Joel Fitzgibbon
The Australian Forest Products Association has promoted the important role of growing properly certified forestry plantations to fight global climate change, including planting one billion new trees in Australia by 2030 – at its first organised event at COP27 in Egypt overnight. Source: Timberbiz
“The multi-faceted benefits of certified timber plantations around the globe are quite amazing,” AFPA CEO Ross Hampton said.
“Not only do they grow timber and wood fibre that is manufactured into a range of essential products, but they also fight climate change on a grand scale, drawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, locking carbon in the trees and the products they create,” he said.
“With the global population on the rise and demand for timber and wood fibre set to quadruple by 2050, it’s critical the world achieves best practice in cultivating and managing sustainable forestry plantations. Recent UN FAO research suggests 33 million hectares of new plantations are needed to meet future demand and Australia can definitely help lead the way by achieving our billion new production trees by 2030 goal.”
Speakers at this event included:
- The Hon Joel Fitzgibbon – Former Australian Minister and AFPA Board Member
- Walter Schalka – CEO of Brazilian Pulp & Paper company, Suzano
- Michael Barbara – Director of Business Development at New Forests
- Ranjila Singh – Climate change mitigation expert, Climate Change and International Cooperation Division at Ministry of Economy, Fiji
- Diana Gibbs – AFPA Chair
- Pina Gervassi – Climate and Restoration Director at FSC International
- Agustin Rosello Hinrichs – President, International Forestry Students Association
- Garikanai Shoko – Regional Education Officer, Building and Wood Worker’s International
- Nat Somerville – President, Australian Women in Agriculture
“At a country level, Australia can play a modest but important climate change fighting by role planting more sustainable and certified forestry plantations,” Mr Hampton said.
“That will also help Australia achieve our billion trees by 2030 goal, all while securing future supply of essential timber and fibre.”
AFPA teamed up with the Brazilian Plantation Industry (IBA) to jointly host ‘The role of certified timber plantations in keeping 1.5 alive’ in the (ICC) Pavilion at COP27.
The AFPA also projected the key role sustainable Australian and global forestry will play in future farming to help tackle climate change, at a multi-stakeholder event at COP27 overnight.
Victorian red meat and tree farmer Mark Wootton of Jigsaw Farms, presented at the Towards recovery, resilience, and sustainability in agriculture – a multi-stakeholder partnership event, demonstrating to key international leaders that integrating farming with forestry works with substantial multi-pronged benefits.
“About 20 per cent of our land has been converted to trees, half of that for farm forestry and half for biodiversity,” Mr Wootton said.
“The benefits have been amazing. We are now able to carry a far greater number of sheep and cattle thanks to the shelter the trees have provided, reducing losses from windchill. There have also been marvellous biodiversity dividends. We counted 45 bird species in the late 1990s. Now we have more than 170. In addition, we are soon to benefit from a major financial gain when our production trees are harvested for timber,” Mr Wootton said.
AFPA Chief Executive Officer Ross Hampton said, “It was terrific that AFPA could help bring these organisations together – leaders in agriculture, meat and cropping and demonstrate that forestry will play a key role in future sustainability and resilience in farming, not just in Australia but across the globe.
“Mark’s example demonstrates a win for more meat production, a win for carbon neutrality, a win for biodiversity and a win for more timber and fibre supply,” he said.
Speakers at the event included:
- Dr Betty Chinyamunya – CEO, National Smallholder Farmers’ Association, Malawi
- Arnold Puech d’Alissac – President, World Farmers Organisation
- Hsing Huang – Secretary General, International Meat Secretariat
- Fiona Simson – National Farmers’ Federation (Australia)
- Romano De Vivo – Vice President of Sustainability, CropLife International
- Arianna Giuliodori – Secretary General, World Farmers Organisation
- Mark Wootton – Co-owner, Jigsaw Farms
Representatives from the World Farmers’ Organisation, CropLife International, the International Meat Secretariat, the National Farmers Federation (Australia) and AFPA, along with red meat and tree farmer Mark Wootton and representatives from Malawi’s farming sector, combined at the event.
