The forestry model of one of the world’s most respected environmental groups, The Conservation Fund based in Washington DC, is being canvassed to Australia’s forest industries. Source: Timberbiz
“Senior Vice President of the Conservation Fund, Mr Robin Murphy, is currently visiting Australia to explain the Fund’s methods,” Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Forest Products Association, Mr Ross Hampton said.
The Conservation Fund has partnerships with companies such as Apple, which work with the Fund to facilitate the purchase of sustainably managed forest estates to ensure they have a sustainable fibre supply for their product packaging.
Since 1985, the Fund has protected three million hectares of land in the United States, combining dual objectives of environmental outcomes and economic viability.
“We purchase forests which might otherwise be lost. We improve their sustainability credentials and then we on sell the working forest as an accredited world leading production forest which upholds the highest environmental standards,” Mr Murphy said.
“The world population is growing quickly towards 9.5 billion people by 2050, and in an increasingly environmentally aware society, the demand for recyclable and efficient products made from tree fibre will rise.
“This tree fibre comes from sustainable forestry operations in places like the USA, Canada and Australia. Therefore, we expect sustainably managed forests to continue to be attractive as sought after investments.
“Australia has huge opportunities to enhance sustainable forestry and now is the right time,” Mr Murphy concluded.
