Despite earning a positive trade balance of close to R10-billion in less than 10 years, forestry as a sector is often overlooked despite contributing an impressive 25% to South Africa’s agricultural GDP, writes Duane Roothman, Vice-President, Sappi Forests.
The forestry sector supports some 700 000 livelihoods – mostly in the rural space. Consider this and it becomes apparent why it was recently prioritised by President Cyril Ramaphosa under the Public Private Growth Initiative in support of the Re-imagined Industrial Strategy for South Africa.
At Sappi, we fully support and will drive the implementation of the Forestry Sector Master Plan, which is comprehensive yet practical and has been formulated by forestry industry partners in conjunction with relevant government departments.
We are greatly encouraged by the work that is being done at all levels with the overall aim of achieving greater inclusivity in the forestry sector through increased investment and jobs, as well as greater competitiveness.
As a company, we have made it our business to build a thriving world by unlocking the power of trees, and we are able to do this for the benefit of the people we employ, for the communities where we operate, and for the planet we inhabit.
We realise we can only do this if sustainability is at the core of everything we do. To help build the biobased, circular economy we are striving for – where sustainable wood fibre alternatives replace the fossil-based materials used for everyday products – begins with us promoting and adhering to responsible forestry practices.
No better example of this exists than when we recently achieved PEFC endorsed SAFAS (Sustainable African Forest Assurance Scheme) certification, the first company in South Africa to do so.
The SAFAS project began way back in 2015 as an industry collaboration when the need to develop a local certification standard with international recognition, was realised. Being part of the team developing the PEFC SAFAS value-based platform approach for sustainable forest management and certification meant that Sappi had already implemented this structured, yet flexible approach through its internal audits as far back as 2019. Read more about the full process that was followed at https://bit.ly/3j6Lc0M
Although Sappi already provides customers the assurance that its wood fibre originates from known and responsibly managed forests – including through its longstanding certification with the Forest Stewardship Council – the PEFC certification provides an additional important global certification standard in its assurance to consumers about the responsible origin of the wood we use. Importantly, it also allows for chain of custody certification, which tracks forest-based products from sustainable sources to the final product.
The relevance of this SAFAS standard is that it is locally developed making sure that it considers the country’s operational and cultural conditions; and ultimately making it more accessible to all forest owners, particularly smallholders.
This is important to Sappi, as we support some 3 600 small growers through our Sappi Khulisa programme, as well as about 100 small, medium and micro enterprises who are involved in silviculture, harvesting, loading, short- and long-haul activities.
Since 1995, 4,5-million tons valued at R2,7-billion has been purchased from small growers under this programme. Assisting them in getting certification is another of our goals, and we do this through ongoing training, education and mentoring through our staff of Sappi Khulisa foresters and our Sappi Ulwazi training programme.
Aligning with the Forestry Sector Master Plan is therefore just a continuation of how we ensure we create shared value throughout the forestry value chain. With most of our forestry operations being rurally based, we make a significant contribution to rural economies and social well-being, and work actively in pursuing those opportunities that offer investment growth, while collaborating on overcoming the barriers to success.
In a world that is continuously warming, with increasingly scarce resources, we believe that the forestry value chain offers sustainable solutions for many participants. This I why we work tirelessly to increase our timber yield, to find ways to become more competitive, by increasing enterprise development and procurement opportunities, by lobbying for new afforestation, for returning currently unproductive plantation land back to production, by investing in R&D for the protection of plantations from pests and diseases, and for encouraging agroforestry as a tool for the overall sustainability of small and community-based growers. Our investment in commercial forestry has a direct positive impact on protecting biodiversity and natural forests of high conservation value, as we maintain about one-third of our land to conserve the natural habitat and maintain seven proclaimed nature reserves and about 160 important conservation areas on our land.
Our success hinges on our ability to continue unlocking the power of our renewable resources responsibly and sustainably. To thrive as a business, we need to embrace the future and respond to the global forces that continue to shape our world. We intend doing so and to have an exciting future in wood fibre, by providing relevant solutions for customers and consumers, and by being a trusted partner to our stakeholders.