Forest Products Industry

The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Overall Winner of 2024 was Milko Marchetti with his fantastic image of a red squirrel diving into a tree trunk entitled ‘Stuck Squirrel’. Source: Timberbiz Mr Marchetti entered the photo to the competition after noticing that whenever he showed the image to anyone, they immediately burst out laughing. “The photo was taken on April 23, 2022, in the “Podere Pantaleone” park in Bagnacavallo, Ravenna, Italy. Mr Marchetti wins an incredible once in a lifetime safari, with Alex Walker’s Serian plus a unique handmade trophy from the Wonder Workshop in Tanzania and a fantastic photography bag from the fabulous Think TANK. All the category winners were announced; the Nikon Young Photographer Award was awarded to Kingston Tam from Australia for his photo of a smiling frog, winning an amazing Nikon Z8 + 24-120mm kit. Sarthak Ranganadhan, triumphed in the Nikon Junior Category with his very cute smooching owlets also won a Z50II +16-50mm VR kit from Nikon. Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb, from Southampton, UK aged just 10 years old is the youngest ever category winner, clinching the Portfolio Category. An amazing achievement. Other Category Winners included Jose Miguel Gallego Molina, Eberhard Ehmke, Damyan Petkov, Przemyslaw Jakubczyk, Tapani Linnanmäki and Kevin Lohman. The free competition is open to all wildlife photography novices, amateurs and professionals and celebrates the hilarity of our natural world. From a surprised otter to a swearing turtle, Comedy Wildlife’s photographs transcend cultures and ages to bring a smile to everyone’s face. Last year’s winner was an image of a female western grey kangaroo striking an air guitar pose, taken by photographer Jason Moore early one morning in a wildflower field in the suburbs of Perth, Australia. https://www.comedywildlifephoto.com/  

FSC has extended the blockage period of a Chinese bamboo plywood manufacturer by 1.5 years for repeatedly making false claims on large volumes of bamboo plywood. Despite being blocked by FSC in 2022 for making false claims, FSC found evidence that the company recertified itself under a different name. Source: Timberbiz The company did not disclose its certification history to the new certification body and continued to make false claims on its products despite being blocked by FSC. The company has certified itself under the following names: Zhejiang Anji Double Tiger Bamboo & Wood Industry Co., Ltd. (referred to as Anji Double Tiger) Zhejiang Anji Shuanghu Bamboo & Wood Industry Co., Ltd. (referred to as Anji Shuanghu) FSC considers the actions and intentions of Anji Double Tiger (and Anji Shuanghu) to be a serious threat to the integrity of the FSC system. Thus, in accordance with FSC’s Advice Note 18 (FSC-ADVICE-40-004-18 V2-0), FSC has blocked the company till July 2027. FSC has evidence of how this company, operating under its two names, repeatedly made false claims. They hindered the ability of its certification body and Assurance Services International to conduct investigations. Additionally, they falsely made zero sales claims, while continuing to make FSC claims on products even after being blocked. These actions by Anju Double Tiger (and Anji Shuanghu) indicate a clear intent to manipulate the FSC system. By blocking this company, FSC effectively prevents it from re-entering the certification system until the blockage is lifted. Re-entry will only be possible after the company has implemented the necessary corrective preventative and remedial measures, or when the predetermined blockage period expires. The implications of a blockage are as follows: They can no longer claim FSC certification on their products or use the FSC trademark. They cannot seek re-certification, either as a single certificate holder or as a member of a group or multi-site chains of custody certificate. They cannot become a contractor for other certificate holders with valid FSC certification. For more information about false claims and blockages, refer to Advice Note 18 (ADVICE-40-004-18 V2-0) which can be accessed on page 11 of FSC Directive on Chain of Custody Certification (FSC-DIR-40-004).

Tigercat has released the LX877 feller buncher, the second model to be built on the new sloped tail platform. The LX877 is equipped with Tigercat’s well-proven closed loop drive system. Equipped with a 260 kW (350 hp) engine, it is best suited to high production, steep slope, mature timber clear fell applications. Source: Timberbiz Optimized weight distribution and low centre of mass, along with Tigercat’s patented super duty leveling undercarriage, provide the operator with comfort, stability and confidence on sloped terrain. One of the most important LX877 design features is the sloped tail profile. It provides increased leveling capability to 26 degrees, and better cable clearance in winch assisted applications. Along with the improved leveling angles, Tigercat redesigned the ER boom system to provide a larger envelope with tighter tuck and increased below grade capability. Through-tip hose routing offers better protection of the boom hoses leading to the felling head. The boom has three operating modes – ER, semi-ER and conventional – and can be set based on operating conditions, tree size and operator preference. Other enhancements include further improvements to service access, and in-tank hydraulic filtration for extended service intervals. The side opening engine enclosure completely exposes the top and both sides of the engine and most hydraulic components. When open, the enclosure roof serves as a safe, spacious and convenient work platform. The LX877 is best matched to the Tigercat 5702 and 5702-26 felling saws.

New Zealand’s forest owners have sent a clear message that the sector’s levy provides important support to forest growers by voting to renew it for a further six years. The Harvested Wood Material (HWM) Commodity Levy was introduced in 2013 under the Commodity Levies Act 1990 as a way of collectively advancing the interests of all forest growers in New Zealand. Source: Timberbiz The Levy Vote, which ran from 1 to 31 October 2024, saw nearly 90% of voters supporting renewal of the levy at the proposed rate of NZ 33 cents to 45 cents for the next levy order period. The ‘yes’ votes represented 99.63% of the total hectares of voters. The vote was conducted by independent election agency Research New Zealand in accordance with the Act. Post-voting audits indicated that some votes cast did not meet the voting or eligibility criteria. All votes that did not comply with these criteria were removed. This included some members of syndicates that cast multiple votes for the same forest, votes that were cast for non-qualifying forests and votes cast by individuals that were not the legal owner of the forest. The audited result returned 191 eligible votes and a total forest area of 610,357 hectares. Of these votes, 171 were a ‘yes’ to renewing the levy and 20 were votes against renewal. Votes in support of renewing the levy represented 608,070 hectares. Research New Zealand reported the “yes” vote was conclusive, even if the 109 ineligible votes were counted. On that basis, the 300 total votes returned pre-audit would have still returned a 70 percent support rate for the levy. Forest Growers Levy Trust chair, Stephen Franks, says the positive result highlights the importance of the levy to forest growers. “Forestry has faced difficult times of late and we know growers across the country are looking very closely at their costs,” Mr Franks said. “The fact that growers are still committed to the levy during an economic downturn shows a welcome recognition of the value of shared industry-good activity and representation. “Forest owners big and small can achieve more together than on their own.” The levy has generated approximately $10 million per annum in recent years. It will continue to fund sector representation, research and development, biosecurity, environmental advocacy and more. Ten years of the levy has helped forest owners achieve stronger biosecurity protection for New Zealand’s production forests. It has improved health and safety and helped to transform harvest operations with mechanisation. “The forest research and development program in particular has enabled access to co-funding for growers, raising $2.50 for every levy dollar invested,” Mr Franks said. “The successful levy vote is a credit to the vision of those who established the levy and the continuing ability of forest growers to agree on core requirements to advance forest growing in New Zealand.” Mr Franks says the focus of the levy has evolved over time in response to growers’ needs. “There is now a substantial focus on cost savings and building resilience. Not only to natural challenges but to local political responses as New Zealand faces international climate change policies and market disruptions,” he said. The passing of the levy is the culmination of eight months of consultation with stakeholders leading into the Levy Vote. The FGLT heard about how the levy meets growers’ needs and what changes the sector would like to see, including how the levy should be spent in future. Growers said they wanted to see greater investment into activities promoting understanding of forestry’s contributions. There was also appetite, particularly among small-scale forest owners, to fund more work on alternative species. Maintaining the sector’s biosecurity programmes, which also help to protect non-production and indigenous forests, emerged as an ongoing priority to the sector too. That feedback is guiding the levy budget the Trust will administer for the immediate future. “The sector’s input is needed to make sure the levy is doing what forest growers need it to do,” Mr Franks said. The FGLT will now submit an application to the Minister of Forestry for a new Harvested Wood Material Commodity Levy Order. The new Order will impose a levy rate band of NZ 33 cents to 45 cents per tonne of harvested wood material (excluding GST) on forest owners for the 2026 to 2031 levy order period. The Trust has undertaken not to increase the levy above NZ 33 cents for the first year (2026) of the new levy order. More information on the levy vote outcome will be published on the FGLT website.  

Kim McGrouther, Scion’s Research Group Leader for Chemistry and Physics, has been acknowledged by the pulp and paper industry with the LR Benjamin Medal from the Appita Association. Source: Timberbiz It is the association’s highest honour, recognising and celebrating Kim’s outstanding contributions to scientific research, sustainability and decades of service to New Zealand’s pulp and paper industry. Ms McGrouther’s career spans over 30 years, all spent at Scion, where we are incredibly proud of her experience leading innovative research and developing solutions to complex environmental challenges. Ms McGrouther started her career in pulp and paper through gaining a scholarship for the Pulp and Paper Diploma course run jointly by Auckland University and PAPRO (Pulp & Paper Research Organisation). This intensive three-month course covering forest growing, harvesting and wood processing set her up well for her career at Scion. Her early research focused on oxidation chemistry and wastewater treatment, laying the groundwork for her significant contributions to industrial sustainability. As Scion’s Sustainability Lead, Ms McGrouther has driven corporate sustainability initiatives, most recently inspiring volunteers to clean up 12kg of small bits of plastic, 56 aluminium cans, and other miscellaneous rubbish along Puarenga Stream for Plastics NZ Operation Clean-up event in November. Florian Graichen, Scion’s General Manager Forests to Biobased Products, says Kim’s recognition is well deserved. “Besides recognising Kim’s significant decade-long contributions to New Zealand’s pulp and paper industry, we consider this a tribute to her exemplary contributions to the sustainability aspirations of Scion and the wider sector,” Mr Graichen said. “Kim is also our Sustainability Lead, with oversight of the Toitū enviromark and carbon footprint certification and wider environmental sustainability programme at Scion. Under her leadership, at Scion we have made significant progress in our aspirations to be more environmentally sustainable in everything we do. “This includes reducing our plastic and energy footprints and co-ordinating crews for the Plastics New Zealand Operation Clean-up events – removing rubbish from our local streams and rivers. “Kim has made an enduring contribution to chemistry, environmental science, and sustainability.” The Appita awards dinner was part of the International Fibre Packaging Symposium – Recyclability and Beyond. Day one of the event included a day of insights and knowledge sharing from experts around the world, including Florian, Scion Bioproducts and Packaging Portfolio Lead Alec Foster, and on topics of fibre recyclability, fibre-based packaging innovations, and panel discussion on the role of fibre-based packaging solutions in a bioeconomy. On the second day, the symposium headed to Scion for an exclusive tour around the world-leading research facilities. Visitors went behind the scenes of the pulp and paper testing, moulded fibre thermoformer, WHITE room, biodegradation laboratory, extrusion laboratory and more. The Appita LR Benjamin Medal award was instituted in 1971 and honours the late Louis Reginald Benjamin (CBE), a pioneer and leader in the development of the pulp and paper industry.

After five years of hard work and research, the Kirup Ecological Thinning Demonstration Site south of Bunbury in Western Australia was officially opened. Source: Timberbiz Ecological thinning removes smaller diameter trees from a forest to reduce competition, allowing others to thrive and improving the overall forest health and resilience. The project began in 2019 as a forest health project to demonstrate how ecological thinning could help forests in a drying climate, with work beginning at the Kirup site in 2021. While the project has maintained its original focus on forest health, South West Timber Hub Project Manager Wendy Perdon said it had evolved to become more significant. “When the State Government announced that native forestry would end in 2021, we realised that this project had the potential to take on an education element as there was an increased interest in ecological thinning,” Mrs Perdon said. “This project was unique from the start, and we are proud to see it reach the stage of being officially open and playing an important role in helping people understand how different techniques of ecological thinning impact forest health.” The site features five areas within the forest, one with no treatment and four treated with different techniques of ecological thinning. Visitors to the site will be guided to each treatment with signage, which explains which technique was used and the Noongar forest health assessment of that technique. “This was far from your average research project,” Mrs Perdon said. “Our original working group included former South West Greens member Chrissy Sharp (dec.) as our passionate spokesperson and a diverse community reference panel made up of scientists, environmentalists, community members and forestry industry representatives. “We then engaged Traditional Owners to assess the forest health of the site, so we could incorporate their knowledge and vital insights into the project. “Research at the Kirup site will continue, making this project significant not only now, but for many years to come.”

Forestry Corporation has added 96 new recruits to its firefighting roster this year after a series of training camps, as NSW prepares to mark the fifth anniversary of the Black Summer Bushfires. Source: Timberbiz As one of the state’s four firefighting authorities, Forestry Corporation manages more than 2-million hectares of State forests and will have more than 500 firefighters rostered on for fire response this summer. Since the 2019-2020 fires, the agency has increased its firefighting ranks and upgraded its fleet, with staff bolstering their experience on NSW fire fronts while lending support and experience on interstate and international firefighting deployments. The Corporation each year stages fire camps across regional NSW where staff train and upskill on new and existing fireground equipment and appliances. Fire camps have been staged at Mount Seaview, west of Wauchope and Wallerawang near Bathurst and most recently at the Bondi Forest Lodge near Bombala. Fire Training and Operations Officer Adrien Thompson said the recent Bombala camp saw 46 candidates across the ranks of Crew Leader, Advanced Firefighter and Firefighter gain and further their national firefighting accreditation. “The camp was a huge success culminating with a live fire day out in the forest complete with a dozer undertaking containment works and a Fire Forwarder onsite mopping up after backburns and response activities,” Mr Thompson said. “We also had one of Forestry Corporation’s contracted helicopters on site during the week for our Work Safely around Aircraft training.” Senior Manager Fire and Natural Hazards Rebel Talbert said Forestry Corporation’s trained firefighters will work closely with the three other NSW fire agencies Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW and National Park and Wildlife this summer. “Our statewide fleet includes fire tankers, light vehicles fitted with fire-fighting gear, heavy plant machinery, contracted aircraft and over a 100 drones and trained pilots. “Heavy plant machinery like bulldozers, used in forest operations in state forests, are also made available by the broader forest industry to fight fires in NSW.” “Forestry Corporation of NSW works collaboratively with the other agencies to protect communities, the environment and the State’s essential timber assets from the risk of fire. We are well prepared heading into the fire season with a skilled workforce, a fleet of equipment, drones and heavy plant ready to deploy to aid rapid response, detection and suppression of fires,” Ms Talbert said. Currently a major multi-year program is underway to upgrade Forestry Corporation’s firefighting fleet and improve safety for our firefighters. In response to a recommendation of the Independent Bushfire Inquiry, burn-over Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) protection systems are being retrofitted to all existing light firefighting fleet and installed standard on new vehicles. In addition, new fire tankers are being purchased to replace ageing vehicles. “As a statutory firefighting authority supporting community firefighting efforts across the landscape, it is vital that we maintain safe and efficient fleet and equipment and investments in our fleet will further enhance efforts made in recent years to improve the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of our fleet,” Ms Talbert said. Forestry Corporation took receipt of the first batch of new dual cab Category 1 fire tankers last year. The new Cat 1 tankers are based at Grafton, Bathurst and Tumut and have been deployed to firegrounds multiple times over the past and current fire seasons. The latest generation fire tankers carry 3500 litres of water and have front mounted water cannon and thermal cameras that can be controlled within the cabin. Built by the NSW Rural Fire Service the tankers feature all the latest safety and firefighting equipment and have been well received by Forestry Corporation firefighters. To find out more about Forestry Corporation firefighting visit www.forestrycorporation.com.au  

A one-day seminar on the future of Australian Eucalyptus Plantations will be held in Melbourne on 13 February 2025. Australia now has around 700,000 hectares of eucalyptus plantations: mostly E.globulus on the mainland and mostly E.nitens in Tasmania. Source: Timberbiz Almost all to date has been harvested for the production of woodchips for export to North Asian pulp mills. This seminar will have upwards of 10 presentations to help delegates better understand the major hardwood China pulp and woodchip import market and alternative uses for Australian eucalyptus; as well as the China and India markets for Australian hardwood and softwood logs. Confirmed speakers include: Gavin Hao, Director, Gingko Consulting, Shanghai China Dennis Neilson, Director DANA (NZ): China SW Log and Sawn Timber (27) Country Supplier Predictions: 2029 and 2034 Ian Blanden, Consulting Forester and ex- GM Gunns Forestry and CEO Stora Enso China Forests: Managing a China and an Australian plantation company: Some observations – Opportunity for/threat of South China Eucalyptus plantations harvest impact on future China woodchip import demand David Paul, Indufor Australia: Future Harvest predictions for Australian Plantation Hardwood Plantations Andrew Wye, Principal AKZM Forest Consulting: Alternative solidwood markets for Aust. Eucalyptus pulpwood Simon Talbot CEO, Bell Bay Powerfuels: The potential of eucalyptus plantations to be a major fibre supply for Biofuel Andrew Morgan, SFM: The Role that Natural Capital/Tree Carbon is playing/could play in the Australian Forest Industry Jacob Manothera, CEO Zindia: India – A market for Australian SW and HW logs present and future. The seminar will be held at the Jasper Hotel, 489 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne Register on the seminar website at https://danaevents.co.nz/2025melbourne/registration Following several requests “virtual attendance” registration has been added for “remote” (West Australia, Queensland and Offshore) delegates. This is now an option on the registration form. For any assistance with your registration, and for all other seminar enquiries please contact the Conference Organiser admin@dana.co.nz  

A pioneering approach to resource-efficient building design could give people quicker access to high-quality temporary homes after disasters such as the 2022 floods in Lismore. Source: Timberbiz Researchers have teamed up with government and industry partners to develop a bio-based, low-carbon housing system using waste cardboard and under-utilised timber materials sourced from the local area. Southern Cross University’s Professor Andrew Rose said he was proud to be collaborating on this project, saying it was incredibly important for regions like the Northern Rivers. “We’re still trying to recover from the 2022 floods as a community. One of the biggest issues at that time was a lack of potential housing and shelter,” Professor Rose said. “Not only is this bio-based housing product ideal as something that relates to the circular economy, but it also provides low-cost, high-quality shelter for people who have been adversely affected by disasters.” Project partners include the University of Queensland and the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, as well as eight industry partners – Hurford’s, Big River, Forestry Corporation, Weathertex, Australian Panels, Visy, Jowat and Ausco Modular. University of Queensland’s Associate Professor Joe Gattas said the project presented a new class of structural composite product: timber-cardboard sandwich panels. “In the current design system, the structural components consist of cardboard, which is fully recycled or sourced as a waste product, bonded to plywood skins,” Associate Professor Gattas said. “That forms the main structural composite, and the current configuration outperforms standard foam core structurally insulated panels by about 30 per cent for the same panel density.” With seed funding from the NSW Decarbonisation Hub’s Land and Primary Industries Network, the research team has added a complete range of detailing features to make a full-scale prototype that is weatherproof, safe and comfortable. Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmYQS6I1XqM&t=4s