SFM team member wins Forest Practices Award
The Tasmanian Forest Practices Awards recognise excellence, innovation, quality and diligence in the Forest Practices System and the contribution to the ongoing success and sustainability of Tasmania’s Forest Industry. These awards are also an opportunity to publicly acknowledge some of the many people working in forestry in Tasmania who are consistently displaying excellence in applying the forest practices system in their particular work.
The 2019 Awards saw the introduction of a new category recognising excellence in newly appointed FPO’s, as either an FPO inspecting or Planning, a recipient of this inaugural award was our very own Leanne Chappell.
Working as Systems Coordinator at SFM, Leanne was wanting to extend herself beyond the management of forest certification systems, so her role was extended to include the preparation of forest practices plans (FPPs).
Leanne completed her Forest Practices Officer training course in 2016 and was appointed FPO Planning in 2017. Since formally becoming an FPO Leanne has worked on and completed several FPP’s ranging from selective harvest operations in the Central Highlands to complicated clearing for the Camden Dam Project.
Prior to working in a planning role, Leanne worked at applying the forest practices system at an operational level through her roles as a Plantation Forester and Native Forest Silviculture Forester for other companies within the Tasmanian forestry industry.
Having prepared FPPs for native forest and plantation operations, Leanne has also worked on FPPs for projects of essential public purpose. This has presented interesting challenges incorporating not only State, but Federal species management outcomes ie the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBCA) guidelines.
In addition to her FPO role, Leanne, as manager of SFM’s certification systems for their Tasmanian operations has, where required, managed the integration of FPA’s tools and systems into the Responsible Wood and FSC forest management certifications systems. Leanne has also written several Forest management Plans for private property operations liaising not just with FPA specialists but also external expert ecological consultants.
Congratulations to Leanne for this outstanding achievement.
