Standard Offers Consistent Forest Valuation

18 January 2008
The Association of Consulting Foresters of Australia has developed a new Australian Standard for Valuing Commercial Forests and an accompanying handbook, which provides a practical guide to applying the standard.
Developed with funding from Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA), they are an important reference for all forest owners (and their financial advisors) who are required to report changing forest values under the Corporations Act.
FWPA managing director Dr Glen Kile said there were aspects of forestry which were an important part of the valuation process but which might not be widely recognised by those outside the industry/
These included long periods of discounting, fallow areas, or new land acquisition, which were normally considered when estimating the transaction value of an ongoing forest estate.
“The new standard and handbook will help address issues like these, and help ensure that there is a consistent approach to forest valuation across Australia,” Kile said.
“It is important there is greater understanding of these issues, particularly as forestry is becoming a more widely recognised investment in its own right. Forest valuation is also necessary for other reasons, including buying and selling, lending, taxation, inheritance, insurance and simply for good financial management purposes.”
Extensive consultation was undertaken in preparing the valuation standard and handbook in response to the issuing of Australian Accounting Standard AASB 141, including discussion with the Australian Valuation and Property Standards Board.
The new 'Australian Standard for Valuing Commercial Forests' is mandatory for all ACFA members and is recommended for others reporting the changes in forest valuations as required under the Corporations Act.
The standard and accompanying handbook are available from the ACFA website www.australianconsultingforesters.org

VAFI Appointed Deputy Director

A former senior consultant with ITS Global has been appointed deputy director of the Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI).
Lisa Marty led the natural resource management of ITS Global, a consultancy specialising in environmental policy and trade development cooperation and strategy. She has significant experience advising government and the private sector on forest policy.
Marty has a Masters of Environment from the University of Melbourne and also holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from Monash University.
Her interests include travelling, spending time with family and friends, martial arts and learning Spanish.

Big Green Tick For Big River Timbers

In a ‘first’ for the Australian engineered wood products industry, Big River Timbers at Grafton in northern New South Wales has achieved chain of custody certification under the Australian Forest Certification Scheme (AFS) for its range of construction, manufacturing, domestic flooring and decorative plywood products.
With all timber processed by Big River Timbers sourced from sustainably-managed plantation and regrowth hardwood forests, it was a logical step for the company to seek chain of custody certification to better service environmental demands across the construction industry.
Chain of custody is a process of tracking the material originating from certified forests through all phases of manufacturing from defined forest areas to the final consumer. The chain of custody certification undertaken by Big River Timbers complies with all the requirements of AS 4707-2006: Chain of Custody for Certified Wood and Forest Products under the AFS certification scheme.
In an interesting synergy, the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia (EWPAA) also achieved its accreditation as a chain of custody certifier through this process.
Ross Maddock of Big River Timbers explains: "The chain of custody certification can only be approved by JAS-ANZ accredited auditors. When we made the decision to seek certification, the EWPAA was interested in becoming accredited as auditors and approached us to hold their JAS-ANZ audit at the same time.
“A pre-audit was undertaken by the EWPAA in early October last year to ensure we met all the requirements of the standard, followed by a final audit in late October in the presence of the JAS-ANZ auditors.”
During the process, Big River Timbers also received the required approval of the Australian Plywood Quality Committee in November last year. This allowed the endorsement of its products for chain of custody through the EWPAA in the interim pending JAS-ANZ accreditation.
Big River Timbers has a proud history dating back over a century as an all-Australian, family-owned company supplying timber products predominantly to the construction and manufacturing sectors.
Third and fourth generation members of the founding Pidcock family are still active in the business, one of the largest private timber manufacturing and marketing companies in New South Wales servicing all states and many international projects. It is Australia's leading supplier of formply and formwork products.

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