TAP's Grievance With FSC Australia

TAP has lodged a grievance with FSC Australia concerning the industry front group 'Timber Communities Australia'. Because TCA is 'more than 95% funded by the logging industry' we have said they are an astroturf organisation and should not be in the Social Chamber of FSC Australia. TAP is a member of the Social Chamber and are 100% funded by the community. Thats how it should be. Our grievance highlights shortcomings and probably 'conflicts of interest' in the Tasmanian Forest Agreement 2013. Five FSC-AUS members negotiated a law that said Forestry Tasmania must get FSC certificaction or forests will not be 'reserved'. As you can see the industry makes-up 69% of FSC-AUS members. Now the industry has blackmailed the Ecological Chamber and tried to stack the Social Chamber with groups like TCA. Another Social Chamber group 'ForestWorks is a front for the CFMEU. In our opinion FSC-AUS is simply the logging industry certifying itself. This is a disgrace. We say the actions of current FSC-AUS chairman Jim Adams and the previous chairman Sean Cadman in assisting Forestry Tasmania get FSC certification breaks the Principles of FSC in both spirit and substance. As a result TAP and other groups chose to boycott this years FSC confernece in Melbourne on May 29. TAP would like to see the whole of Tasmania achieve a credible FSC certification with modern selective harvesting practices, the full protection of threatened species and complete community involvement at every step of the way. Instead we got secret deals between groups who are nearly all FSC-AUS members to help the industry rubber-stamp its own operations and continue its old unsustainable practices. FSC-AUS must be reformed.