Responsible forestry
As a major wood and pulp user, it is important to Mondi that our forest management governance framework is robust and effective in ensuring we abide by best practice in all aspects of forest management, wood/pulp sourcing and procurement.
Scientific advances in forestry have coincided with an understanding and acceptance of corporate responsibilities to enable a new, sustainable approach to forestry. Mondi is fully participating in this quiet revolution, working with NGOs and the scientific community in Europe, Russia and South Africa to develop and implement best practice and sustainable forest management.
At Mondi, we believe the scientific advances have the potential to move the industry to a position where it is recognised as a force for positive change and a leading industry in the mitigation of climate change.
We are not yet there. The impact of past operations and some persistent poor practice carried out by some members of our industry on the global environment adn local communities, particularly the unsustainable exploitation of the boreal (northern) forests and tropical rainforests, has been too deep to be easily forgotten.
In Southern Hemisphere plantations, which now account for less than 5% of the world's forests but more than 30% of is wood production, early plantation practice has had an impact on water suppies, biodiversity and sense of place. This has been the case in South Africa, where today Mondi owns and manages 350,000 hectares of plantation forests. Following a government decision of World War I that the country should be self-sufficient in forestry, wall-to-wall planting and the inappropriate use of grassland and wetland areas created environmental and social problems that we are focused on eradicating today.
In recent years at Mondi we have been developing an approach that we call 'responsible forestry', based on still-emerging scientific knowledge and engagement with communities and NGOs, to meet environmental, social and climate change challenges. The new generation plantations that are resulting from this approach relfect the greatest improvement, because of their short seven-to-nine year rotations (the time from planting to logging).
In working globally with NGOs and the scientific community to develop and implement best practice adn sustainable forest management, we are pleased by some of the advances that these efforst are already producing. For example by dileneating wetland (riparian) zones and creating a plantation-free 'buffer-zone' around riparian areas (close to a river, stream or lake) and wetlands, we are managing to conserve water resources and associated biodiversity in our South African plantations. In Russia, we are part of a mulit-stakeholder process successfully setting aside areas of pristine virgin forest while enabling rural people to continue making their living from the forest.
Click here to read all about our sustainable forestry policy.
Last change: 21/05/2008