Hodgson Speech On Paper And Wood Products
SPEECH TO A MEETING OF THE FAO ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PAPER AND WOOD PRODUCTS
LAKESIDE NOVOTEL, ROTORUA
Embargoed
until delivery, 12.30pm, 2 May 2000,
Ms Lisa Lachapelle,
Chair of the Advisory Committee, Mr Wulf Killmann, Director,
Forestry Department of FAO, Mr James Griffiths, Chair of the
International Forum, distinguished delegates, ladies and
gentlemen.
It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to
our country, and especially to Rotorua, the hub of the New
Zealand plantation forestry industry, for this the
forty-first meeting of the FAO Advisory Committee on Paper
and Wood Products (ACPWP). I am told that thirty different
countries are represented here and that collectively you
represent approximately ninety percent of international
forest products trade. Also, I understand that this morning
you concluded the annual meeting of the International Forum
of Forest and Paper Association and that its recommendations
will be tabled at this Advisory Committee meeting over the
next day and a half.
I note that the ACPWP has been
established to advise the Director General of FAO on
activities it should undertake to support sustainable
forestry development and that you meet annually to discuss
issues and provide advice related to forest industries. I
also notice from your agenda for this meeting that it
includes a number of items that are of considerable
importance to the international community. These include
global warming and the Kyoto Protocol, trade and environment
issues, in particular, the trade liberalisation outlook
after Seattle, as well as, certification and labelling of
forest products.
These are issues at the core of
sustainable forest management that have been discussed in UN
fora, such as the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests, and
currently being considered at the UN Commission on
Sustainable Development, as well as bodies such as the FAO
and the International Tropical Timber Organisation. They are
also addressed through voluntary measures such as the
Montreal, Helsinki and Tarapoto Processes for establishing
criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management,
and the International Forest Industry Roundtable which has a
task group looking at international mutual recognition of
credible certification systems.
Although, on a global
scale, New Zealand is only a small country we are active
participants in all these diverse forums because we feel we
have a useful and innovative contribution to make when it
comes to sustainable development.
Governments and
international organisations can work towards enacting laws
and regulations, but at the end of the day, it is the way
the forest industry operates that largely determines the
outcome of government policies. In this sense it is
comforting to note the large number of countries represented
here directly from the forest industry. It shows their
commitment to carry out their business in a way that
promotes sustainable forest management. The collective
expertise and advice from this group will strengthen the
FAO’s role in implementing forestry policies that enhance
efforts in all countries in developing their forestry
resources to achieve global sustainable management
objectives.
I also notice that a part of your
deliberations are devoted to aspects of forestry in New
Zealand. I would like to congratulate you for holding this
meeting in our country for we have taken a number of
measures, some of which are unique, in promoting sustainable
forestry development.
It was recognised in the 1890’s in
New Zealand that if we continued to fell the natural forest
for agricultural development and to meet our wood needs we
would have cleared all those forests well before the close
of the last century. It was due to the foresight of our
forefathers that we now have an alternate resource of nearly
two million hectares of planted forests.
It has indeed
taken the pressure off natural forests which now contribute
less than one half of one percent to the 17 million cubic
metres of wood that is produced each year. To us these
natural forests have far more value than providing wood.
They are culturally significant to New Zealanders. They are
important as a reservoir of biological diversity, for
stabilisation of soil and water values, for recreation and
many other purposes. It is important to protect them.
The
UNCED Forest Principles recognised the importance of planted
forests in sustainable forest management. In New Zealand we
have been able to set aside around 24 percent of our total
land area in natural forest cover (some 6.8 million
hectares) because of our highly productive, renewable
planted forests.
The conservation benefits of planted
forests have been reinforced through the International
Expert Meeting on the Role of Planted Forests held in
Santiago, Chile in April 1999 – which I understand you were
briefed on over breakfast this morning. Your field trip on
Thursday will give you an opportunity to see our approach to
sustainable forest management and the expanding processing
industry that we have established based entirely on our
planted forests. But they are not merely a source of wood.
They provide a number of other goods and services including
carbon sequestration, watershed protection, recreation, and
rehabilitation of degraded land as well as serving as a
basis for regional and national economic growth and
development. It is also important to note that the planted
forest industry is entirely market driven and the Government
does not provide any assistance.
Planted forestry is big
business in New Zealand. Currently the industry accounts for
4 percent of GDP with an annual output of $5 billion. It is
the third largest export sector, earning 12 percent of total
export income, and directly employing twenty-five thousand
people and generating an additional one hundred thousand
jobs. New Zealand is a significant forestry nation within
the Pacific Rim region, with a market share of 8.8 percent
of total Asia Pacific forest products trade.
The
development of this large planted forest estate as well as
processing the logs to derive high value products has been
supported by the world recognised forest research
institution based here in Rotorua. I presume you all are
familiar with our Forest Research Institute, as you've been
there for the meeting of the Forum during the last day and a
half.
This is the current New Zealand situation. But this
will change dramatically in time to come. Our current annual
wood supply of 17 million cubic metres will double by 2015
and will continue to rise thereafter and potentially reach
50-60 million cubic metres a year by 2025.
It is
important that we manage this resource in a sustainable
manner. That is why our industry has worked closely with
other major players to promote sustainable forest management
and develop certification. The New Zealand forest industry
is developing its own Verification of Environment
Performance (VEP) scheme that, I understand, will be in
place before the end of the year. It has been developed to
provide a cost effective performance verification and
communication tool for use by New Zealand forestry industry
companies. It will be third party audited, controlled by an
independent board of management and linked by mutual
recognition protocols with other similar processes in the US
and the EU. It is ISO based and WTO compatible.
Already
there are over forty different national certification
systems either in operation or under development. This
proliferation of national schemes - which have emerged to
recognise unique, local forest types and variable
operational conditions - could lead to an increase in
environmental non-tariff barriers to trade. I therefore
applaud the leadership shown by the private sector, through
the International Forest Industry Roundtable, to facilitate
the development of a mutual recognition framework. It will
help the international market place better understand and
appreciate these different certification schemes.
I also
want to speak briefly on another topic in your agenda,
Climate Change. The role of forests as carbon sinks is
particularly significant in New Zealand. Current forecasts
indicate that some 130 metric tonnes in CO2 equivalent will
be sequestered in the first commitment period 2008-2012 in
New Zealand’s so called ‘Kyoto Forest’ (new forests
established after 1 January 1990). The size of this carbon
credit and its potential economic value present some
interesting challenges as the Government considers its
policy response to the emissions reduction targets
established by the Kyoto Protocol.
The shape of this
response will be influenced by the international
negotiations to be completed later this year in The Hague.
The deliberations of the IPCC Plenary meeting in Montreal,
Canada, this week where the Special Report on Land Use, Land
Use Change and Forestry is discussed and approved will
provide an important input to the negotiations. I note that
the FAO has been an important contributor to this Special
Report.
In summary, I have attempted to do two things in
my brief speech. First, to reflect on the approach New
Zealand has taken to sustainable forest management by
developing a large planted forest resource that has enabled
us to protect our natural forest and provide the basis of a
significant economic sector. Second, to show how keenly we
are interested in your discussions, which centre on matters
that are very close to our hearts.
In conclusion, it
gives me great pleasure to formally open this forty-first
meeting of the FAO Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood
Products. I wish you success in your
deliberations.
ENDS