Friday Offcuts – 22 April 2016
Click to Subscribe - It's FREE! Tomorrow marks the formal signing of the Paris Climate Change agreement in New York. All major emitters bar Russia will be there including New Zealand’s Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett and senior Government representatives from Australia. It’s expected that 130 other countries are also going to be present for the signing.New Zealand forest owners this week issued a media release supporting the formal adoption of the Paris climate change agreement. They’re positive about the benefits that it can bring to both plantation and natural forests world-wide. The Forest Owners Association is heartened by Government signals that it’s going to make the existing emissions trading scheme (ETS) do its job by putting a meaningful price on carbon. In another story, a prominent forestry consultant is suggesting that a carbon price of around NZ$35 a tonne will be required to stop forest owners opting out of the ETS. As well as more trees going into the ground, if the Government gets the review of the ETS right it could well provide a windfall to the industry of many billions of dollars. Another report on the country’s ETS during the week though was damning. It accused New Zealand of “cheating” by using foreign carbon credits to fulfil its international climate change obligations. Depending on cheaper foreign credits bought from Russia and the Ukraine had caused carbon prices to plummet with the flow on effect of drastically cutting afforestation. The dodgy credits stopped new forestry plantings. The report compiled by the Morgan Foundation can be downloaded here. An opinion piece on the issue post the release of the Morgan Foundation report can also be read here. From Australia this week a new report from respected climate change and energy advisory firm, Energetics, pointed out that Australia could significantly increase its renewable energy targets by simply including renewable industrial heat as well as electricity in its definition of energy. By recognising renewable industrial heat credits will assist in helping businesses to move to heating with biomass such as forest residues. A link to this report is also given in the story below. Finally, we have had a number of questions this week relating to the timber treatment, wood modification and engineering events that are running in Rotorua at the end of May. Wood Innovations 2016 runs for New Zealand wood processing and timber treatment companies on 24- 25 May. The following day, Thursday 26 May, a timber engineering conference is being run on the architectural, engineering and construction aspects around taller engineered timber buildings. Details on the timber engineering event can be found in the story below. For those making their travel plans, you may well wish to look at building the two into your visit. Wood Innovations 2016 also runs in Australia the following week, on 31 May and 1 June. Enjoy this week’s read.
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NZ export log prices hold steady in March
New Zealand export log prices held steady this month as improved demand offset an increase in shipping costs. The average wharf gate price for New Zealand A-grade logs was unchanged at AU$119 a tonne in April, from March, according to AgriHQ's monthly survey of exporters, forest owners and sawmillers. The in-market price of A-grade logs in China, New Zealand's largest market, advanced to US$111/JAS from US$107/JAS last month as demand picked up following a slowdown in activity during the Chinese New Year holiday. Log inventories on Chinese ports stood at 3.6 million to 3.8 million cubic metres, with an offtake of 60,000 tonne a day, marginally less than the current volumes arriving at ports. "With the Chinese New Year period well and truly passed, activity has increased in the Chinese market," AgriHQ analysts Reece Brick and Shaye Lee said in their report. "The build-up of inventories on port this year did not reach the high levels observed in previous years, largely due to the lower volumes hitting Chinese ports from New Zealand prior to this period, coupled with a faster recovery in market activity after the Chinese New Year holidays. "General demand out of the Chinese market has been relatively positive. While there are still concerns around the stagnation of growth of the Chinese economy, stimulus packages being pushed through by the government are aiding interest from Chinese buyers." Meanwhile, in the New Zealand domestic market, structural log prices are being underpinned by increased demand from the construction sector, while for roundwood a lift in demand from the horticulture and viticulture industries is offsetting a decline in demand from the dairy industry. The pulp market was steady, AgriHQ said. Source: Scoop NZ Engineered Timber Conference in May
This one-day event on Thursday 26 May in Rotorua follows directly after the Wood Innovations 2016 conference. It is being sponsored by local, regional and central government. Minister Jo Goodhew will open the conference and there are six international speakers with local presenters. Details on the conference along with the programme can be found on the event website, www.cpetc2016.com. There will be presentations from a number of leading architects, engineers and others on the growing opportunity for engineered timber in construction, including a number of case studies. 'If the nineteenth century was the century of steel, and the twentieth the century of concrete, then the twenty-first century is about engineered timber.' Alex de Rijke, Director, dRMM The Changing Perceptions of Engineered Timber for Construction conference will be exploring the above quotation in more detail. One of the key speakers at the one-day conference is Nic Clark, Managing Director of London-based company, KLH UK. KLH UK was formed in 2005 as a specialist supplier of cross-laminated timber panels and provide consultation, design (architectural drawing services and structural design), supply and erection services to the construction industry. They have been involved in more than 200 projects, predominantly in the greater London area and Nic will discuss a number of these projects during his presentation. Cross-laminated timber buildings, already familiar to architects and contractors in Austria and much of continental Europe, are now beyond take off and into an upward trajectory in the UK. This is due, in no small way to two pioneering buildings: Kingsdale School in London by de Rijke March Morgan Architects, and Stadthaus apartments (photo) also in London, by Waugh Thistleton Architects. Both use the KLH cross-laminated timber. Timber is undergoing a timely evolution, as one of the world's oldest building materials. Many of the concerns surrounding timber construction have been dispelled by developments in modern technologies, and cross-laminated timber panels look set to have serious and far reaching implications for sustainable construction. Nic will talk about a number of the benefits including: - Cost savings - speed of construction reduces overall programme length which reduces contractors prelims and reduction in overall cost of construction. - Time savings - follow on trades also benefiting from a reduction in programme time - Pre-cut service penetrations and a softwood substrate providing ease of fixing improve 1st fix M&E installation times by up to 30% Light weight Construction- Timber is 5 times lighter than concrete, so apart from the obvious saving in foundation costs it also provides an opportunity to build on land with poor sub soils or which have infrastructure running beneath. - Reduced traffic movements - CLT can reduce traffic movements in & out of site improving the well-being to those living around the construction site. - Design Flexibility - structural (bi-axial) performance allows design flexibility and architectural freedom. - Precision - panels are manufactured, designed and processed using CAD/CAM technology and state-of-the-art CNC panel cutting machines. - Structural capabilities - structural capabilities are akin to concrete in material strength, the cross lamination process results in dimensionally stable panels and high in-plan stiffness providing significant robustness.  Carbon price is key to forestry worth billions
Carbon prices will need to hit NZ$35 a tonne by 2017 or New Zealand forest owners will quit the Emissions Trading Scheme, leaving New Zealand unable to meet its emissions reductions targets, an expert is warning. On the other hand, if the Government gets the review of the ETS right, the export of New Zealand forestry carbon credits could become a major industry - so major, that an investment of NZ$1.5 billion could produce a profit of NZ$6.7 billion a year, says Christchurch forestry consultant Owen Springford. “One million hectares of forest, producing 50 NZUs/ha per year (easily achievable), and a potential future price of, say, the average of NZ$90 to NZ$178 equals NZ$134 mentioned in the (Ministry for the Environment’s ETS Review) discussion document, could produce a profit of NZ$6.7 billion per year for an investment of NZ$1.5 billion,” he says in a sharply worded submission on the ETS review. But first, he says, the Government needs to make sure that the owners of existing ETS forests don’t pull out of the scheme and harvest their forests, turning what was a net store of carbon into an emissions liability. “The only way New Zealand can reduce its net emissions in the near-term is for post-89 forest owners to delay harvest,” he says. “For this to happen, a price of over $35/NZU will need to be in place by 2017 before those forest owners exit the ETS and surrender their rights to 10 years of sequestration.” Spot NZUs are currently around NZ$13.50. Springford says that 2017 is a critical date for the owners of post-1989 forests. “Those owners with more than 100 hectares of forest need to decide whether to fund the next round of mandatory forest measurement or to quit the ETS,” he said. “Many post-89 forests are approaching optimal harvest age. My own calculation suggests that an NZU price of over $35/NZU will be necessary for forest owners to consider deferring harvest and therefore remaining in the ETS. Otherwise, they will be better off to quit the ETS and proceed with harvest planning.” Carbon sequestration in plantation forests is an important part of the Government’s strategy to meet New Zealand’s commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent on 1990 levels by 2020. When the ETS came into force in 2008, NZUs (the units given to the owners of forests planted since 1989) were worth more than $20 each, and the scheme encouraged the planting of new forests. However, collapsing prices, followed by a retrospective rule change by the Government, have led to a halt in the planting new forests. If prices had remained where they were, Springford says in his submission, New Zealand could have had an extra 500,000 hectares of new forest. “If NZU prices had remained around the NZ$20 level we could have had an additional half million hectares of new forest (both native and exotic) by now,” he said. “This would mean that that country could be producing 15 million additional NZUs by 2020.” He says that regaining the industry’s trust will be difficult. “The forestry sector has no trust in the Government, with good reason,” he said. “The sector believes that the Government will never provide a clear pathway and will continue to meddle.” Source: Carbon News 2016 Victory for Australian trucking businessesOwner drivers and small trucking businesses across Australia have secured a victory, with the Australian Parliament voting to abolish the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) late on Monday. Drivers from across Australia travelled to Canberra to take part in two days of truck convoys and rallies calling for the abolition of the Tribunal and its devastating payments order.The Chief Executive of the Australian Trucking Association, Christopher Melham, said the decision would save thousands of small businesses. “The RSRT’s payments order applied a minimum freight rate to owner drivers. As a result, owner drivers were finding themselves unable to compete with the rates offered by other competitors in the marketplace,” Mr Melham said. “Owner drivers were losing their livelihoods and family businesses were folding under the pressure of this unfair, two-tier payment system. Owner operators across Australia stood up and said that this wasn’t right. In all states and territories, drivers invested their own time and money to attend rallies, be part of convoys, and approach their local members to fix this appalling situation”. “I’d like to thank the Government and all those independent senators who stood with owner drivers during this time. Thanks to their efforts, the RSRT is now a thing of the past, and its funding will be reassigned to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.” The legislation to abolish the RSRT was passed in the Senate on Monday night with a vote of 36-32, and received Royal Assent on Tuesday morning. The abolition act commences on Thursday 21 April. AUSTimber2016 event hailed a success
Another AUSTimber has come and gone with many forestry exhibitors hailing AUSTimber2016 the best prepared forest expo site anywhere in the world. A week long program that started with senior secondary students touring certified sustainably managed forests and manufacturing facilities, an international forest research conference, industry field trips to steep terrain logging coups, timber mills, a nursery, a high value sawlog plantation and Australia’s largest pulp and paper plant, Australian Paper, ended with the Expo on Friday and Saturday. With 25 years under his belt attending forest expos around the world, former MD of Komatsu Forests in Australia, Mike Jones, said he had not seen a better prepared site anywhere else – a sentiment echoed by Phyllis Pearce, Marketing Coordinator/Event Planner for Caterpillar Forest Products based in North Carolina and a regular at forestry equipment exhibitions around the world. A number of exhibitors reported sales being made at the event and healthy prospect lists for later follow up. A few have already put their name down for 2020 while one truck manufacturer who did not exhibit has since contacted the organisers to ask to be added to the list of prospects for the next time. “The forest site delivered by our sponsor and partner, HVP, was a credit to that organisation and its Gippsland team.”, said Laurie Martin, GM of AUSTimber2016. “It was a real pleasure dealing with site logistics manager, Travis Healey, who not only got what we were looking for when it came to presenting the best possible face for the industry and delivering sites for exhibitors that gave them the best opportunity to demonstrate their gear but often made suggestions or recommendations that further enhanced the overall visitor experience.” Latrobe City, the event’s other major sponsor and partner also took their role a step further when, after discussions with the AUSTimber2016 organisers at the time they were considering locations for the event, decided to adopt Australasia’s first Wood Encouragement policy. “Not only did they adopt their WE policy and commit the resources of the city’s Events team to assisting us stage the event, they went the extra mile and spent considerable effort recruiting more local government areas around the country to the cause of encouraging local economic activity based on wood fibre.” A seminar at the Manufacturing Expo site in Traralgon for local government representatives concentrated on the new National Construction Code coming into effect in Australia in May that simplifies the process for wooden buildings up to 25 metres tall was well attended. “It gave us the opportunity to put the economic case for wooden buildings while pointing out the need for governments to take a firm stand with public money and insist on timber construction for public buildings that can serve as reference sites.” “As a result of this seminar, we are following up on a couple of potential projects that have been stymied by bureaucratic hurdles at the state government level and hoping to bring the resources of the timber industry into play to encourage reassessment of how public funds are being spent.” The owners of the AUSTimber event, the Australian Forest Contractors Association, are keen for the event to present a whole of industry face to the public while, at the same time, bringing new technology and systems to industry. “Our team invested considerable time and effort in building the manufacturing/processing component of the event and believe we made some progress with AUSTimber2016 but we still have some way to go when it comes to the secondary and tertiary sectors embracing the opportunity this event offers. We believe we have put in place a solid base with our efforts to build the adoption of Wood Encouragement policies at local government level but now need the manufacturing industry to take the next steps to demonstrate to the general public the possibilities the industry offers while discussing new technologies and systems the industry can adopt to improve productivity.” “How we do that will be a key focus in the next four years but one thing is certain, we have to find a way to bring the rest of the supply chain into the event or the industry will continue to miss the chance to fully capitalise on the publicity opportunity our World-Class forest Expo brings to the table.” Hemp at the heart of WA's first eco-village
The project manager of Western Australia's first eco-village, partly built with hemp, believes the finished product will add weight to the growing push for it to be widely used in the construction industry. Tendering contracts are out for the construction of 12 dwellings, due to be built in the WA south coast town of Denmark, about four and half hours from Perth. Project manager Paul Llewellyn said a key feature would be the combination of hemp hurd, the innards of the plant's stem, and lime, which is used to render the traditional timber frames. "The two combine to form a lightweight masonry product, which is very thermally efficient, breathes and has lots of acoustic properties," Mr Llewellyn said. "It provides a wall — which is much more thermally efficient than a double brick wall and is equal in effect to the thermal efficiency of a very wall insulated timber wall — but this wall breathes, which regulates the humidity in the house." Mr Llewellyn said though similar houses had been built in other parts of Australia, the Denmark project was the first of its kind for WA. Commercially referred to as hempcrete the product is commonly used throughout Europe and was the result of hemp manufactures looking to find a use for the "mountains" of hemp hurd leftovers. A thesis of the utilisation of hemp in the construction industry conducted by University of Western Australia student, Gareth Robert Shun'an Jones, concluded lime-hemp concrete (LHC) met sustainability and environmental concerns while also "exceeding in many areas of building performance". The author surmised LHC "provides a superior overall performance in terms of sustainability and comfort levels than comparative 'green' building materials, including autoclaved aerated concrete, rammed earth and straw bales". However, the thesis concluded LHC was not being widely used due to research and information still disseminating throughout the scientific and public community. Photo: A home in France built with rendered with lime-hemp concrete. (Supplied: Paul Llewellyn) Source: ABC Great Southern  New report backs renewable industrial heatA new report from respected climate change and energy advisory firm, Energetics, has revealed that Australia could significantly increase its renewable energy targets by simply including renewable industrial heat as well as electricity in its definition of energy.Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA), Mr Ross Hampton said, "Coming as the major parties finalise their election policies, this is a very timely report which demands attention. Energetics has found that Australia is well outside the international mainstream by failing to include recognition of the renewable industrial heat component in our national renewable energy target, with the exception of small-scale solar hot water heaters under the existing small-scale renewable energy scheme.” “The rest of the world is making large inroads into climate targets by incentivising businesses to transfer from coal and gas heating to heating from biomass - from forestry residues or other sources, such as sugarcane bagasse and slash. This new report also makes it clear that meeting any target larger than the current 33,000 gigawatt hours of additional renewable electricity generation will likely be impossible without renewable industrial heat being included.” “Labor has announced a goal of 50 per cent of Australia’s energy generated from renewables by 2030, but is silent on recognition of renewable industrial heat credits. The Coalition Government is yet to declare its policy position for the next term. A positive response to recognising renewable industrial heat would not only be the right thing to do for the climate, it would support the forest products value chain transition from non-renewable fuel sources and help secure tens of thousands of regional jobs in the medium term." said Mr Hampton. The Energetics report can be found on Forest & Wood Products Australia’s website. Update of Environmental Product Declarations for Australian timber
The Australian timber industry has announced an update of its Australian Wood Products Life Cycle Inventory Database which is used to prepare Green Star compliant Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). This multi-stakeholder project sponsored by Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) is part of the timber industry’s goal to enable built environment professionals to make informed decisions about the materials they choose. The global sustainability consultancy thinkstep and Stephen Mitchell Associates have received funding to review and refresh the 10-year-old data. Representatives from Australian Solar Timber, the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia and Hyne Timber will oversee the project. In July 2015, five EPDs were registered with the Australasian EPD Programme and uploaded to the WoodSolutions website. “They are very successfully telling the ‘better than carbon neutral’ story for Australian softwood, hardwood, particleboard, MDF and plywood”, says Dr Chris Lafferty, R&D Manager of FWPA. “There have already been more than 1,100 downloads of the independently verified documents”. Under the Australasian EPD Programme rules, data used in EPDs cannot be older than 10 years. “At the moment, most of the information goes back to the 2005/06 production year and needs to be formally reviewed. Over 60 Australian timber product facilities have agreed to support this project and provide access to their manufacturing data” says Chris. “Our goal is to minimise the burden for these manufacturers”, says thinkstep’s Managing Director Barbara Nebel, “therefore we reviewed the information collected as part of the original CSRIO project almost a decade ago and identified hot spots where data needs to be updated and analysed. To streamline this process, a mixture of software assisted and on-site data gathering will be used.” “Over the last 10 years, there have been large improvements in efficiency which we are keen to capture as part of this update”, explains Stephen Mitchell from Stephen Mitchell Associates. “Each EPD needs to cover a minimum level of total production volume otherwise it risks being withdrawn. It is therefore crucial that we get a high level of industry support for this project across the softwood, hardwood, particleboard, MDF and plywood industries”. Australian timber product manufacturers who also would like to be listed as contributors on the Green Star compliant EPDs should contact steve@smassociates.com.au for further details. Photo: Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for 5 Australian Timber Product Groups have been downloaded over 1,100 times from WoodSolutions and Australian EPD websites AFCA adds to Hall of Fame
On 13 April 2016 the Australian Forest Contractors Association (AFCA) officially acknowledged its most distinguished members at its Hall of Fame dinner in Traralgon, Victoria, which was held as part of the AUSTimber event. Around 190 industry representatives attended the dinner many bringing family with them underlying the fact that many contractors are family businesses with quite a large number of second and third generation contractors. AFCA Chairman Ian Reid together with Stacey Gardiner AFCA General Manager announced the new inductees into the Hall of Fame, as well as other awards. Hall of Fame members are chosen by their peers and nominated for induction. Inductees into the AFCA Hall of Fame must have worked in the industry for at least 25 years and made a significant contribution to its growth and development. The most noteworthy are recognised as industry icons that have made outstanding contributions above and beyond a lifetime of service to the industry. Up until this evening 11 people had been recognised as icons among the 169 Hall of Fame members. Now 22 new names have been added to the honour roll, plus three industry icons. The three new industry icons inducted on the night were Tony Bennett (posthumously), Fred Jeliff and Garry Leeson. Other awards given on the night were: Hall of Fame inductees: Mark Blackberry, QLD, Anthony Brown, TAS, Graham & Val Fennell, SA, Fred Jeliff, VIC, Jeff Loton, WA, Michael & Sue Mangan, NSW, Andrew Mahnken, VIC, Clive Mitchell, NSW, Robert Muskett, TAS, Peter McConachy, VIC, Colin McCullock, TAS, Robin McKinnell, VIC, Andrew Poston (posthumously), QLD, Bob Slater & Ian Slater, NSW, Colin & Jill Wecombe, NSW, Norm & Wendy Wilton, NSW and Steve Witherow, SA. Recognition of Service to Industry award recipients: Arthur Coleman, Brenton Yon, David Quill, Gary Squires, Ray Walker, Geoff Tyers and David Drane. Photo: Icon Awards, L-R Fred Jeliff, Adrian and Neil Bennett (sons of Tony Bennett (posthumous award) and Garry Leeson New forestry leader elected
Peter Clark, the Chief Executive Officer of PF Olsen Ltd, has been elected president of the Forest Owners Association (FOA) in New Zealand. He replaces retiring president Paul Nicholls. George Asher, Chief Executive officer of the Lake Taupo Forest Trust, has been elected vice-president. The association’s members own the majority of New Zealand’s plantation forests. It works closely with the Farm Forestry Association and is administrator for the Forest Levy Trust Board, which represents the interests of all forest owners. Clark has 40 years’ experience in forest operations and consulting in New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, China and the Pacific. He is a long-standing member of the FOA board and is on the board of the Wood Council of NZ. He says he is keen to see the multiple economic and environmental benefits of forestry recognised by all New Zealanders. Clark holds or has recently held a number of positions on forest industry and government advisory boards involving climate change, bioenergy, and forestry sector research. He is also a board member of the NZ International Business Forum and the NZ China Council. He served on the steering group of the Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum from its formation in 2010 until October 2015 and is now a board member of the Forest Industry Safety Council. He holds an honours degree in forestry science from the University of Canterbury and is a registered forestry consultant and a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Forestry. Source: Scoop Bennett supported by forest owners for New York signingNew Zealand forest owners say the formal adoption of the Paris climate change agreement in New York Friday [22 April] will potentially have great benefits for both plantation and natural forests world-wide. New Zealand’s Climate change minister Paula Bennett will be in New York to sign the agreement along with representatives from 130 other countries.Forest Owners Association president Peter Clark says getting signatures on the agreement is yet another step in a long journey. The agreement will come into force once it has been ratified by 55 countries – representing at least 55 per cent of global emissions. “This may take a few years, but in the meantime, New Zealand is able to continue with emissions reduction at home. An important part of that is encouraging the planting and replanting of plantation forests, because of their ability to absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere,” he says. Mr Clark says he is heartened that the government has signalled it will make the existing emissions trading scheme (ETS) do its job, by putting a meaningful price on carbon. “Minister Bennett has said the clock is ticking on the one for two subsidy enjoyed by emitters. She is also reviewing whether emitters should have unfettered access to international units,” he says. Mr Clark says the Paris agreement recognises that if the world is to address climate change, it is vital to encourage plantation forestry and to protect and restore natural forests. As part of this, our ETS rules need to put a value on the carbon stored in wood products. “This is an important issue for the Wood Council, which points out that global rules have recognised carbon in wood products since the 2011 Durban conference. At present the NZETS rules assume that all the carbon in a log is emitted at the moment of harvest. Clearly that’s not the case. Every wood-framed house in the world is a carbon store.” He says the FOA is a member of the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA). Its members have achieved an impressive 5% reduction in their greenhouse gas emissions intensity since 2010/2011 and 17% since 2004/2005. Source: FOA More detail wanted on woodchip mill proposalA proposed plantation woodchip mill and export facility in Tasmania's south could come too late for fed-up private foresters, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) warns. Businessman and truck driver Darren Oates has revealed his AU$30 million plan to build a mill and port at an unnamed location between Hobart and Triabunna, on the east coast.But the TFGA said it wanted details, as farmers who had planted private forests had suffered badly with the collapse of managed investments. Mr Oates is yet to reveal where his proposed port will be built. "We've got a deep water port, it's got two deep water access ports, so we'll be looking at setting up a chip mill and a loading facility on one spot," he said. Mr Oates said he was seeking guarantees of 1 million tonnes of plantation wood a year from Forestry Tasmania and 38,000 hectares of private forest south of Campbell Town. TFGA's Peter Skillern said private plantation owners were awaiting details of Mr Oates proposal, as well as the outcome of the State Government's attempt to find a solution to the southern residues bottleneck. Since the closure of the Triabunna mill in 2011, woodchips and other residue have had to be trucked to the north to be exported, costing millions of dollars each year. The government-run process to find a private sector solution to the problem has been underway since the middle of last year. A successful tender is yet to be announced prompting concern from parties involved in the process that it is taking too long. Premier Will Hodgman said an announcement would be made soon. The Government has already ruled out a woodchip export facility at Macquarie wharf in Hobart. However, another option may be containerised woodchip exports from Hobart. Source: ABC Forestry students inspect north coast operations
Students from Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Indonesia, New Caledonia, India, Japan, USA, New Zealand and Kurdistan were among 20 forestry students from Southern Cross University who got a hands-on understanding of native forest management during presentations and a field trip to a State Forest near Casino in Australia last week. Forestry Corporation of NSW’s Senior Planner Andrew Kemsley said the students learnt about pre-harvest planning and ecology surveys, then were able to see this first hand during active harvesting operations in Mt Belmore State Forest. “The State forests around Casino have been harvested and regenerated many times and offer students a solid insight into the many aspects of forest management,” Mr Kemsley said. “Forest management is not just about harvesting timber and encouraging healthy regeneration, it is about striking a balance between protecting biodiversity, producing a valued product, managing safety and engaging with community. Before we touch a single tree, we send qualified ecologists into the forest to identify wildlife habitat and develop detailed plans to protect those areas during harvesting operations, and the students were particularly interested in gaining an understanding of this process from our local field ecologist”. The group included Associate Professor Doland Nichols wood scientist Dr Graeme Palmer. Associate Professor Doland Nichols said the Forest Science and Management program at Southern Cross University is now the only course in Australia offering a four-year degree for foresters. Additionally, students do Honours, a postgraduate Diploma, Masters and PhDs under the guidance of a team of forest lecturers and researchers who, led by Professor Jerry Vanclay, achieved the highest rating possible under the recent Excellence in Research Australia review. “Forestry Corporation is proud to work with Southern Cross University to educate the next generation of foresters,” Mr Kemsley said. Eastland Port smashes previous export recordMore than 2.3 million tonnes – mostly raw logs – was exported from New Zealand’s Eastland Port during the past 12 months, a record that smashes the company’s previous best year. The total tonnage of 2.302 million tonnes eclipses the port’s 2014 result of 2.274 million tonnes, and is a 59,000 increase on the 2015 throughput, despite uncertain indications from forestry customers earlier in the year.The port’s general manager, Andrew Gaddum says the results are encouraging for the port, the forestry industry, and consequently for the Tairawhiti region as a whole. “The port provides vital infrastructure for a forestry industry that continues to grow, and which has been the single biggest contributor to Gisborne's GDP since 2012.” Of the 133 ships to dock at Eastland Port over the 2016 financial year, 113 were logging ships, reflected in the fact that 98.4% of total exports were raw logs. The remaining exports were squash and kiwifruit. In addition to export vessels, 11 cruise ships visited during the 12 months to 31 March 2016. Mr Gaddum says Eastland Port is proud to be the country’s most efficient logging port. Eastland Group bought the port from Gisborne District Council in 2003 and has steadily grown export volumes – mostly raw logs – from 480,000 tonnes in 2003 to a record 2.3 million tonnes this financial year. “We’ve worked hard with our customers and suppliers to introduce systems and processes that move logs as efficiently as possible. Every single log is barcoded then scanned in and out, and an individual log stays an average of just eight days on port.” He says huge improvements to environmental processes have also been implemented at the port over the past 12 months. Recently-completed projects include the $11 million redevelopment of the upper log yard and the introduction of a world class water treatment system. “We’re continually looking at new ways to minimise our environmental footprint at the same time as we’re helping customers to move their logs offshore. Our water treatment systems are second to none, they are absolutely the best in the country. New rain gardens are going in at the upper log yard this week and they are just one more step in the water treatment process to ensure we’re doing everything we can.” Eastland Port is also in the process of making resource consent applications for the redevelopment of the wharfside log yard. “When Eastland Group bought the port from the council in 2003, none of the log storage areas were consented. We’ve invested NZ$30 million in upgrading the southern and upper log yards and this wharfside log yard is really the final major redevelopment required. We’re hoping to be underway later this year. We want to see that area sealed and another world class water treatment system installed there.” Eastland Group chief executive, Matt Todd, says the company has spent around NZ$75 million on capital enhancements since 2010 and plans to invest just as significantly over the next five years to accommodate customer projections for forestry harvest. Jobs
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