Keynote Speaker
DR PATRICK MOORE, Ph.D. –  Founding Member and former President of Greenpeace

Dr Patrick Moore has been a leader in the international environmental field for over 30 years. He is a co-founder of Greenpeace and served for nine years as President of Greenpeace Canada and seven years as a Director of Greenpeace International. As the leader of many campaigns, Dr Moore was a driving force shaping policy and direction while Greenpeace became the world's largest environmental activist organisation.

In recent years, Dr Moore has been focused on the promotion of sustainability and consensus building among competing concerns. He was a member of the British Columbia government-appointed Round Table on the Environment and Economy from 1990-1994. In 1990, Dr Moore founded and chaired the BC Carbon Project, a group that worked to develop a common understanding of climate change.

Dr. Moore served for four years as Vice President, Environment for Waterfurnace International, a manufacturer of geothermal heat pumps for residential heating and cooling with renewable earth energy. He is now a Director of NextEnergy Solutions, the largest distributor of geothermal systems in Canada.

As Chair of the Sustainable Forestry Committee of the Forest Alliance of BC from 1991-2002, Dr Moore led the process of developing the "Principles of Sustainable Forestry" which were adopted by a majority of the industry.

In 2000, Dr Moore published Green Spirit – Trees are the Answer, a photo-book that provides a new insight into how forests work and how they can play a powerful role in solving many of our current environmental problems.

Dr. Moore currently serves as Chair and Chief Scientist of Greenspirit Strategies, a consultancy focusing on environmental policy and communications in forestry, agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, mining, biodiversity, energy and climate change.

Honorary Doctorate of Science, North Carolina State University, 2005 Ph.D. in Ecology, Institute of Resource Ecology, University of British Columbia, 1974 Ford Foundation Fellowship, 1969-1972 Honours B.Sc. in Forest Biology, University of British Columbia

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MARTIN FERGUSON AM MP
Shadow Minister for Primary Industry, Resources, Forestry and Tourism

Martin Ferguson was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Batman in March 1996 and was subsequently re-elected in 1998 and 2001.

Martin took his place on the Labor front bench in 1996 as Shadow Minister for Employment and Training. He has also occupied the positions of Shadow Minister for Urban and Regional Development; Shadow Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Employment, Training, Population and Immigration; Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Services and Population.

Prior to entering Federal Parliament, Martin was elected President of the ACTU in April 1990, following the election of Simon Crean to Federal Parliament. Martin went to the ACTU after fifteen years service with the Miscellaneous Workers Union (MWU).

During his period with the MWU, Martin worked as a Research Officer and was elected Assistant General Secretary in 1981 and finally as General Secretary in 1984, a position he held up until his resignation to go the ACTU.

He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June 1996.

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PAUL BARKER
Chairman Vic Forests

Paul was appointed Chairman of VicForests in 2003.

Paul is also Deputy Chairman of the Victorian WorkCover Authority, a Director of the Transport Accident Commission and Chairman of Stadium Operations Ltd. (Telstra Dome). He was formerly a Director of Employment National Ltd. and Chairman of the Victorian Division of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Paul has extensive experience in accounting and financial services both in Australia and overseas. Formerly the Chief Executive of Audit Victoria, he also held senior Group Executive positions with Standard Chartered Bank PLC in Hong Kong, Singapore and London.

Paul is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries.

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TONY BARTLETT
General Manager, Forest Industries Branch, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Tony is responsible for leading the Australian Government’s forest industries policies and programs. His recent work includes a review of the plantation taxation arrangements, implementation of the Tasmanian Community Forestry Agreement, development of the Australian Government’s policy on combating illegal logging and facilitating the development of Forest and Wood Products Australia, which will manage national forest industry research and marketing programs.

Tony has worked in forestry for more than 30 years, including forest management roles in Australia, Nepal and Vanuatu, before moving to the Commonwealth Government. He has experience in native forest management and forest planning, fire management, plantation management, community forestry and management of tropical forests.

From 1999 to mid 2005, Tony was the Director of ACT Forests and in that role he implemented significant reform of a government plantation enterprise, had significant leadership roles in the 2001 and 2003 bushfires and then led the process to clean up and reforest 10,000 hectares of the Australian Capital Territory’s burnt pine plantations. Tony has also been representing Australia at the United Nations Forum on Forests and its predecessor bodies for the past 8 years.

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GREG BOURNE
CEO, World Wilderness Fund

Greg graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1971. His earlier career involved research into oil refinery processes and exploration activities which saw him living and working in the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland, Brazil, China, Venezuela and Australia.

Seconded to the Prime Minister's Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street in 1988, he was the Special Adviser on Energy and Transport, and returned to BP in January 1990 to take up the position of Chief Executive, BP Marine in London.

Greg returned to Australia in October 1992 as President and General Manager - Exploration and Gas, BP Developments Australia Ltd., with responsibility for BP Exploration's activities in Australia and PNG. After working overseas as Director BP Scotland and then Regional Director - Latin America, based in Caracas; he returned to Australia in January 1999 to become Regional President - BP Australasia the position from which he retired from BP in September 2003. Greg took up his current position as CEO WWF-Australia in October 2004.

Greg is a Member of the CSIRO Sector Advisory Council to the Natural Resource Management and Environment Sector, a Member of the National Environmental Education Council, Chair of the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities Reference Group and a member of the Victorian Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability’s Reference Group.

Greg was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to the environment.

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MATTHEW CRAPP
Director Sales and Marketing, VicForests

Matt worked in a number of different roles with State Forests New South Wales, including Group Marketing Manager, where he ran marketing and logistics implementation for the NSW North Coast.

Matt became the Forest Products Marketing Manager for State Forests NSW in 2003, where he provided leadership and innovation in areas as diverse as contract and logistics management, forest estate modelling, product marketing and pricing and business development. He has significant experience in the development and operation of commercial forestry policy, with particular emphasis on forest inventory, valuation, harvesting, haulage and timber processing.

Matt has delivered presentations to key gatherings of forest industry and environment professionals, including the 19th Annual International Workshop in Forest Management (Colorado, USA) and the 5th Annual Environment Program Meeting USAID (Brasilia, Brazil), both in 2003.

Matt joined the newly established VicForests in 2003 as Director Sales and Marketing and since that time has helped transition the Victorian timber industry through a period of major change. Significantly, Matt led the development and implementation of the Online Auction system, a new method for processors to purchase timber in Victoria and the first of its kind in Australia.

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ROBERT EASTMENT
Director, Industry Edge

Robert Eastment is a Director of Industry Edge and is a professional economist and forester.

Robert has a strong background in the corporate finance sector in Australia, as well as Asia and Europe. He is the editor of the monthly market intelligence report Pulp and Paper Edge, the annual Pulp and Paper Strategic Review and the bi-annual Forest and Wood Strategic Review. He has an intimate knowledge of the pulp and paper sector in Australia and New Zealand, as well as having worked closely with a range of companies in the forest and wood processing sectors.

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VINCE ERASMUS
CEO, ITC

Vince Erasmus was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the ITC Group in February 2006.

Vince has two decades of experience in senior management positions in the South African timber industry. He has extensive experience in the management of both softwood and hardwood plantations as well as broad experience in the solid wood processing arena.

A qualified forester and seasoned sawmiller, Mr Erasmus has had extensive exposure in maximising forest product yields and returns though investment in and the management of various processing options ranging from sawmilling, veneer and plywood production through to the production of fibre based panels.

Mr Erasmus is responsible for the overall activities of the group with particular emphasis on the process optimisation, growth and utilisation of the significant resources under the management of the group.

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BRIAN FARMER
Chief Executive Officer, Forestry SA

Brian Farmer is the Chief Executive of ForestrySA, a South Australian Government Business Enterprise. ForestrySA has a well regarded history in developing the initiative for the establishment of exotic plantations and, subsequently, processing that wood resource dating from the 1870s.

Brian’s forestry background is principally in forest operations in New South Wales and Tasmania. As Chief Executive Officer of ForestrySA, he overseas a business generating significant financial returns to the South Australian State Government as well as providing timber resources for timber and pulp and paper mills throughout South Australia and South West Victoria.

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GRAEME GOODING
former-CEO, Victorian Association of Forest Industries

Graeme is a consultant specialising in the natural resources area, particularly in forest policy and all matters related to the forest industries.

A Melbourne University forestry graduate in 1977, Graeme spent 25 years working with the Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI), becoming Executive Director in 1997.

He has also played key roles in the formation and running of the Australwood Export Network, Australian Timber Industry Certification Pty and acted as CEO of the Timber Promotion Council of Victoria. He successfully refocussed TPC programs towards repositioning the hardwood sector from local commodity markets into high value products in national and international markets.

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Dr RODNEY KEENAN
Head of School, School of Forest and Ecosystem Science

Professor Rod Keenan has worked in forest research and forest management for over 25 years in Tasmania, Queensland, Canada and Japan. He was appointed as Head of the School of Forest and Ecosystem Science at The University of Melbourne in 2005. Professor Keenan was previously Program Leader for Forest and Vegetation Sciences with the Bureau of Rural Sciences in the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. He has particular interests in forest ecology and silviculture, climate change, forest ecosystem services and sustainable wood production.

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DR GLEN KILE
Executive Director, Forest and Wood Poducts Research and Development Corporation

Dr. Kile was appointed Executive Director of FWPRDC in February 2002. Prior to his appointment Glen was Chief, CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products from 1992.

As Executive Director, Dr. Kile is responsible to the FWPRDC Board of Directors for leading and managing the operations of the Corporation in close consultation with the forest based industries throughout Australia. Through his previous role Dr. Kile has extensive experience and achievements in R & D leadership, management and planning, evaluation and establishment of cooperative research arrangements. He has also taken a strong interest in the development of scientific input to forest policy.

Dr. Kile is the author or coauthor of over 100 publications, former Chairman of the Standing Committee of Forestry (in 2001) and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

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GREG MCCORMACK
Director, McCormack Timbers

Greg is in his fourth term as President of the National Association of Forest Industries.

Greg has had a long relationship (since 1987) with the Victorian Association of Forest Industries, alternating between the roles of Vice President and President.

He is the owner of Victorian sawmilling firm McCormack Timbers and his family has been involved in the forest Industry for three generations.

Greg has also served on numerous assignments and advisory bodies representing industry, at the request of Federal Ministers. This includes the Forest and Wood Products Council and a group reviewing the Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation.

Chair, Wood Fibre Demand and Global Economics

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CATHERINE MURPHY
CEO, NAFI

Before commencing as NAFI’s CEO in early 2005, Catherine Murphy was a senior federal government adviser for several years.

From 1996 until 2002 Catherine was the Senior Adviser (Legal) to the Prime Minister, covering a wide range of portfolio responsibilities including legal and constitutional issues, native title, telecommunications and media broadcasting, the arts, indigenous affairs, and science and innovation.

From 2002, Catherine was Chief of Staff to the then Minister for Education, Science and Training, Brendan Nelson, where she covered major reforms to the higher education sector, the national schooling system, and the vocational education and training system.

Catherine has previously held senior positions in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Finance.

At NAFI, Catherine has focused on a number of policy areas including advocacy of forest certification, oversight of a national forest industry skills audit, promotion of Indigenous involvement in the forest industries, lobbying of state and federal governments to review national building energy efficiency rating systems which discriminate against the use of timber and the development of the new marketing and R&D body - Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA).

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DAVID POLLARD
CEO, VicForests

David Pollard is the Chief Executive Officer of VicForests, the Victorian Government owned corporation responsible for the sale of native timber products.

David joined VicForests when it commenced in 2004 and has led the organisation through a significant period of growth and development. This has included the transition from the old licence regime, its replacement by a system of direct sales through an online electronic auction system, the insourcing of the management of harvesting and haulage for better supply chain control and significant progress toward the achievement of AFS Certification (December 06).

David's previous career appointments have included (Victorian) Commissioner of State Revenue (1997 - 2002), Director of the Information Division of ASIC and Assistant Commissioner of the Productivity Commission.

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KATHERINE TEH-WHITE
Managing Director, Futureye

Katherine, a political scientist and former journalist, has 12 years experience in environmental and social policy, stakeholder engagement, proactive issues management, strategic corporate positioning, and culture change. She works on complex issues where demands for organisations to be accountable and responsive to community concerns are increasing. Katherine has developed strategies for people issues (industrial relations, human rights etc), highly controversial environmental health issues such as emissions (dust, radiation, acid rain, lead etc), project approvals (woodchips, gold, toxic waste sites) and class actions (product contamination, lead).

Katherine has extensive experience in building corporate reputations and shareholder value through corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, accountability and transparency. She has trained people about the concepts, created champions and helped made organizations more proactive through dealing with cultural values and systems. She has established a track record of win-win solutions for corporations, community and government that have benefited the reputation of the organisations.

As a consultant over the past seven years, Katherine has advised many corporations and governments on how to improve their reputations, engage with stakeholders, reduce risks and communicate change. Her clients include BP, BHP Billiton, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, VicForests, ANZ Bank, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Boral and Leighton Holdings.

Prior to consulting, Katherine worked as a project manager in public policy and government affairs for WMC Resources on projects such as its award-winning Environment report in 1995-96 and the trial of the National Pollutant Inventory in Kalgoorlie, WA. She was a part of the industry team that developed the Australian Minerals Industry’s widely recognised Code for Environmental Management in 1996.

From 1993-95 she worked as a community issues adviser for North on projects such as Hampshire Satellite Mill and Jabiluka, and she developed its $1 million Landcare partnership in 1994.

Katherine was awarded a Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award in 2000 for the Victorian Private Sector and a Public Relations Institute Golden Target Award in 1995. She is on the board of Victoria’s Alpine School – Centre for Leadership and Ruyton Girl’s School. She is on the national board of WomenSpeak and she was listed on Victoria’s Honour Roll of Women in 2003.

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