The Canadian expert arrives in Tairāwhiti next week to assess the conformity of two certification bodies with applicable FSC requirements to ensure that FSC’s standards are implemented correctly on the ground.
Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti has organised for the auditor to meet with affected landowners and residents in the region about forestry practices and the relationships they have with forestry companies.
A map of FSC certified plantations in Tairāwhiti is available on the MTT website: manataiao.org and anyone living in affected catchments could contact the group if they wanted to meet the auditor.
Mr Caddie said something was not right in the auditing system when certification standards were clearly not being adhered to.
“The very first standard in FSC’s 10 key principles says forest management must be legal. On 2 August 2022 the (Gisborne District) Court issued decisions that clearly showed Ernslaw One had operated illegally in 2018 with at least 10 breaches of regulations and consent requirements to contain slash material. Yet one month later Ernslaw received a glowing audit report.
“They’ve been audited by New Zealand-based SGS auditors . . . and clearly something isn’t working, because there are these terrible practices which the courts have prosecuted companies for,” he said.
“I don’t know if they’re going to suspend or revoke certifications; if they did it would be pretty serious for the companies.
“They just wouldn’t be able to sell their wood into major markets, including China where most of it goes.
“There are some excellent standards around the protection of workers’ health and wellbeing, employment practices and labour rights. There are also obligations on FSC-certified companies to evidence their engagement with local communities and to demonstrate how they have upheld the rights of Indigenous peoples, so (there are) lots of opportunities for local residents to be more involved in decisions and practices around plantations than seems to be the case currently.”
Mr Caddie said FSC had a useful disputes resolution system that forestry-affected residents and landowners should familiarise themselves with.
“Importantly, the visiting auditor is a global expert and will be reviewing the practice of the auditors who have been passing these plantations as meeting the requirements, and seeing what’s going on there,” he said.
The Canadian expert will be in Tairāwhiti for a couple of weeks and visiting residents across the region, as well as the companies and Gisborne District Council.
Mr Caddie said it would provide a valuable insight into what FSC viewed as responsible forest management.
Ahead of the auditor visit Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti organised a meeting with the head of FSC standards compliance in Australasia.
“We wanted to better understand the role of the various parties in the FSC system and how the standards are developed, refined and monitored. There’s an opportunity for residents to appreciate what standards should be being met, and to know what to do when we suspect they haven’t been adhered to.
“We’ll be able to see whether the audits are picking up the issues the locals are seeing on the ground,” Caddie said.
Ernslaw One told Radio NZ it welcomed the FSC directing an assessment of the New Zealand-based auditing system.
In a statement, the company said it had found the FSC audits to be thorough and the audit process conducted by the New Zealand auditor to be efficient.
Ernslaw One said it had been reviewing harvesting practices in Tairāwhiti and would continue to improve harvesting practices using new technology and innovation.
