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Environmental Management Introduction
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The industry has long promoted an image of ‘clean and green’ – this is currently not well developed or understood in most markets and neither is it substantiated. The ability to demonstrate environmental stewardship to domestic and international markets will support the Australian industry’s positioning overall as a ‘clean and green’ producer. Environmental assurance was identified as one tool for underpinning this image.
Horticulture for Tomorrow, in collaboration with industry, has developed a program based on Environmental Assurance (EA) principles.
To find out more about this approach see below:
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Why Environmental Assurance?
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Environmental Assurance (EA) is a relatively new term being used across many industries tackling community and industry concerns about the environmental impacts that can be caused by horticultural production.
For a horticultural business, environmental assurance is a means of demonstrating the use of management practices that achieve the level of environmental protection expected of itself and its customers, the community and other interested parties.
EA provides a generic checklist of recognising environmental best practices.
EA is described as assessing performance against known industry best practices and regulatory requirements to assure consumers, customers and regulators that environmental issues are being managed to an acceptable standard. EA is focused more on the practices that need to be achieved on farm that will result in environmental outcomes rather than the process of complying to an ‘EMS’.
The Guidelines for Environmental Assurance in Australian Horticulture have been developed using these principles. The document was launched in 2006 and is now available online or for purchase through the “Resources” section of this website.
A business can demonstrate management of environmental issues through self assessment, or by seeking assessment from its customers or an independent (third) party, typically an auditor.
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Environmental Management Systems
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In comparison to environmental assurance, an Environmental Management System (EMS) describes any systematic approach to managing the impacts an enterprise has on the environment. EMS is one of the tools available to help a business deliver environmental assurance.
EMS provides a process for the business to jeep track of all the information needed to demonstrate to both business managers and external parties it is meeting the environmental assurance standard established. A business would not necessarily need a comprehensive EMS in place to demonstrate compliance with the environmental assurance standard.
An EMS is based on the plan, do, check, review management cycle – whereby a risk management approach is undertaken and an action plan developed. Then the actions are implemented on farm, these are then monitored and evaluated and the action plan/risk management plan may need to be revised based on latest information.
The dominant systems that are internationally recognised are ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) Standard, the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which are available only for registration by European Union (EU)-based businesses, and EurepGAP. These Standards provide a non-prescriptive series of steps to address when developing an EMS, with the voluntary ability to proceed to external third party auditing.
Both environmental assurance and EMS involve assessment of environmental impacts or risks, and both advocate appropriate actions to address environmentally significant issues.
ISO14001 is the international certification for EMS. It is a systematic approach for identifying and improving environmental performance, tailored to the business. This may be externally audited and certified to the international standard.
GlobalGAP is a global program focused on safe and sustainable agricultural production. It has a section on environmental management that is recommended although not mandatory.
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Horticulture industry adoption of environmental systems
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Horticultural producers have an fundamental interest and pivotal role in protecting, and where necessary and practical, enhancing and restoring natural resources. Assuring the long term sustainability of natural resources directly affects the long-term sustainability of horticultural businesses.
A number of horticultural properties have implemented an EMS. However, there is not widespread uptake of an EMS approach currently in the horticulture industry.
Some industries (such as the vegetable and nursery industries) have developed and begun implementing their own industry specific environmental management programs. HAL is ensuring that these existing schemes integrate and were considered in the development of the Horticulture for Tomorrow program. The program also understood that horticultural industries are at different stages in adoption of environmental management practices and therefore the environmental assurance approach was considered the most appropriate approach for increasing environmental management in the horticulture industry across such a dynamic industry.
A key reason behind the limited uptake of an environmental scheme is that best practice environmental systems are currently voluntary.
There are indications that some form of environmental management certification will be the next requirement of horticultural producers in the near future. It is anticipated that this demand will be generated by a number of commercial and regulatory drivers such as an entry requirement for irrigation water allocations, catchment management restrictions, proximity to urban development and retail customer requirements.
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Commercial drivers, such as GlobalGAP
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Many horticultural markets are beginning to demand that their suppliers demonstrate an acceptable level of environmental management.
Generally, commercial drivers are much more effective in generating positive outcomes and compliance. However, at present the Australian horticulture industry is not well prepared for this type of change. There is a need for industry to take the lead, both in informing and educating all members of the supply chain, and in the development of pragmatic environmental management systems that mesh smoothly with existing quality management systems, and enable compliance with commercial requirements in major markets.
By comparing the environmental assurance guidelines to international GlobalGAP standard as part of the grower trials, Horticulture for Tomorrow was ensuring that horticulture’s environmental practices, once adopted, would be a least the equivalent of this acknowledged standard. Even though the guidelines and corresponding auditable code will be voluntary, there is still the potential for horticultural businesses to adopt these practices and become competitive on international markets otherwise not accessible to them.
For more information on the NRM Strategy click here
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