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Himanshu Kaushik | TNN

Ahmedabad: You may have visited Kabir Vad on the bank of Narmada in Bharuch, but could you imagine the vad is over 500 years old? Rana Pratap Vad in Vijaynagar is also about 550 years old.

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Victoria’s farming and forestry industries will be able to play a major role in tackling climate change through the establishment of the Victorian Carbon Exchange, Premier John Brumby announced on Monday.

The National Management Group has agreed to an interim response plan to continue to suppress Uredo rangelii (Myrtle rust) with a view to the eradication of the disease.

WorkSafe and the Supply Chain Industry Alliance have joined forces to create a series of resources that encourage workers to speak up about safety. The idea is that a workplace can use the resources to create their own ‘speak up’ campaign.

Forests NSW and the Armidale Pine Forest Committee are on track to close the Armidale State Forest to vehicles from August 1.

China has become a new market for pine logs from Walcha and Nundle, Minister for Forest Resources Paul McLeay said. “We have recently signed a contract worth $11.5 million with exporters MTX Australia for logs from Pinus Radiata plantations in the Walcha and Nundle area,” Mr McLeay said.

By Andrew Grant. CEO:2 CO2 Group Ltd As leader of Australia’s largest carbon offset company, I believe it’s timely to make some pointed and public observations on climate policy options before the Federal election. They are ‘pointed’ because, quite frankly, the twists and turns and bizarre politics of Australian climate policy mean it’s impossible for any company to commit to a business model or for the public to believe anything tangible is planned.

IN A major coup for the Australian Forest, Wood, Paper and Timber Products industry, the Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) have committed members of their global leadership teams to speak at the industry conference in Melbourne on 9 September.

NEW ZEALAND’S exports of pine logs and lumber increased substantially during the first months of 2010. Unfortunately for the manufacturing sector, log exports have increased much faster than the exports of manufactured products.

Paper and pulp producer Mondi expects to report considerably higher interim earnings, saying that its headline earnings a share for the six months ended June 30, 2010, were likely to be between 22c a share and 27c a share, compared with a 0,8c a share headline loss the year before. Basic earnings a share were expected to be between 18c and 23c a share, compared with an earnings loss of 7,1c a share for the six months ended June 2009.

VANCOUVER and MONTREAL, July 29 /CNW Telbec/ - EACOM Timber Corporation (TSX VENTURE: ETR; "EACOM" or the "Company") today reported its financial results for the year ended March 31, 2010. On March 26, 2010, EACOM entered into a definitive purchase agreement to

RICHMOND, BC, July 29 /CNW/ - Catalyst Paper (TSX:CTL) today announced several changes to its board of directors which take effect July 30, 2010. Assuming the role of chairman is Benjamin Duster IV, former chairman of Algoma Steel. Mr. Duster joined the Catalyst board in December 2007 bringing

RICHMOND, BC, July 29 /CNW/ - Catalyst Paper (TSX:CTL) recorded a net loss of $368.4 million ($0.96 per common share) on sales of $299.4 million for the second quarter of 2010. Results were significantly impacted by after-tax impairment and closure costs of $302.0 million on the permanent

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. has reported quarterly earnings of $325.2 million (U.S.) compared to a profit of $275.4 million a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter amounted to $1.81 billion, up from $1.74 billion.

Fairfax is a holding company which through subsidiaries writes property insurance, reinsurance and provides investment management services around the world.

With more than 5,000 employees, Fairfax operates through Northbridge Financial, Lombard, Federated, Crum & Forster, First Capital Insurance, Odyssey Re and many other companies in North America, Asia and elsewhere.

Fairfax has investment stakes in AbitibiBowater and International Forest Products, as well as other well known companies including toy maker Mega Brands, furniture retailer Brick Group, and Jazz Air Income Fund.

Source:
Fairfax books $325.2-million profit (Globe and Mail)

Posted by ForestTalk.com

A firefighting helicopter has crashed near Lillooet, British Columbia. Fortunately both men aboard have survived the crash.

The pilot was taken to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops with pain in his legs, while the co-pilot is being kept in hospital in Lillooet for observation.

The helicopter, a Bell 214, was contracted out for fire control from TransWest Helicopters.

A forest fire, sparked on July 21 by lighting, is still burning out of control near Lillooet. Early today officials estimated that 1,000 hectares have been burned.

30 homes were evacuated as the fire moved towards town.

B.C. has been experiencing one of the driest months on record, and much of the province is rated at an extreme or high fire risk.

Read more:
Fire-fighting helicopter crashes near Lilooet - Co-pilots both survived crash of Bell 214 chopper
Lillooet wildfire scorches 1,000 hectares (CBC)
Lillooet fire still burns out of control (CBC)

Posted by ForestTalk.com

U.S. pulp makers are still trying to figure out exactly what the IRS' recent "Son of Black Liquor” ruling means, but the largest one said yesterday it sees little if any gain.

TimberWest Forest Corp. has just taken extra steps to reduce the risk of wildfire on its private managed forest lands in British Columbia.

"Much of our land base is in close proximity to neighboring communities and the last thing we want is an interface fire," says TimberWest Vice President Timberland Operations, Dave Whiteley.

While the fire danger rating is extreme, TimberWest harvesting operations have been curtailed to reduce the chance that activities could spark a fire. Public access is also being restricted with the help of signage and locked gates, and in some cases security guards are helping enforce the closure. The Comox Lake Main Road is one example where, except for cabin owners and operational traffic, access is closed.

In conjunction with the campfire ban recently issued by the Ministry of Forests, TimberWest has also banned campfires on its private lands, including at its designated campgrounds at Nanaimo Lakes and in the Lake Cowichan area.

TimberWest has already had to respond to ten, person-caused wildfires on its approximately 320,000 hectares of private land on Vancouver Island this year.

Source: TimberWest

Posted by ForestTalk.com

Canfor Corporation has reported total net income of $40.4 million for the second quarter of 2010, compared to $32.5 million for the first quarter of 2010 and $12.1 million for the second quarter of 2009.

The solid wood price rally that commenced in early 2010 came to an abrupt end mid-way through the second quarter. After peaking at their highest levels in several years in April and early May, Western SPF and SYP lumber prices fell off sharply over the balance of the quarter as a combination of higher industry production, slowing inventory replenishment orders and a stalling U.S. housing recovery weighed heavily on the sector.

By the end of the quarter, the benchmark price for Western SPF 2x4 #2&Btr had fallen below US$200 per thousand board feet for the first time this year, after peaking at US$320 earlier in the quarter. The higher lumber market prices in March, April and early May resulted in export tax rates on Canadian lumber shipments to the U.S declining from 15% on B.C. shipments to 10% in May and 0% in June. Prices to offshore markets, the majority of which are negotiated quarterly in advance, showed solid quarter-over-quarter gains.

Average Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft ("NBSK") pulp prices continued to benefit from tight global supply, and list pulp prices for U.S. delivery exceeded US$1,000 per tonne for the first time on record during the second quarter.

Lumber production in the second quarter of 2010 continued to reflect significant mill curtailments, with the Company operating at two-thirds of capacity in the quarter. Canfor restarted its Chetwynd and Quesnel sawmill operations in May and June, respectively, with production for the latter being dedicated to the China market.

EBITDA reported by the company for the second quarter of 2010 was $102.5 million, up $24.7 million from the first quarter of 2010. Excluding the impact from inventory write-down movements, which were significant in the first quarter, EBITDA was up $53.2 million. For the most part, the improvement reflected the record-high NBSK pulp prices, higher lumber sales realizations, in part due to lower export taxes, and improved sawmill residual chip prices. The company ended the second quarter of 2010 with a cash balance of $226.9 million, and $426.5 million of available undrawn operating lines of credit.

Commenting on the results, Canfor's President and CEO Jim Shepard said, "As encouraging as it has been to see another quarter of improved results, the significant decline in solid wood prices in the latter part of the quarter clearly highlights the fragility of the U.S. housing sector." Shepard indicated that Canfor would maintain its cautious approach for the foreseeable future.

Looking ahead, North American lumber demand is projected to improve slightly as the seasonal fall building season gets underway in August and September. However, mortgage delinquencies, home foreclosures and continued weak U.S. employment are expected to continue to hinder the U.S. housing recovery. The resilience of the offshore market is expected to persist as strong lumber demand continues in China and Japan for both housing construction and remanufacturing and Do-It-Yourself markets. For pulp, the supply/demand balance of global softwood pulp is still in favour of producers, but there is currently downward pressure on market prices, particularly from China. A reduction in market pulp consumption from Asia, combined with a typical seasonal slowdown during the summer months, may exert further pressure on NBSK pulp prices over the next three to six months.

Source: Canfor

Posted by ForestTalk.com

This handbook is destined to improve moringa leaf farming and processing in order to meet top sanitary and nutritional standards. For the first time, the techniques of moringa production, perfected by African farmers, have been compiled, verified and presented in an easy-to-use, precise manner. The steps in the leaf-processing phase have been tested and improved based on information gathered from both Africa and Asia. Finally, the analysis of reliable scientific reports has helped establish average nutrient values of fresh or powdered moringa leaves.

This guide has been produced by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB), Cotonou, Benin, with support from the CGIAR Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest Management (SP-IPM), to improve the quality and usefulness of pest management research. This publication was part funded by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).