Environment

Albany Plantations is committed to managing our operations in an environmentally responsible way.

For us, this means that we can carry out our activities in a way that does not negatively impact the natural environment and that where possible has a positive impact to natural environmental values.

Environmental Policy

Albany Plantation Forest Company (APFL) and Albany Plantation Export Company (APEC) are committed to managing their operations in an environmentally responsible way.

To achieve this goal we will:-

• Operate in compliance with applicable legislation, regulations, codes of practice and other external and internal prescribed requirements;
• Document, implement and maintain a comprehensive risk management system, that includes monitoring, audit and review of performance;
• Document, implement and maintain an environmental management system, in accordance with the internationally recognised standard ISO 14001;
• Identify the environmental impacts of our operations; and set objectives, establish controls and targets to mitigate potentially significant impacts;
• Commit to prevention of pollution and continual improvement in environmental performance;
• Clearly define environmental responsibilities of all staff and contractors and ensure they are aware of their role in implementing the organisations’ environmental commitments;
• Apply ecologically sustainable forest management practices in all plantation and harvest activities, as identified in the relevant codes of practice;
• Communicate with employees, contractors and relevant stakeholders on this policy, environmental issues and performance; and
• Communicate this policy to all interested parties.

High Conservation Values (HCV)

Third party environmental audits look at how Albany Plantations protect and / or enhance any High Conservation Values (HCVs) associated with their forestry operations and plantation areas from which it sources privately grown wood (Controlled Wood).

High Conservation Values (HCV) comprise forest areas that:

1. Contain globally, nationally and regionally significant concentrations of biodiversity values.
2. Contain regionally significant large landscape level forests.
3. Contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems.
4. Provide basic services of nature in critical situations.
5. Are fundamental to meeting basic needs of local communities.
6. Are critical to local communities’ traditional cultural identity.

In protecting and enhancing HCVs in its plantations, Albany Plantations:

1. Undertakes an assessment to identify the presence of HCVs in each Forest Management Unit (FMU, i.e. plantation area) and whether HCVs are threatened by the management activities of the FMU, for each of the six HCVs.
2. Consults with stakeholders on the presence and threats to each HCV for each FMU – and provides evidence of this consultation to auditors.
3. Utilises the information provided from these consultations to prescribe appropriate protection measures for identified HCV's
4. Provide a list of identified HCVs together with evidence that these are not threatened within the FMU by current or proposed forest management activities, including evidence from stakeholders and relevant experts that such activities do not threaten HCVs.

See our Stakeholder page for more detail on how we consult with our stakeholders.