The Image of the Forest Industry

50th ACPWP

Preparatory Meeting

20 October 2008 in Rome

Joachim LorbachForestry Officer, Forest Products ServiceForestry Officer, Forest Products Service

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Background

This executive summary is based on:

• Public Perception of Forest Industry and Environment, presented under item 8 at the 48th session in Shanghai, 2007

• A revised version, prepared early in 2008, including additional information and recommendations

What is image?

• Image describes a sentiment, picture or instinctive impression of a certain subject

• The subject could be a person, an organization, a product or an industry

• Image can be negative or positive • Tends to stabilize over time• Is subject to dynamic changes

What is perception

• Term was used at the 48th session• Perception expresses a belief or opinion, that

one holds as a result of realizing or noticing something, which is not obvious to other people

Facts are facts, but Perception is reality

Public perception is:• The more paper or wood is used, the more

deforestation is taking placeFact is:• Substitute products gain market shares although

not produced from renewable resources, but profiting from the negative perception of wood

Compared to the campaigns of NGOs, ForestIndustry was not very successful to build a betterimage

Positive Facts• Wood is renewable• More than half of the industry’s energy requirements are

from internally generated fuels • Rocketing fuel prices, the climate change debate and

food security are raising concerns about energy security• The forest products industry is the foremost industrial

generator of renewable energy resources (RES) • Compare to burning of wood, the forest products industry

generates four times the added value in addition to six times more jobs

• Wood is the most renewable and sustainable building material in many countries and for the poor often the only available one

Negative Perceptions

• A significant part of the public believes that they contribute to forest loss when using wood

• Widespread illegal logging practices is profitable for both the industry and the consumer, but is heavily damaging the image of the industry

• Forest Plantations endanger biodiversity and damage soil and water

• Plantations are substituting natural forests

Recommendations

The existing gap in knowledge, belief,

attitudes, and action of forestry industry has

generated the need for strategic

communication

Recommendations

Strategic, professional communication requires:• Relevance• Consistency• Clarity• Continuity• Honesty• Reliability• Openness and transparency• Listening and learning

What can FAO do?

Improving the image of the forest industry by

• Actuating the collection and dissemination of reliable facts on forest utilization

• Raising public awareness on the difference between perception and facts

• Acting as a neutral forum for stakeholders to mitigate gaps between perceptions and facts

What can the Industry do?

Improving the image of the forest industry by• Identifying where the problems are• Identifying the right audience and how to reach them• Developing, testing and implementing communication

concepts• Continually monitoring the effects of the communication

concepts and modifying them if necessary

Thank you