FSC-certified pulp.” The Forest Stewardship Council is recognised worldwide as the Gold standard for well-managed forests for its unique regional, multi-stakeholder approach to the development of standards. “Achieving FSC certification is the culmination of months of hard word and represents a well-deserved recognition of the efforts of our team and that of partner companies,” Marc Barrette, Vice President and COO of Marathon Pulp added. “Marathon is committed to the continuous improvement of forest management and strengthening partnerships, notably with local First Nations”. Marathon Pulp received its certification from the Rainforest Alliance SmartWood Program, a Forest Stewardship Council accredited certifier, following an in-depth audit process that found that the company’s forest management practices comply with FSC’s rigorous standards for environmentally and socially responsible forestry practices. Founded in 1993, the Forest Stewardship Council is an international, NGO that has developed the only forest certification system recognised worldwide by native peoples, environmental groups, labour organisations and industry. The certification system requires consultations with all forest users and stakeholders, and guarantees the independent evaluation of forest management practices used by companies.

Today’s view on our planet from space is the clearest ever – land cover changes such as forest fires and concession roads can be easily detected with the latest Earth Observation (EO) technologies. A project of FSC, the European Space Agency (ESA) and several partners shows how the latest EO technology improves its potential as a cost effective tool for forest management certification.

EO experts mapped, measured or monitored FSC certified forests in the following three countries during the two year long project: York Timber Organization in South Africa; Congolaise Industrielle des Bois in the Republic of Congo; and Grupo Orsa in Brazil. The results show EO as practical across a range of services including the documentation of land change cover between two dates making even negative impacts visible. The new data is a source of valuable information for FSC certificate holders to show their compliance with FSC’s Principles and Criteria over time as well as with national regulations.

The EO maps illustrate areas of deforestation and fire breaks as well as agriculture, rivers and flooded vegetation. Furthermore, experts were able to estimate timber volumes in a plantation and areas which were destroyed by fire and later successfully re-established. With this EO technology it was even possible to detect and map concession roads as an indicator of deforestation risk or project accessibility.

For the study the specialists combined the latest generation of low cost, high resolution satellite imagery with complementary data mapping of radar and optical sensors within a Geographical Information System’s (GIS) framework. FSC certified forest companies with GIS capabilities can seamlessly integrate those large scale maps into their operations. “Thus they save considerable cost and time compared to conventional ground-based forest surveys”, says Justin Butler, Chief Executive Officer of Ambiental.

Francesco Holecz, Chief Executive Officer of Sarmap SA, comments: “This also ensures that forest product maps and measurements are totally unbiased and independent. And, once ground verified, reliable.”

FSC Criteria 10.5 in plantations for example, requires the restoration or maintenance of a proportion of the overall forest management area as natural forest cover. EO analysis could help FSC certification bodies to evaluate and monitor compliance with FSC requirements regarding set aside areas based on up-to-date and easy assessable land cover maps and EO information.

The three companies participating in the project confirmed that the EO services provided valuable support for forest management decisions. The additional or alternative data source helped to make decisions and to address specific management issues such as fire damage and assessment of burned areas. The impact of decisions over time can also be monitored and easily verified by FSC certification bodies.

As such, for FSC certification the new EO technology could be seen as a reliable, independent, comprehensive and detailed source of information on forest operations and certification. Francesco Holecz, concludes: “Successful integration of EO services in responsible forest management will depend on our ability to provide relevant and cost effective mapping and monitoring services. The key to this is providing customised products and automated data analysis processes which speed up service delivery, limit operator bias and error and reduce processing costs.”

The project partners include Sarmap, Ambiental Technical Solutions, Aon Ltd and Eyre Consulting, and the European Space Agency (ESA) that financed the project. FSC and the project partners are planning to share these results at the upcoming FSC General Assembly.

Fourteen states have been selected as the first developing country members of an innovative partnership and international financing mechanism to combat tropical deforestation and climate change. The 14 developing countries include six in Africa (the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar); five in Latin America (Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Mexico, Panama); and three in Asia (Nepal, Lao PDR, and Vietnam). They will receive initial funding from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), an innovative approach to financing efforts to combat climate change.

The FCPF aims to reduce deforestation and forest degradation by compensating developing countries for greenhouse gas emission reductions. The partnership, approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on September 25, 2007, became functionally operational on June 25, 2008.  The 14 tropical and sub-tropical countries will receive grant support as they build their capacity for REDD and tap into future systems of positive incentives for REDD.   The decision about which countries will receive initial funding came at a two-day meeting in Paris of the FCPF Steering Committee.  The committee was made up of an equal number of developing and industrialised countries, plus observers from international organisations, NGOs, and forest-dependent indigenous peoples and other forest dwellers. The committee was assisted in its decision by an independent Technical Advisory Panel comprised of experts in different technical fields and different regions of the world. “Deforestation and forest degradation together are the second leading man-made cause of global warming,” said Joëlle Chassard, Manager of the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Unit.  “They are responsible for about 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the main source of national emissions in many developing countries. For that reason, we have been eager to initiate this partnership and assist countries while building a body of knowledge on how best to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by protecting forests and helping the people who benefit from them.” Each of the nine industrialised countries that formalized their participation in the partnership was present at the Paris meeting.

These countries are Australia, Finland, France (the French Development Agency), Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. Together, they have committed to contribute about $82 million to the FCPF. More contributions from the public and private sector are expected in the coming months. “The FCPF is an important mechanism for giving effect to what was agreed at the Bali climate change meetings in 2007 – that donors and developing countries should work together to trial approaches to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation,” said Robin Davies, Assistant Director General, Sustainable Development Group, AusAID, representing Australia, the first donor to the facility. “The selection of this initial group of developing country partners is an important first step in improving global understanding of ways to reduce forest carbon emissions and lift forest-dependent communities out of poverty.” The grant money being provided to the first 14 developing countries in the FCPF will help them to prepare for future systems of positive incentives for REDD, in particular by establishing emissions reference levels, adopting REDD strategies, and designing monitoring systems.

Developing countries have expressed a strong interest in participating in the FCPF and it is expected that more countries will receive support in the coming months. “The FCPF has created a true partnership,” said Gisela Ulloa, National Clean Development Office NCDO Coordinator in Bolivia, “where developing countries and developed countries, alongside the World Bank, are working in a transparent and participative way to learn and support each other in the readiness process for REDD. Selection into the program will now allow Bolivia to build its capacity to undertake actions to slow deforestation and to become an early actor in the emerging market for REDD.  By joining with other tropical nations and potential carbon market actors, we expect our pace of learning, preparation, and action to address climate change to be faster and better focused on the conditions and needs of our country.” At their meeting last December in Bali, the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to start demonstration activities on REDD.  The FCPF, which was announced by the World Bank at the Bali Conference, will help to finance some of these demonstration activities.

Family forest owners in the USA, who own nearly two-thirds of the country’s forest lands, today cheered the endorsement of the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC). This step that will open the door to new green markets for wood that is sustainably produced on their land.

PEFC made the announcement after a 14-month rigorous review designed to provide assurance to purchasers that certified wood and paper products are in fact produced from sustainably managed forests. “This is fantastic news for conservation-minded family forest owners who are struggling to survive in tough economic times,” said Laurence Wiseman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Forest Foundation, the parent group of ATFS. “PEFC approval is the key to connecting more of the good operators to the rapidly growing marketplace of green manufacturers, distributors, retailers and consumers.” Forest owners who voluntarily commit the extra time and expense to produce wood sustainably under the ATFS system will now qualify for access to international markets they never had before. Although many people mistakenly assume that forest land they see is owned by either the government or large paper companies, in fact 60% of all the wood harvested in the US comes from family forest lands. Many communities depend on private forests to provide benefits including water purification, clean air, recreation, wildlife habitat and education. “By joining the largest forest certification system in the world, the American Tree Farm System is creating new markets for American growers,” said Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC International. “The demand for sustainably-procured wood is rapidly increasing because more businesses and more consumers are stepping up to the plate on issues like climate change. PEFC endorsement means that more American growers can now serve this rapidly growing market.” The American Tree Farm System was first launched in 1941 as a private initiative to address concerns that America’s forests were being cut at unsustainable rates without reforestation. It now represents more than 90,000 family forest owners in 45 states, most of whom manage woodlots of less than 100 acres. ATFS is the largest private forest conservation and forest restoration initiative in the history of the US.

South-east Australia’s natural forests are among the most carbon dense in the world and store three times more carbon than Australian and international climate change experts realise, a world-first study released today at The Australian National University revealed.

The largest stocks of carbon are found in the tall wet eucalypt forests of Victoria and Tasmania. These forests support trees up to 80 m tall and can contain more than 1,200 t of carbon/ha, which is up to 10 times more carbon/ha than previously realised. ANU scientists have calculated that the average amount of carbon stored in unlogged natural eucalypt forests is about 640 t/ha. According to the leading worldwide climate change scientific body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the average carbon stock in temperate forests is only 217 t/ha. The findings represent a breakthrough in understanding the role of forests in long term carbon storage and in helping solve the climate change problem. The authors – Professor Brendan Mackey, Dr Heather Keith, Dr Sandra Berry and Professor David Lindenmayer – found that a new approach is needed to account for carbon stored in natural forests. “Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries has been the focus for the international community since the United Nations climate change conference in Bali last December, but this is also an issue for Australia,” Professor Mackey said. About half of Australia’s forests have been cleared in the last 220 years and the carbon stocks in more than 50 per cent of the remaining unprotected forests have been degraded by land use activities such as logging. Professor Mackey said the research should alert Australian governments and international agencies of the urgent need to protect the carbon stored in natural forests as part of the suite of measures needed to solve the climate change problem. “Protecting the carbon in Australia’s and the world’s natural forests is no longer an option – it is a necessity,” Professor Mackey said. “If natural forests continue to be cleared and degraded then the C02 released will significantly increase concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The carbon stored in natural forests is a larger and more reliable stock than the carbon stored in commercially logged forests and plantations.” The research from the Fenner School of Environment and Society at ANU found that around 9.3 Bt of carbon can be stored in the 14.5 Mha of natural eucalypt forests in south-east Australia if they are left undisturbed. The carbon currently stored in these forests is equivalent to “avoided emissions” of 460 million tonnes of CO2/y for the next 100 years.

The news the sawmilling fraternity was waiting on has arrived, with major North American sawmill supplier USNR swooping in to snatch up fellow supplier Coe Newnes McGehee (CNM) for an undisclosed sum.

The only stakeholders more pleased by the result than CNM’s customers would be the CNM employees and the community at the company’s Salmon Arm base, Canada. USNR is committed to supporting all previously-installed Newnes-McGehee systems with its “enhanced pool of technical resources”, the buyer said in a release. “We are currently in the process of integrating the Newnes-McGehee sales, marketing, engineering and service functions with those of USNR. The Newnes-McGehee brand of products remains the same, but is characterised by a new logo that reflects the change in ownership.” The acquisition covers both CNM’s solid wood business unit -Newnes-McGehee – and its dry kiln and engineered wood product business unit – Coe Manufacturing. Newnes-McGehee will continue to operate out of Salmon Arm as a division of USNR. The engineered wood products business units will continue to operate independently out of Painesville, Ohio, as Coe Manufacturing Company. USNR is working to integrate the new divisions into the business as smoothly and as quickly as possible. The aim is to consolidate not only a bigger more powerful company but also a streamlined entity not hampered by the excess administration that often affects larger companies. As previously reported by International Forest Industries (June, pp21-23), CNM is a company steeped in history. It was also a company upon which a community of employees and the small community of Salmon Arm relied. Regional Sales Manager Mike Parkes had stressed the need for CNM to be kept together, not only to protect the value that the company represented as a whole unit, but for the communities it supported. Following the acquisition he described the deal as a “positive outcome” for CNM. Meanwhile, USNR has seen the value of the CNM entity and has taken the opportunity to strengthen its position in the North American market. The company will also be looking to capitalise on recent technology investments made my CNM and its planned global marketing strategy that was to diversify the group away from the domestic market. CNM had recently attended shows in Germany and Australia and was planning to attend exhibitions in New Zealand and another in Australia. The company had also secured an increasing number of international contracts covering Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Uraguay, and Brazil. However, USNR said it had no immediate plans for further expansion and was concentrating purely on integrating the two businesses. The company considered itself secure despite the industry downturn and believes it is well equipped to continue delivering profits. “USNR’s ownership has been unchanged for more than 30 years and has successfully managed the company through several industry downturns. USNR remains a financially stable company with sound operating practices.” USNR President and CEO, George Van Hoomissen: “We see tremendous potential in both the Newnes-McGehee and Coe Manufacturing businesses. For many years, both companies have employed some of the industry’s most qualified personnel and offered some of the best products on the market. Now those people and products will be backed by the financial stability of USNR. We believe this will prove to be a winning combination – first and foremost for our customers, but also for our suppliers and our employees.” Collaboration between the two engineering teams will make for better products and allow the combined company to bring them to market faster, according to USNR. USNR hopes customers will see the acquisition as a chance to get the best from both companies. By combining USNR product lines, service and support operations, customers will be able to design the solution that best meets their needs. “This offers customers far more options when planning a project.” USNR Vice President Chris Blomquist said. Shirley Lawrence, Parts Sales Manager at USNR, commented on aftermarket support: “As we integrate the two businesses we are anticipating that our even larger network of warehousing and logistics resources will allow us to deliver replacement parts to all of our customers faster and more economically.”