Farm Forestry New ZealandWoodCo media release, 1 December 2015.
Wood Council of New Zealand - New Leadership
Brian Stanley has been elected Chair of the Wood Council of New Zealand.
The Wood Council celebrates its 10th anniversary this year as New Zealand's peak body for the forest and wood products sector. "Woodco" encompasses forest growers, forestry contractors, wood processors and manufacturers - collaboration along the whole wood value
chain.
Mr Stanley, also currently Chair of the NZ Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association, takes over the leadership of Woodco as Bill McCallum, former President of NZ Forest Owners Association, completes his two year term.
On stepping down Mr McCallum remarked on the good progress that had been made in the last two years by the pan-industry body to advance sustainability certification, enhance international trade, provide advice on climate change negotiations and promote excellence in wood-based design and structure. "Back in 2005, Woodco was created to enable coordination, cooperation and the sharing of new ideas. Whilst individual member organisations have their own busy work programmes the fact that we all see the benefit in taking time to collaborate through Woodco says that what the entity was originally set up for still has great relevance today".
Upon accepting the Chair, Brian Stanley, picked up this theme and said that his term will be marked by strengthening the collaboration not just for the benefit of the sector itself but for the much wider good of NZ Inc. "As an innovative and productive industry that is already a major contributor to the national and regional economies, creating jobs and providing massive environmental benefits; the wood industry epitomises what NZ's low-carbon, value- add economy should look like. My objective is to see our sector recognised as leading the way into a future dominated by the impacts of climate change and the influences of new market demands."
Mr Stanley agreed with fellow Wood Councillors that, in a world where our competitors are heavily protected, we need to work with government to scale great walls of non-tarrif trade barriers, make sure that the NZ Standards' System is fit-for-purpose and that work in 2016 on an overhaul of the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme (and particularly the proposed Harvested Wood Products Regulation) needed to enable growth and beneficial equality along the entire wood industry value chain. "This makes good climate-change sense for NZ
Inc", he commented in closing.
END
Contact: Brian Stanley on 027 436 3340
Wood Council of New Zealand (Woodco). PO Box 10937, Wellington 6143 Phone: +64 4 4739220 Website: www.woodco.org.nz
NZFFA on facebook