It’s official. The gold standard for forest certification in Australia and New Zealand has renamed its Indigenous Working Group the First Nations Committee, giving First Nations voices a permanent seat within the framework that covers more than 2.4 million hectares of forest. That is according to FNC Chair Tolita Davis-Angeles, with the rename fully backed by the FSC ANZ Board of Directors and reflecting a growing preference for ‘First Nations’ terminology across both countries.
Established in 2014, the former Indigenous Working Group has represented First Nations voices inside FSC ANZ governance for more than a decade. The shift from ‘working group’ to ‘committee’ recognises that the body’s scope and responsibilities now go far beyond the role implied by its original name.
The rename aligns with proposed updates to the revised Forest Stewardship Standard of Australia, which replaces the 2018 National Forest Stewardship Standard and itself drops ‘Indigenous’ in favour of ‘First Nations’ throughout. FSC ANZ confirmed the revised standard will enter its second round of public consultation later this month, pushing the new terminology through to the framework governing certification across Australian plantations and native forests.
Drawn from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, ten members now serve on the First Nations Committee, each bringing cultural perspectives, lived experience, and regional insight built on connections to Country and community. Membership has grown significantly over the past year, bringing together more voices from First Nations communities across both countries.
“First Nations values and knowledge are central to the future of responsible forest management,” Chair Tolita Davis-Angeles said, with the committee now focused on deepening its influence over sector-wide decisions.
The committee’s expanded role now operates within an FSC framework covering more than 2.4 million hectares of Australian and New Zealand forests, as Wood Central reported last year during the Forest Week campaign — part of a global system that manages over 160 million hectares. The same ‘First Nations’ terminology now threads through both the governance body and the national certification standard it informs.
