He also urged the organisers to encourage input and attendance from the timber sector at the meeting series, which might involve changing its name.
"There is a perception that the NGOs are focused principally on bashing the timber trade whereas we should be focused on increasing understanding and comprehension on both sides," said Mr Walsh.
He entitled his presentation "Social benefits from legal sourcing of timber in the Congo Basin".
Hardwood producer and importer Danzer lost its FSC certification last year over an alleged breach of social responsibility obligations by a since divested subsidiary SIFORCO in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, Mr Walsh stressed, the company continues its investment in personnel and programmes at its remaining operation IFO, so that FSC principles and criteria are maintained during the disassociation timeframe. Both operations also continue to be certified under the TLTV legality assurance scheme and in the UK it is a signatory of the TTF Responsible Procurement Process.
"As well as confirming legality and sustainability, these enable timber companies to provide essential social infrastructure and a platform for democratic processes that otherwise do not exist, particularly for marginalised groups," he said.
Among the outcomes of its maintenance of certification scheme standards, he said, were that its IFO Congo Brazzaville operation had invested in infrastructure, healthcare, education and leisure facilities, housing and general services.
"Over 30% of turnover goes to salaries and we pay 4.8 times the minimum Congo wage; in our local communities infant mortality is down to 1.5%, compared to an average of over 7% in sub-Saharan Africa, and we provide over 4.5 jobs per 1,000m3 of logs we process, compared to under three in the US hardwood sector," said Mr Walsh.
He said that these figures were borne out by a new report on the social impacts of FSC certification in the Congo Basin by the Centre for International Forest Research. The same issues would be the focus of a new WWF forests campaign "to show how business can support a better future for forests across the world" to be launched in London on July 16.
"This is a side of the story that doesn’t get much exposure, but it needs to, not just for the sake of the timber industry, but also the forest and the forest communities which benefit from legal, certified timber production," he said.
One problem, he said, was that the Chatham House ILU events were perceived as having an inherent hostility to the industry, which deterred trade attendance.
"It’s vital that all sides of the sector are involved in this dialogue, otherwise judgements are made on only one version of events," he said. "But there is a feeling in the trade that it is an anti-timber industry forum.Even the name is inherently negative, so perhaps that is something that could be changed for a start to something more constructive and inclusive."
Chatham House’s Alison Hoare said all ILU attendees were invited to complete a post-meeting questionnaire to help shape how the event developed.
"We would definitely welcome more trade input and a name change is perhaps something we could think about," she said.
