Respected forester Dr Hans Drielsma has been elected chairman of Australian Forestry Standard Ltd. Source: Timberbiz
Dr Drielsma, who has served as interim chairman since the resignation of Kate Carnell AO at the AFS AGM in Sydney last year, was elected at a recent meeting of the AFS board of directors.
Internationally renowned, Dr Drielsma played a key role in the development of the Australian Forest Certification Scheme and its endorsement by the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification.
He was instrumental in the development of a more active multi-national promotion of the PEFC in the Asia region, and has served on the PEFC International Governance Review Panel.
A recipient of the prestigious Institute of Foresters of Australia’s Norman Jolly Medal for outstanding services to the forestry profession, Dr Drielsma has postgraduate qualifications from Yale University in forest policy and natural resources sociology.
He was managing director of ForestsNSW (now Forestry Corporation of NSW), executive general manager of Forestry Tasmania, and a board member of the CRC for Forestry.
Dr Drielsma said he was encouraged by the solid progress of AFS in the Australian market, which particularly was a result of the efforts, both nationally and internationally of CEO Simon Dorries.
“Recent visits by PEFC International secretary-general Ben Gunneberg have also helped AFS gain added recognition with both Ben and Simon communicating with high-profile companies and certification stakeholders here,” he said.
Dr Drielsma said AFS Ltd was focused this year on a revision of the standards process and rolling out a refreshed marketing and communication program.
“A professional promotion campaign to lift the community profile of AFS is a real priority for us,” he said.
Dr Drielsma chairs a board of directors comprising Alison Carmichael, general manager, Agsafe Ltd, Alan Bones, general manager, sales and marketing, Carter Holt Harvey New Zealand, Nathan Trushell, acting CEO, VicForests.
