The FSC Asia Pacific Business Forum was held in Shanghai in October with more than 120 attendees from retailers to producers to FSC-accredited certification bodies gathering to share their insights and experiences from the past year. Source: Timberbiz
The guest speakers and participants came from across the Asia Pacific region and Europe, working in industries related to wood, paper, furniture and non-timber forest products.
In his opening address, Kim Carstensen, FSC Director General said: “We are the world ‘s most trusted sustainable forest management solution”.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of FSC, he stated that “today, we have over 1100 international members, 200 million hectares of certified forest, and 39,768 CoC certifications issued in 123 countries. We aim to deliver positive impacts for the forests, market and people, today and tomorrow.”
Jayco Fung, FSC’s Interim Regional Director and Head of Market Development for Asia Pacific, also shared her observations from the APAC Regional Office in Hong Kong.
“APAC is a growing FSC certification market, and the number of certified forest products traded here has continued to increase in recent years.
“China and Vietnam have been in the top five for growth in CoC certificates in the past quarter, while China now has one-fourth of the world’s FSC certified companies.
“FSC APAC’s key priorities are to increase our relevance by helping smallholders to get certified more easily with the simplified Regional Forest Management Standard, enhance government relationships and enter new markets like natural rubber and bamboo.”
FSC China Executive Director Lichao Ma shared FSC China’s efforts to promote awareness among consumers said: “FSC China is committed to enhancing consumer awareness which will lead to larger FSC demand in the market. This year, we held an exhibition at the Beijing Expo, an A-class global event. The exhibition lasted 162 days and attracted around one million visitors.”
The first-ever APAC Leadership Awards were hosted during the forum. Award winners from FSC-certified companies and Promotional Trademark License Holders included Maeil Dairies, IKEA China, Kimberly-Clark Taiwan, Sunway Malls, Stora Enso Consumer Paper Board China, Sichuan Qianwei Fengsheng Paper, Tetra Pak Greater China and UPM China.
In closing, Mr Carstensen reiterated that the 38% growth rate experienced in China by FSC was “incredible”, and after pledging to address issues around fraud and forest management growth, said he was “inspired by the commitment and engagement” of all the delegates and hoped that the dialogue and connections made at the forum would lead to “even more links for FSC in Asia Pacific in the future”.
