Conclusions of Stakeholder Comment and Next Steps

Mat-8 'Sustainable Timber'
Conclusions of Stakeholder Comment Period and Next Steps

The public review period for the Mat-8 'Sustainable Timber' credit has revealed the following principle outcomes:

Debate over the revision of the credit has opened a larger discussion surrounding the merits of different forest certification schemes available in the Australian market. The majority of participants in the Mat-8 'Sustainable Timber' public comment period consider this topic to be the focal point upon which the GBCA should make a determination. This issue is addressed by 65% of written feedback and was discussed in every workshop. The majority of participants who provided written feedback consider FSC the only certification scheme that could be regarded as representing 'best practice' within the discipline of forestry certification. The majority of workshop participants assert that the two main certification schemes should both be accepted somehow as representing 'better' practice within the credit.

The GBCA is therefore in a position where it must discuss and clarify what represents a best practice forest certification scheme and how this definition could become the benchmark for accepting any forest certification scheme under the Mat-8 'Sustainable Timber' credit. It is further noted that most of the discussion concerning forestry certification schemes is limited to an Australian context only and that the public review process did not address many other schemes in operation worldwide.

The four criteria proposed by the GBCA to assess uncertified timber have not been generally accepted by respondents. The main points raised on this matter question how the criteria can be audited or enforced by the GBCA, and warn that failure to ensure compliance with the criteria would undermine achievements already made by forest certification schemes. In addition, objections were made to some of the definitions of terms used and to the details on the date of conversion in relation to plantations established on naturally forested land.

Stakeholders require clarification from the GBCA on general matters relating to the Green Star points allocated for the credit as well as more information about how the proposed compliance benchmarks will be established (e.g. percentages of total compliant timber in a project). Industry stakeholders have also requested that the GBCA better explain the methodology for how credit points are allocated to material credits at large, due to perceptions that the GBCA does not treat all materials in an equivalent manner within the Green Star rating tools.

Next Steps:

The next steps proposed for the resolution of this credit revision process involve convening a Timber Expert Reference Panel (TERP). The first meeting of the TERP will be on the 26th September 2008. The TERP will be asked to examine the feedback received from the stakeholder engagement process and to draw on their technical expertise in this area to make recommendations and suggestions for the content of a further revision of the credit. They will also consider third party and international certification of timber and timber products, taking into account both present and future environmental impacts and the need to reward and encourage the industry towards greater levels of sustainability.

As described in the Green Star Stakeholder Engagement Process diagram, the GBCA will be further revising the credit based on the recommendations of the TERP and the GBCA Technical Steering Committee (TSC). The TSC must make recommendations to the GBCA Board for credit revisions to be approved or make a request for additional work or public consultation to be carried out. Following Board approval the revised credit will be released and integrated into the suite of Green Star rating tools. Please refer to the proposed project timeline for more information on this process (please note that dates are subject to change).