Agency overview | |
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Formed | 16 November 2000 |
Preceding agencies | |
Jurisdiction | Government of Western Australia |
Headquarters | Perth, Western Australia 31°57′12″S 115°54′51″E / 31.95333°S 115.91417°E |
Employees | 190 (2021) |
Minister responsible | |
Agency executives |
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Website | www.fpc.wa.gov.au |
Footnotes | |
[1][2][3][4] |
The Forest Products Commission (FPC) is a Western Australian Government trading enterprise established under an Act of Parliament, responsible for the development and marketing of the state's renewable timber resources.[2] The agency was established as part of the then-Court Government's response to the debate regarding logging in old-growth forests.[1] The minister responsible for the agency is the Minister for Forestry, currently Jackie Jarvis of the Labor Party. (https://www.wa.gov.au/government/premier-and-cabinet-ministers/jackie-jarvis)
Prior to the establishment of the commission, commercial logging and harvesting, as well as sharefarming, was undertaken by the then-Department of Conservation and Land Management.[5] Its creation meant the conservation and commercial interests of the state, in respect of forestry, were separated and therefore removed a perceived conflict of interest.[5]
As part of its operations, the Forest Products Commission operates a commercial nursery and seed technologies facility at West Manjimup.[6]
The commission undertakes its operations in accordance with ISO 14001:2004, the Australian Forestry Standard (AS4708:2013 – Australian Standard for Sustainable Forest Management) and PEFC Chain of Custody of Forest and Tree-Based Products (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification ST 2002).[7] These are an integral part of the commission's forest management policy, which states: "The Forest Products Commission (FPC) is committed to ensuring Western Australia's renewable timber resources are managed sustainably through the implementation of forest management practices that are environmentally sound, socially acceptable and economically viable." (https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/fpc-policy-9-forest-management)