Community regards FT as good corporate citizen

Ken Jeffreys

General Manager Corporate Relations and Tourism
 
 A new EMRS survey released today has found the community’s perception of Forestry Tasmania as a good corporate citizen continues to improve.
 
The recent survey of 600 Tasmanians gave us a score of 4.7 out of a possible 7 for our reputation as a good corporate citizen, up from 4.5 in August 2008 and 4.6 in March 2009.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Forestry Tasmania as a Good Corporate Citizen
(Average score and percentage of entire sample
scoring 5 or more, or less than 3 out of 7)

 
It’s a gratifying result that validates the efforts that we have made to re-engage with the community. It demonstrates that through initiatives such as Community Assist, the Going Bush television series, community forums and open days, and the provision of timely information on our website and via Branchline, we have successfully opened a dialogue with our stakeholders. 
 
We hope to build on this relationship in the coming months and years, and further improve our reputation.
 
The survey also found that the majority of the community gained most of its information about forestry through the media, which highlights the need for accurate reporting on forestry issues. On our part, we commit to continuing to release information pro-actively to the media, so that we can keep our stakeholders well informed about our activities.
 
The survey also confirmed the lack of community support for the extreme actions of some anti-forestry groups.
 
It found 64 per cent believe that one of the favoured tactics of these groups, organising anti-forestry protests in other countries, is not a legitimate means of protest.
 
Two-thirds of those surveyed said that they would be unlikely to support groups engaging in this type of activism, while 60 percent thought it had a damaging effect on Tasmania’s reputation.
 
Several weeks ago, the activist group Still Wild Still Threatened organised a series of coordinated attacks on public buildings around the world, in an attempt to draw media attention to their cause.
 
Forestry Tasmania has consistently stated that we support the democratic right to peaceful, truthful and lawful protest. It’s clear from this survey that overseas media stunts carried out by radical activists serve only to further disenfranchise the community from their cause.
 
 
 
The Florentine Protest Actions
Respondents were told that an anti forestry group organised a “coordinated attack on major public buildings around the world” to draw attention to their campaign against forestry in Tasmania. They were then asked a series of questions regarding this campaign.
 
Table 20 – Belief That Organising Protests in Other Countries is a legitimate tactic.

64% of respondents did not agree that organising protests in other countries is a legitimate tactic. 70% of males did not deem this type of action to be legitimate compared to 59% for females.
 
Respondent were then asked “Are you more likely or less likely to support activists using this tactic?
 
Table 21 – Likelihood of Supporting Activists Using this Tactic (percentage of respondents supporting Activists)
 

 
Two thirds of respondents indicated that they were “less likely” to support activists using this type of action.
 
Respondents were asked “what impact do you believe international campaigns of this nature have on Tasmania’s reputation?
 
Table 22 – Impact of this Type of International Campaign on Tasmania’s Reputation
 
 
Approximately, 60% of respondents indicated that this type of campaigning has a negative impact on Tasmania’s reputation, whilst 16% believe it to have a positive reflection. 
 
Table 23 – Methods Respondents Agreed Environmentalists Should Use to Communicate Their Messages (Number and percentage of respondents mentioning each method as appropriate)

 

 

 

 

 

 

To download a copy of the report ( 213kb PDF) - click here


 

 

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