At the Tasmanian State Conference of Environmental Health Australia Incorporated [EHA], in September 2024, Global-Mark’s forest auditor Wayne Tibbits presented a conference paper on “Ways that verified sustainable management of forests might contribute to protection of the built environment.”
For those who might not be aware, the built environment is defined as [State of the Environment Report, 2011] “the human-made surroundings where people gather to live, work and play. It encompasses both the physical structures where people do these activities and the supporting infrastructures, such as transport, water and energy networks.”
This presentation elaborated on some sustainability requirements [cultural, economic, environmental, and social outcomes] in the joint Australian/New Zealand Standard, AS/NZS 4708:2021 that might contribute to protection of the built environment. These included the requirement to constrain the spread of invasive species and plantation species into adjacent areas, minimising movement of soil, debris, pesticides and fertilisers into waterbodies, and contribute to the health and wellbeing of local communities, particularly through identifying, notifying and responding to concerns of people affected by operations. It concluded that with a widespread interface between the built environment and forested landscape, significant scope exists for an interaction between the two, and consequential effects upon the air people breath, water they drink, use of infrastructure, and nuisance factors. In the context of Tasmania that was used as an example, with 1,138,000 hectares or 11,000 km2 of certified forest lands, it was considered relevant to every municipal area, except maybe the Bass Strait Island municipalities.
Wayne, apart from being a Registered Professional Forester with Forestry Australia, is a registered Lead Auditor for several Schemes, has conducted over 470 certification reviews of forestry and chain of custody organisations in Australia and New Zealand, and in a volunteer capacity contributed to development of these systems for small farmer cooperative alliances in Vietnam and mentored young professionals from there visiting Australia. He also is a registered professional in Environmental Health, where he has been able to integrate its focus with his foundations in biological science, research, and systems. He served for nine years in the Army then Air Force Reserves, largely as an Environmental Health Officer.
More details are available from EHA at https://www.ehatas.org.au or from Wayne.
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