More than 300 Trans-Tasman foresters have registered for the ANZIF conference, which will be hosted in Twin Towns, in Northern NSW, from Sunday, 15 October, until Wednesday, 18 October.
This year’s conference title is Embracing Our Natural Capital: The Science, Technology and Art of Managing Forests For All Values and is run jointly by Forestry Australia and the New Zealand Insitute of Forestry.
Forestry Australia CEO Jacquie Martin said that the conference’s theme is active and adaptive management of natural capital using evidence-based and emerging innovation, technology, skills and knowledge to support our forests and secure our future.
“In addition, the conference will explore the collaboration and partnership opportunities with Māori, Traditional Owner, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the establishment and management of forests on farms,” Ms Martin said.
The program features over 130 speakers and includes Keynote Speaker Rayne van den Berg, Forico’s Chief Financial Officer, who will present the Max Jacobs Oration on Creating Value from Forestry’s Natural Capital.
Wood Central reported that Forico secured the prestigious Banksia Award for its Natural Capital Report in May.
The Banksia award is the latest in a string of awards for Forico, who, in November 2022, secured the award for ‘Embedding an Integrated Approach’ at the ‘Finance for the Future Awards in London.
The report comprehensively assesses Forico’s most critical ecosystem services: biomass and wood fibre production, carbon storage and sequestration, water flow and sediment control, and habitat and biodiversity services.
By incorporating nature into its strategic decisions, risk assessments, and financial resource allocation, Forico demonstrates that sustainable forest products and nature-based solutions can effectively mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss and contribute to the transition towards a circular economy.
Other speakers include Sheam Satkuru, the Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organization, who will present Sustainable tropical forestry—nature-based solutions to global challenges,
Former Federal Government frontbencher and current Australian Forest Products CEO, The Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon, will also share My journey to forestry and the art of advocacy.
In January, Mr Fitzgibbon shared his manifesto for Australian Forest Products Association exclusively with Wood Central.
In addition, a plenary panel will discuss The future of forestry, carbon and natural capital.
Panellists include Warren Parker, Pāmu (Landcorp Farming Ltd); Dr Libby Pinkard, CSIRO; Tim Woods, Industry Edge and David Brand from New Forests.
“We can’t wait to bring together the best minds from diverse corners of the forestry sector for this exceptional learning and development opportunity,” Ms Martin said.
“The conference will explore the many solutions that forestry offers to a range of contemporary problems and map out the future of forestry so that it can continue to benefit Australia and New Zealand for generations to come,” Ms Martin said.
More information, including registrations, can be found on the Forestry Conference website.
