Forest Products Industry

New Zealand Forest Managers (NZFM) has resumed its New Zealand pine log exports to India in the first half of 2025. This marks the first time NZFM has exported pine logs to India since the 2019/20 period. Source: Timberbiz “This is the beginning of a renewed focus on the Indian market,” Jonathan Cameron, NZFM Chairman said. Historically, NZFM has exported between 40,000 to 50,000 JAS m3 of logs per annum to India, with the last shipment occurring in January 2020. As part of its own diversification strategy, NZFM aims to expand its customer base beyond its current markets in South Korea, Japan, and China. “India represents a significant opportunity for growth, leveraging New Zealand’s reputation for high-quality timber” Mr Cameron said. Working with industry and partners, the company plans to introduce New Zealand pine logs to a variety of high-value applications in India, including interior products, structural timber, and building supplies, much beyond their traditional use in industrial packaging and construction products. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon highlighted NZFM’s efforts as a reflection of New Zealand’s broader export strategy. “It’s companies like NZFM that are driving growth in export value by promoting innovative, higher-value use cases for New Zealand’s high-quality logs. This aligns with our goal to double the value of exports and showcase the premium quality of what New Zealand offers,” Mr Luxon said. NZFM is highly supportive of the Letter of Intent on Forestry Cooperation signed by Ministers on the Prime Minister’s Trade Delegation to India and is keen to collaborate and cooperate with government officials, industry, and our counterparts in India on the areas outlined in the Letter. Mr Cameron indicated that “particular areas of interest are exchange of knowledge, processes and innovation as well as exploring the adaptation and application of cutting-edge technologies we have seen on the Prime Ministers Trade Mission to India into our New Zealand forestry industry”. NZFM is a 100% Māori-owned professional forestry management company based in Tūrangi and Taupō in New Zealand’s central North Island. Established in 1989, the company manages over 100,000 hectares of client land, including 80,000 hectares of productive forests. NZFM provides comprehensive forestry services, including land management, forest development, protection, environmental stewardship, investment, harvesting, and global sales and marketing throughout the Asia-Pacific region. NZFM’s clients include Māori trusts and incorporations, the New Zealand Government, local councils, Timber Investment Management Organisations, and private entities.

  Chief Fire Officer Chris Hardman of Forest Fire Management Victoria said in an open letter that as summer fades and autumn begins, we take a moment to reflect on the challenges of extreme heat, bushfires and storms over the past months have tested communities across the state, reinforcing the importance of preparedness, swift response and resilience. Source: Timberbiz Mr Hardman said: We feel for the communities affected by these events, and I thank our crews, contractors, incident management personnel and partner agencies for the work they do to keep Victoria safer. While the seasons may be changing, our focus remains the same, making sure resources are where they’re needed, learning from recent events and strengthening our strategies for the future. “The seasonal outlook shows a higher chance of warmer maximum temperatures into early autumn which may delay the start of planned burning in some parts of the state. It also raises opportunities for planned burning targeting areas that are not usually available under autumn conditions. We manage Victoria’s bushfire risk in a holistic way, including but not exclusively – through planned burning. Large intense bushfires are a significant threatening process to the natural environment. Victoria’s home to some of the world’s most spectacular natural places, fire risk management needs to be balanced alongside land management to be effective. Reducing the risk and impacts of bushfires requires a multi-facetted approach; there are no magic bullets. Victoria’s approach includes having the right road network for accessibility, strategic fuel breaks, fuel management through planned burning and mechanical fuel treatment and advanced approaches to suppression through well-trained people and highly specialised plant, equipment and aviation. Victorian firefighters and fire managers are world class. We rely on the latest, wide-ranging and global body of research and work with other jurisdictions, but we apply our experience and knowledge to Victorian conditions. Planned burning is part of our long-term strategy. It’s not just about a single burn, or single year, but an ongoing process aimed at creating a strategic network of fuel-reduced areas on public land. This network helps to slow the spread of fire and helps firefighters to reduce threats to communities, critical infrastructure and the environment. Autumn typically provides our crews more opportunities to conduct planned burns, as the weather is more stable, and fire behaviour tends to be manageable and predictable. As soon as favourable weather and forest conditions arrive, we’ll be making sure all available resources are delivering planned burning, with a strong focus on priority areas like Midlands, Yarra Ranges, Murrindindi, Ovens, Otways and Latrobe Valley. There may be some forest and road closures in place during and after planned burning. Visit the Planned Burns Victoria website before you travel to make sure your trip isn’t affected. If you live in or are visiting an area where planned burning is taking place, there’s a good chance you’ll see FFMVic firefighters preparing locations or delivering planned burns. They’ll be the ones in our distinctive green firefighting uniforms.

A major study after the devastating 2019-20 wildfires in Victoria and New South Wales found that prescribed burning dramatically reduced the intensity of the fires, according to a bushfire expert. Source: Phillip Hopkins, Latrobe Valley Express Dr Tony Bartlett, a winner of the Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM), said after 2019-20, a major study was undertaken to test the effectiveness of prescribed (fuel reduction) burning at a landscape scale in terms of reducing the severity of the wildfire in a wide range of forest ecosystems. Dr Bartlett was part of a three-person panel that investigated the impact of the wildfires on Victoria’s Regional Forest Agreements, The major study examined 307 prescribed burns greater than 200 hectares that had been conducted in the previous five years, and which were within the footprint of the 2019-20 wildfires. “It found that about half (48%) of these prescribed burns resulted in significantly reduced wildfire severity,” said Dr Bartlett, writing in the Commonwealth Forest Association newsletter. “It also found that the more recent prescribed burns had a more positive impact on reducing fire severity, with 66% of one-year-old burns having a positive impact compared to 42% of five-year-old burns.” Dr Bartlett said Australian academics Professor David Lindenmayer and Associate Professor Philip Zylstra had made claims about the impact of prescribed burning on forest flammability. “None of the claims … are supported by evidence from long-term monitoring of replicated trials where prescribed burning has been conducted,” he said. The academics in articles reproduced in the CFA newsletter argued that prescribed burning and logging made Australian native forests more flammable. They said prescribed burning should be confined to areas close to high-value assets and that when fire is excluded for more than 40 years, the native forests do not burn at high intensity because the vertical connectivity of the forest structure is reduced through natural ecological processes In contrast, Dr Bartlett said the late Associate Professor Kevin Tolhurst studied the effects of repeated low-intensity prescribed fire in mixed species eucalypt forest in south-east Australia using repeated trials (including no-burning sites) for almost 40 years. “He found there was no loss of species but the impact on understorey plant species varied according to the nature of different species,” Dr Bartlett said. “My own observations at these research sites in October 2024 indicated there was significantly less understorey vegetation in the repeatedly burnt sites than in the unburnt control sites – which contradicts the Lindenmayer-Zylstra view that prescribed burning in eucalypt forests promotes dense flammable understorey vegetation.” Dr Bartlett said the academics’ propositions ignored the evidence of comprehensive fire research done by the CSIRO and state government land management agencies, as well as the lessons from numerous inquiries after major wild-fires over the past 80 years. “Moreover, the notion that fire can be excluded from most Australian forests for more than 40 years is fanciful, given the increased frequency and extent of wildfires over the past 20 years under challenging climate conditions,” he said. “Importantly, there are numerous journal articles that either challenge their re-search findings or present evidence that indicates their findings are incorrect.” Dr Bartlett said the academics’ claim that timber harvesting causes the native forest to be more flammable was undermined by evidence. Wildfire, including the rate of spread and fire intensity, depended on three main factors: the quantity and structure of fuel in the vegetation; the prevailing weather – wind and humidity; and the topography of the location of the fire. Thus the severity of the wildfire was the result of interacting factors, “not a single factor such as whether or not timber harvesting has been undertaken in that location”. Dr Bartlett cited several wildfire examples: In NSW, the 2019-20 burnt about 4.1million hectares of forest, including 2.23m ha of national park and 0.76m ha of State forest. Timber harvesting had made up about 0.21m ha of State forest over the previous 35 years. Official NSW data showed about 53% and 50% burnt at high and extreme severity in both tenures. At the landscape level, they concluded that fire severity was much the same regardless of tenure. Fire in 2019-20 burnt over 855,00 ha (79%), 37% extreme severity, of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, but timber harvesting had no impact in the wilderness area. Areas of prescribed burning five years before had 26% burnt at high or extreme severity. In Eastern Victoria, 2019-20 wildfires burnt 1.5m ha – 89% public forest that included 486,000ha of national park and 403,000ha of State forest. Victorian data showed that 48% of national park and 49% of timber harvest areas burnt at high severity. “It is clear that the presence or absence of timber harvesting made little difference to the extent of high severity bushfire. Dr Bartlett said the academics last year published a review of selected global literature on the role that disturbance (fire, timber harvesting or clearing) can play in forest flammability. Much of this relied on their previously published articles. “They did not quote any of the extensive literature that showed a re-duction in fire severity in areas where prescribed burning had been conducted,” he said. Concluding, Dr Bartlett said clearly the greatest risk to Australian native forests is the increased frequency of landscape-scale wildfires burning at high intensity. This would “ultimately change the composition and structure of our forest systems”. “The lived experience evidence clearly shows that timber harvesting is not in-creasing the risk of native forests being burnt at high severity,” he said. “Far from being a cause of increased high severity fire, prescribed burning reduces fire severity in many forest areas where it has been undertaken.”

The Tasmanian Forest Products Association (TFPA) has welcomed a commitment from the Federal Coalition that, if elected, they will oversee a review of the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme (TFES) and support Tasmanian businesses to the tune of $62 million while that review takes place. Source: Timberbiz Following the announcement, TFPA Chief Executive Officer, Nick Steel, said the review into the TFES is a much-needed boost for Tasmanian forestry businesses. “The TFES model, as it stands, is no longer fit for purpose. This scheme was set up almost 50 years ago and it’s clear it’s no longer working for Tasmanian businesses,” Mr Steel said. “The TFPA has long argued that the current indexation model in the scheme is out of date – no longer keeping up with the exponentially increasing costs to move freight to the mainland that we have seen in recent decades.” “Australia is currently in a cost-of-living crisis. It’s being particularly felt here in Tasmania, not only by consumers but also by businesses trying to sell to the other states. “Being an island, Tasmania is at a distinct disadvantage compared to other states when shipping goods to their markets. The Whitlam Government introduced the TFES in the 1970s to go some way to level the playing field between mainland and Tasmanian businesses. “However, to work properly it’s essential to regularly review the scheme to ensure Its original purpose remains relevant.” Mr Steel said it was clear the Coalition was listening to the concerns of businesses across the country, and he called on the Federal Labor to do the same. “This announcement by the Federal Coalition offers certainty to Tasmanian businesses looking to mainland markets during these tough economic times,” Mr Steel said. “To ensure Tasmanian businesses can continue to support our local economy, and employ thousands of Tasmanians, the Prime Minister should immediately match this announcement and give our industry the certainty it needs to continue to build a stronger Tasmania.”