SFM staff Dan Ryan and Ann LaSala were interviewed recently by ABC’s Sally Dakis regarding our FSC Group Scheme. Here’s what they had to say;

Landholders band together to pursue FSC certification
By Sally Dakis
Thursday, 15 December  2011

It wasn’t that long ago that Bothwell farmer and forest owner Peter Downie because Australia’s first private landholder with a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forest.

FSC certification is increasingly being demanded by customers who are keen to be reassured about the environmental credentials of wood products.

It’s a direction that both the Intergovernmental Forest Agreement and the recent House of Representatives inquiry into Australia’s timber industry have backed.

Tasmanian forest management company SFM Forest Products are now in the throws of certifying the first private forests under a group certification scheme, where private landowners are clubbing together to certify their forests.

Sally Dakis joined SFM’s forest operations manager Dan Ryan, forest contractor Ian Wiggins, and SFM’s environmental systems manager Ann La Sala in the hills behind Levendale to see what it means for a working forest.
POD: http://www.abc.net.au/rural/podcasts/tascountryhour.xml