Forestry Tasmania is facing delays in gaining a crucial environmental approval but is more confident it will eventuate, chairman Bob Annells has said. Source: ABC News
The agency is trying to achieve Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, which indicates to consumers that products are from sustainably managed forests.
The annual report released on Tuesday said it would be “very surprising” and “virtually unprecedented” for a business of its size to pass a crucial audit of its logging practises at the first attempt.
Chairman Bob Annells said “great strides” had been made since the process started and he was more confident than he had been 12 months ago.
Mr Annells said there was still no indication whether the auditors would grant FSC certification.
He said delays had arisen from dealing with several new issues “coming into sharper focus”.
“There have been some issues come forward into sharper focus such as swift parrots, such as wedge-tailed eagle habitat, that are in a sense changing the goalposts on us – not unfairly, but they have changed the goalposts.
“We’re having to work really hard to make sure we can tick those boxes, because without it we will not get FSC.”
Mr Annells also said there was a long way to go before the body achieved financial sustainability, despite a big profit.
The forestry manager posted a $31.7 million profit – a big turnaround from the $43 million loss recorded the previous financial year.
Mr Annells said that in accounting terms, Forestry Tasmania was profitable but that was not what mattered.
“We all know that what really matters is cash, and in cash terms no, we’re not,” he said.
“There’s been a remarkable accounting turnaround, but that’s largely due to revaluation of assets particularly the forest, so I don’t take too much notice of that to be perfectly frank.
“What I’m interested in is our cash position, clearly we’ve got some way to go.”
Mr Annells said cutting of 70 jobs was regrettable but helped achieve the financial result. He warned there was more cost-cutting was ahead.
