The winners of the 2008 Responsible Forest Management Awards were presented on Tuesday the 11th of November as part of the inaugural FSC Australia Annual Dinner & Awards Night. Beginning with sunset drinks on the old wharf at Atlantic at Docklands, Melbourne, the night was a great success, showcasing the amazing variety of companies and organisations involved in the FSC system here in Australia.
Almost 200 guests were present to listen to guest speaker Dr Michael Conroy discuss the ‘Certification Revolution’ and on hand to congratulate the winners of the Awards. CEO of FSC Australia, Mr Michael Spencer, also gave a presentation updating the audience on FSC activities, highlighting the strong growth of the system both here in Australia and worldwide.
Special recognition awards were given to The Woodage – the first Chain of Custody certificate holder in Australia and long time supporter of FSC – and, The Bunnings Group for their efforts to improve management of their supply chain.
Winners of the Awards were:
Large Forest Manager of the Year (sponsored by Bunnings)
Timbercorp Forestry
Small Forest Manager of the Year (sponsored by The Woodage)
Australian Sustainable Timbers
Large CoC Operation of the Year (sponsored by WWF)
The Laminex Group
Small CoC Operation of the Year (sponsored by G Magazine)
Etiko Fair Trade
Building Company/Developer of the Year (sponsored by WPC Group)
Brookfield Multiplex
Publisher/Paper User of the Year (sponsored by Paperlinx)
Wellmark Perspexa
FSC Australia CEO Michael Spencer addresses the awards night guests.
Guest Speaker, Dr Michael Conroy, and Andrew Rouse of WWF present Jared Dinneen of The Laminex Group the award for Large CoC Operator of the Year.
About our Guest Speaker:
Dr. Michael E. Conroy is a former academic, funder, advocate and analyst of the emergence of new systems for corporate social and environmental accountability. For the past twelve years he has been at the forefront of the movement to build systems that encourage and reward higher standards of corporate accountability in a wide range of industries, from sustainable forestry and sustainable tourism and ecotourism to certified Fair Trade, responsible mining, and the Equator Principles for international project lending by global banking groups.
His latest book, published in September 2007, is Branded! How the ‘Certification Revolution’ is Transforming Global Corporations, (Vancouver and London: New Society Publishers). The book has won a Silver Medal in the 2008 Axiom Business Books Awards, qualifying as “one of the two best books on Business Ethics published in 2007.”
'Branded!' is available through FSC Australia at the price of $35 plus P+H. Please contact justin@fscaustralia or phone (03) 8636 2661 for more information
To view Dr Michael Conroy's presentation from the night please 
click here (1.4 MB)
For more information on the Awards and the winners please contact info@fscaustralia.org.
