Saturday, 21 October 2006
FSC-US Hosts First in a Series of Forums
Last month, FSC-US invited leading corporate and conservation leaders to a forum that explored the threats and opportunities along the path to forestry’s ecological and socially sustainable future.
The forum, titled “Controlling Wood in the Forestry Supply Chain,” sought to speak to the question of: now that markets have identified the best, how do we exclude the worst? In the past decade, the sustainable forestry community has recognized the “best of the best” through certification, leading to significant improvements in the health of forests globally. Risks from illegal, unjust, and destructive logging, however, still tarnish the industry’s integrity. Attention now must shift to eliminating the “worst of the worst.” The idea of “controlled wood” is an emerging concept that can transform the industry, and buyers, producers, investors, lenders and conservationists are all part of this critical dialogue.
The intent of the forum was to:
• Lead to a shared understanding of the magnitude of the social and environmental threats that remain in the global wood market and the opportunities to tackle them
• Build relationships with key NGO conservation leaders, corporate executives and charitable donors who are helping to reshape forestry practices
• Identify the tools that will enable progressive buyers to reset the “floor” of acceptable logging practices worldwide, including FSC’s forthcoming Global Risk Registry
The forum was co-hosted by Jonathan Lash, president of World Resources Institute, Steve McCormick, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, and Mike Covey, CEO of Potlatch Corporation.
Panelists, representing a wide spectrum of involvement in the forestry supply chain, each made remarkable presentations regarding their views of why the forestry industry needs to be concerned with controlling supply chain inputs. The panelists included Liz Butler, organizing director of ForestEthics, Ron Jarvis, vice president of merchandising and environmental innovation for The Home Depot, Silas Siakor, director of the Sustainable Development Institute of Liberia, and recent recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize, and Danna Smith, campaign director for Dogwood Alliance.
With more than 60 conservation and business leaders in attendance, a lively and interesting discussion followed speaker presentations giving everyone an opportunity to share in the dialogue.