Over the years we have seen the Corporate Social Investment (CSI) made by the Forestry Sector evolve from being “charity” based, giving when you have a little extra, to become intentional efforts that create value and sustainability for broader communities in the rural areas where our plantations are situated. Many FSA members have actively re-engineered their markets, products and value chains to benefit local economic development, creating new businesses owned and managed by locals.
Over and above the traditional eight core areas of our members’ Corporate Social Responsibility Programmes: Education, Health & Welfare, Community Engagement & Upliftment, Food Security, Enterprise & Supplier Development, Community Infrastructure, Environment and Recreation, in recent years Disaster Response has been added in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and floods.
We are proud that over 1% of the Sector’s Net Profit After Tax goes to socio-economic development initiatives, achieving 143% of our transformation target. Our initiatives may not hold value in the joint industry’s profit and loss statement, but to us and our neighbours, they are the most tangible and easily recognisable face of “the socially caring and environmentally-minded” Forestry Sector.