Green politics is a fascinating subject, none more so than in Australia, where an amazing 90% of the population is urban and a substantial number vote Green Party at national elections. The main environmental issues in the timber sector have been the logging and conversion of domestic ancient (“old growth”) native woodlands to plantations, particularly in Tasmania, that green and very pleasant island paradise at the southern tip of this vast continent.
But times are a changing. Public concern recently shifted to Australia’s timber imports, with protestors taking direct action in timber yards in scenes all too familiar to UK importers, and climate change focusing the environmental debate on deforestation in the tropics. In response, and as national elections loom, John Howard recently announced the setting up of an £80m fund to help tackle global climate change and deforestation.
Earlier this year I was invited by the Australian government and timber industry to speak at a series of meetings in Sydney and Canberra on the work of the UK timber trade on responsible sourcing of timber, and I’m glad to report that, for the time being at least, this is one thing the UK does do better than the Australians (I tried not to talk about cricket and rugby).
Australia will catch up, for sure, and indeed the Australian Timber Importers Federation has now responded to public concern by adopting an Environmental Code of Conduct, drawing on the TTF version, and is looking to develop a more rigorous, auditable purchasing policy based on the TTF RPP.
This is good news for UK importers, all too often the lone voice calling on suppliers to prove their timber is legal and sustainable. We therefore intend, with support from the DFID Framework Agreement, to continue to help other timber importers associations around the world join the battle to eliminate illegal timber from the international timber trade. With TTF’s Liz Betser delivering similar messages in Liberia and Malaysia, we will continue to push the message that responsible purchasing is good for the timber industry.
