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Stretching from Bhutan to Papua New Guinea, the Indo-Malaya forest biome harbors one of the last major primary forest areas in the world, hosting more than 5,000 threatened species. Source: Timberbiz Sixty percent of its original vegetation is already lost, and the remaining primary forests are under pressure from unsustainable agriculture, logging, and competing land use. Over 560 million people in the region depend on the resources provided by these forests, such as water regulation, carbon sequestration, and timber and non-timber forest products. To maintain the integrity of these primary forests, so they can deliver biodiversity, climate, and livelihood benefits, a new Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded initiative, the Southeast Asia and the Pacific Forests Integrated Program was launched at an inception workshop in Chiang Mai, Thailand, hosted by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand. The program will be led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The program channels US$42.4 million in GEF grants and US$185 million in co-financing to three country projects in Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand and one regional coordination project aiming to protect the primary forests of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. It aims to improve the management of 3.2 million hectares of protected areas and over seven million hectares of landscapes, restore 8,500 hectares of degraded ecosystems, mitigate 34 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit nearly 20,000 people. Country projects will be implemented by FAO and UNDP and executed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Lao PDR, the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority of Papua New Guinea, and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand. The Regional Coordination Project, led by IUCN and FAO with partners such as CIFOR-ICRAF and Grow Asia, will bring together countries across the region to align their strategies, share knowledge and practical experience, and catalyse coordinated action across the biome. Eight countries in the region participated in the inception workshop – Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam – and further developed the program’s objectives and coordination mechanisms. Countries and partners agreed on priority outputs that the six-year program should address, including a regional vision on primary forests, a primary forest investment forum, and a knowledge and learning hub. The program will support the development of coherent policies, frameworks, and strategies at national and regional levels to help minimize the loss of primary forests and promote the recognition of other effective area-based conservation mechanisms in primary forest landscapes. The regional coordination project will enhance collaboration and south-south cooperation to facilitate knowledge exchange, technical support, and capacity development for improved management of primary forests across borders. The program is one of five GEF integrated investments for primary forests under the GEF-8 replenishment. The program will connect with the GEF-8 Critical Forest Biomes Integrated Programs for the Amazon, Guinean Forests, Mesoamerica, and the Congo Basin to drive global systems change in globally important tropical forest landscapes.

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Picture a hospital and you might imagine concrete, stainless steel or plastic. But University of Oregon researchers hope to make wood, often overlooked in health care facilities, more commonplace in those settings. Source: Timberbiz Exposed wood, they’ve found, can resist microbial growth after a brief wetting. During the study, wood samples tested lower for levels of bacterial abundance than an empty plastic enclosure used as a control. “People generally think of wood as unhygienic in a medical setting,” said assistant professor Mark Fretz, co-director of the UO’s Institute for Health in the Built Environment and principal investigator for the study. “But wood actually transfers microbes at a lower rate than other less porous materials such as stainless steel.” Numerous studies support those properties of wood. A UO-led research team including scientists from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego and Portland State University wanted to explore what happens when wood gets wet and then dries. In a recent study published in Frontiers in Microbiomes, they shared their discoveries about the effects of moisture on surface microbes and volatile organic compound emissions from mass timber. Mass timber is an engineered wood material emerging as a popular construction alternative in the U.S. But exposed wood is rarely used in health care facilities. That’s due in part to strict building codes that are slow to evolve, Fretz said. Another reason: widespread misperceptions about wood and pathogens. “We wanted to explore how mass timber would stand up to the everyday rigors of health care settings,” said Gwynne Mhuireach, a UO research assistant professor. “In hospitals and clinics, germs are always present, and surfaces occasionally get wet.” For the experiment, blocks of cross-laminated timber were sealed in disinfected plastic boxes to create a microenvironment with carefully controlled temperature and humidity. To simulate a health care setting, air was filtered and exchanged at rates similar to hospital codes. The team sprayed the blocks with tap water, inoculated them with a cocktail of microbes commonly found in hospitals, and took samples over a four-month period. An empty plastic box was used as a control. The researchers compared coated and uncoated wood samples under three types of water spray events: just once, every day for a week and daily over four weeks. The results of the study indicated wood is effective at inhibiting bacteria and revealed clues about wetting that will inform future research and development, Mhuireach said. The empty plastic control box had greater viable microbial abundance than the wood samples, excluding the first 14 days after inoculation. Wetting the wood blocks reduced the abundance of viable bacterial cells, with no discernible difference between coated and uncoated specimens. During wetting, microbial composition reflected what’s common in tap water more than the hospital pathogens the team introduced. The experiments were the first to explore relationships between microbial communities on cross-laminated timber surfaces and the emission of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, under dry and wetted conditions, Mhuireach said. VOCs are chemicals that spread quickly in the air and are responsible for odors as diverse as perfume, mold or “new-car smell.” Some present health hazards, but others are beneficial. Wood can emit compounds called terpenes. Many smell pleasant and inhibit microbial growth. Mhuireach VOC emissions plateaued after wetting, which the team interpreted as a slight increase compared to an overall downward trend. The study marks another milestone for the UO’s work to promote the use of mass timber in health care facilities. That effort began in 2020 with funding from a Wood Innovations grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fretz said. That led to the formation of a focus group including architects, engineers and experts in health care building codes. Funding from the grant helped support the recent project on wetting. Through his work with the TallWood Design Institute, a collaboration of the UO and Oregon State University, Fretz has been working to promote the production and use of mass timber, including materials manufactured in Oregon. Construction using engineered wood produced from cross-laminated layers of veneer or lumber started in Europe during the mid 1990s and is growing in the U.S. Stronger per pound than steel or concrete, mass timber boasts a smaller carbon footprint. Exposed wood also promotes health and healing, Fretz said, because it appeals to our inherent tendencies to connect with nature. The benefits of that human trait, what architects and designers call biophilia, go beyond mere aesthetics. Numerous studies link biophilic design to better health care outcomes, including shorter hospital stays, faster healing and mental wellness. Wood’s ability to inhibit the spread of pathogens may stem from pores that trap bacteria or antimicrobial chemical compounds that occur naturally, Fretz said. It could also result from wood’s capacity to absorb moisture. A respiratory virus shed indoors travels in a droplet of water. Fretz said wood will dry out that droplet faster than plastic or stainless steel, reducing virus survival time.  

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New generations of wild ash trees are rapidly evolving resistance to the fungus devastating their numbers, scientists have discovered. Source: The Guardian The discovery gives hope, the researchers said, and shows that allowing the natural regeneration of woodlands is vital to enabling this evolution to take place. However, it remains too early to say if the development of resistance in the ash trees can outpace the destruction being caused by the ash dieback fungus. The genetic analysis is also a scientific breakthrough. It is the first convincing proof of a prediction made by Charles Darwin that significant changes in organisms can result from natural selection driving very many small changes, not just from one or two obvious ones. Ash dieback is caused by the invasive Hymenoscyphus fraxineus fungus, which was first identified in the UK in 2012 and is also killing trees across Europe. It has killed millions in the UK and is expected to wipe out up to 85% of the older, non-resistant ash trees, incurring costs of £15bn. Previous studies found apparent resistance in some ash saplings but the new study gives in-depth genetic information that could help breeding programmes to support the natural recovery of ash trees. “Our new findings give us new hope,” said Prof Richard Buggs, at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL): “Elm trees have struggled to evolve to Dutch elm disease, but ash produce an abundance of seedlings upon which natural selection can act when they are still young. Through the death of millions of ash trees, a more resistant population of ash is appearing.” Prof Richard Nichols, also at QMUL, said: “We have to be cautious. We can’t say the ash is saved, but we are in a position to say it’s looking promising. We are watching evolution happen and what’s remarkable is that it’s happening so quickly, in a single generation.” One ash tree can produce 10,000 genetically distinct seeds in one season, leading to scores of saplings. The study, published in the journal Science, compared the DNA of trees that were already growing before ash dieback’s arrival with younger trees that were established after. The new trees have to grow up through the leaf mould where the fungus replicates and the researchers found that about 30% of these were killed by ash dieback, providing a strong driving force for evolution. “Only the fittest survive – those that made it through that intense early episode of selection,” said Nichols. Previous genetic work had identified thousands of locations in ash DNA that appeared to either protect the trees from dieback, or make them more vulnerable. The scientists recorded subtle changes at these locations, showing the younger generation possessed greater resistance than their predecessors. This showed that the DNA changes predicted whether saplings were more likely to flourish or die and therefore demonstrated that Darwinian evolution by natural selection was taking place. Ash dieback kills trees slowly and Nichols said the research showed the best strategy was to keep as many trees alive as possible to allow their offspring to evolve. Felling and destroying infected trees would mean important genetic variability was lost. Rebecca Gosling, of the Woodland Trust, which owns Marden Park woods in Surrey, where the study took place, said: “The findings highlight how vital it is to support natural regeneration in woodlands, furthering our understanding of how to best manage our ash woodlands.” “However, natural selection alone may not be enough to produce fully resistant trees,” said Dr Carey Metheringham, at QMUL. “The existing genetic variation in the ash population may be too low, and as the trees become scarcer, the rate of selection could slow.” Therefore, human interventions may also be required to support ash tree recovery, the researchers said. This could include selective breeding for resistant varieties, crossbreeding with Asian ash trees, which evolved with the fungus and are therefore highly resistant, or even gene editing.

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Norm Arkell runs beef cattle and Boer goats on his 420ha property in Mendooran near Dubbo, in Central NSW. The property has been in his family since 1978. The family run a diversified operation with just over half the property managed under a Private Native Forestry plan (PNF plan) and the remainder grazed for beef cattle and Boer goats. Source: Timberbiz In the past, drought reduced the carrying capacity of Pine Ridge and the family were hand-feeding their stock for more than two years. With the help of Local Land Services, Norm implemented a PNF plan to manage his private native forest. He was able to develop an additional income stream that helped pay for improved watering systems and fodder for his livestock, while improving forest health and reducing overcrowding. To increase the productivity of Pine Ridge in a sustainable manner so the property is better prepared for dry times. During a past drought event, the productivity at Pine Ridge was significantly affected, requiring de-stocking of their cattle and goats. Dams on the property were running low and the Arkells were handfeeding their remaining stock for two years. The ongoing drought affected the health of the private native forest area which was exacerbated by overcrowding due to an absence of forest management. Competition for nutrient and water resources meant trees were of poorer quality for timber production. Some species were struggling from the continuing conditions, including a species of She-oaks (Allocasurina) used as a feed source for a colony of vulnerable Glossy-black-cockatoos known to frequent the property. Local Land Services supported Pine Ridge to gain approval for and utilise harvesting on the private native forest which covers almost half of their property. The PNF plan on Pine Ridge operates under the Cypress and Western Hardwood PNF Code. The timber, mainly Ironbark, is harvested for fencing, decking and firewood. Through this process, good forest management was put into place, in part due to the strong relationship developed between the Arkells and harvesting contractor, Dan Clissold of Pilliga Natural Timbers. Harvesting is done sustainably with the aim of improving the forest’s long-term quality and health. At each event: a low-intensity approach ensures a profitable amount of timber is removed but not overharvested younger or smaller trees are identified and retained for future harvests the thinning effect of the harvesting provides light and space for trees to grow to a viable size existing and potential habitat trees are marked and conserved. Using a PNF plan at Pine Ridge improved: income streams and cash flow for Pine Ridge ongoing timber and jobs for Pilliga Natural Timbers health and growth of protected She-oaks at Pine Ridge. The income stream from the forest harvesting is very important to the overall viability of the property, helping fund fodder and extra water troughs during drought and other farm improvements in good years. The low-intensity approach to harvesting ensures harvesting and the income it provides is long-term. Sustainable management of the private native forest will produce a regular harvesting event every 20-30 years. This provides an ongoing timber source for Tamworth-based company, Pilliga Natural Timbers and jobs for several of its employees during a two-to-three-week harvest period on Pine Ridge. A section of the private native forest was excluded from harvesting because it had a high concentration of She-oaks (Allocasurina) which are a key feed source for Glossy-black Cockatoos. All She-oaks within the harvesting area were also retained as a requirement of the PNF Code. These She-oaks have been impacted by drought and overcrowding of the forest, however harvesting adjacent to these trees will not only encourage germination of new seedlings but will also promote the health and growth of the existing trees, providing ongoing food resources for the cockatoos. The Arkells have worked with Local Land Services to help reverse some of the historical impacts of overgrazing including poor soil fertility and high acidity levels and have attended courses on livestock management methods like cell grazing. Further work supported by Local Land Services includes: managing and integrating their forest and farming resources to become more profitable and sustainable succession planning and transferring ownership of PNF plan from one generation to the next. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JjhtL423H0&t=5s

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A dozen of the world’s top timber engineers toured one of Australia’s largest commercial pine plantations, HQPlantations, as part of a Queensland mass timber and forestry tour before the WCTE in Brisbane last week. Source: Jason Ross WoodCentral Hosted by Simon Dorries, CEO of Responsible Wood – the country’s largest forest certification scheme – Dorries took WCTE delegates on a tour of the HQPlantation Southern Pine Plantation, where they visited Wild Horse Mountain look out and a harvest site. “More than 300,000 hectares of HQ Plantations is currently certified under the Responsible Wood scheme, which is endorsed by PEFC International,” Mr Dorries said. “In addition, we toured the University of Sunshine Coast’s (UniSC) Moreton Bay Campus Mass Timber Extension project, where we spoke to one of the project architects, Dr Andrew Magub from Kirk Studio and Callum Lillywhite from Aurcon.” Opened last year, the $100m mass timber extension is part of more than $300m in capital works that have been spent on the UniSC Moreton Bay Campus to date. Built by Badge Construction, the three buildings feature a prefabricated mass timber superstructure, combining HESS Timber’s PEFC-certified glulam and Xlam’s PEFC-certified cross-laminated timber. According to Richard Kirk, the principal of KIRK Studio, using both prefabrication and mass timber “has proven to sequester carbon using renewable timber feedstock to significantly reduce construction time, reduce waste, and support safer and quieter construction sites.” Mr Kirk, who has been responsible for designing almost all mass timber buildings in Queensland said “the exposed timber structure, generous windows and large light-filled atriums produce an entirely new open typology for UniSC — fit for a young university unconstrained by traditional ways,” adding that “the design showcases the University as an active, growing campus and produces a sense of gravity – drawing in students, staff and community members alike.”

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Ikea has bought up more South Island farmland to plant in pine forest, as the Government moves to stop the emissions trading scheme slashing food production. Source: The Press The Swedish-founded global furniture and homewares giant, which will open its first New Zealand store in Auckland this year, is one of the world’s biggest users of timber. Through its subsidiary Ingka Investments, the Ikea Group has bought almost 1500 hectares of land in Marlborough and Otago in the past few months after gaining permission from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO). It has paid about NZ$18 million for the farmland. The purchases bring the total amount of rural New Zealand land owned by Ikea to 27,000 hectares, which accounts for about 8.5% of all its forestry land globally. Most of the company’s timber is grown in Europe. Last month the Government introduced its Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme – Forestry Conversions) Bill to Parliament, which is expected to take effect from October, with some rules retrospective. The new law would tighten rules allowing productive farmland to qualify for the carbon emissions trading scheme when planted in non-native forest. Recent research shows more than 300,000ha of New Zealand farmland have been converted to forestry since January 2017, resulting in the loss of more than two million stock units. Conversions have accelerated as farmers rush to plant forest or sell land to beat the law change. Ikea’s Marlborough farmland purchase is a 1282ha block of land on Saltwater Rd in the Wairau Valley. While the exact price has not yet been disclosed, it is understood to be in the region of NZ$11m. Most of the property is in use as a sheep and beef grazing farm. According to the OIO report, Ingka Investments will convert 1136ha into a commercial radiata pine plantation. Ingka has also bought 812ha of a property called Skyeburn Farm, in the Owaka Valley in Clutha District in Otago. The price paid was NZ$6.84m. The property includes 643ha used for sheep and beef breeding and as a finishing station. Ingka will plant 657 hectares in pinus radiata. Planting on both the Wairau Valley and Owaki Valley blocks will begin this year. Ikea spokesman Felix Őstman told The Press they will sell the timber harvested in New Zealand on the open market, and only some of it will go into Ikea products. He said they have chosen New Zealand because it presents a good inter-generational investment opportunity, “but also to take a leadership position in responsible forest management in the country”. Őstman said while Ikea mostly buys existing forests, it has recently bought farmland when established forestry is scarce. It was planting mostly pine but would set aside about 10% of forest for other species it would not fell including redwood, beech, totara and manuka, he said. “We do not purchase or plant forests to participate in carbon farming to generate and sell carbon credits from its forestland. “We are not in it for carbon credits. Our focus is on ensuring these forests are managed responsibly and contribute positively to the local environment and communities.” “We do not purchase or plant forests to participate in carbon farming to generate and sell carbon credits from its forestland. “We are not in it for carbon credits. Our focus is on ensuring these forests are managed responsibly and contribute positively to the local environment and communities.”

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Efforts to decarbonise freight transport in the South East of South Australia are being accelerated through a State Government supported project aimed at helping the State’s forest industries to reach net zero targets. Source: SE Voice The State Government is investing $200,000 towards the Decarbonising the Freight Task – Driving to Net Zero project, a joint South Australian Forest Products Association (SAFPA) and Tabeel Trading Nominees venture. The funding, provided under the South Australian Wood Fibre and Timber Industry Master Plan, supports the State Government’s vision of decarbonising forest freight to further reduce carbon emissions across one of the hardest-to-abate sectors – heavy freight transport. Minister for Forest Industries Clare Scriven said at a time when economies around the world and in Australia are seeking to decarbonise, the forest industry has a key role to play. “Electrification of the freight network is a fantastic potential opportunity, obviously South Australia, Australia more broadly and around the world is trying to decarbonise and move towards net zero here in SA and decarbonising the freight task is a significant part of that,” she said. “Through Tabeel Trading and South Australian Forest Products Association’s proposed project they are going to be looking at what is needed for that to be able to occur. “We know that electric vehicles are the way of the future, the question is ‘can they be applied to the forest industry and if so, how soon?’ “Having a vision to be a future-focused, circular industry with globally recognised skills and innovation will ensure that our forest industries are ideally placed to grow and thrive in the coming decades, benefitting all South Australians.” The project will include new technologies aimed at reducing reliance on diesel, with the end goal to decarbonise forestry’s freight trucks through electrification, which will deliver substantial carbon savings. Funding will support stage one of the project by developing an evidence-based decarbonisation roadmap for South Australia’s forest freight fleet, detailed cost-benefit analysis of alternative freight technologies including the modelling of emission reductions, a freight logistics and charging/refuelling infrastructure blueprint and policy, regulatory and investment recommendations aligned to state and national climate targets and Master Plan priorities. Subject to the findings from stage one and the availability of vehicles and infrastructure, stage two will see the project progress to a live demonstration phase to validate modelling results under operational forest freight conditions. South Australian Forest Products Association chief executive Nathan Paine said the project has the potential to drive transformative change, supporting the decarbonisation of heavy vehicles not only in forestry but right across South Australia, the nation and even globally. “This is almost stage two of the industry looking to decarbonise, stage one was Fennell Forestry’s electric log truck trial and that showed some really great promise,” he said. “This next piece is really about industry coming together and figuring out what that next road map is for decarbonising. “It is not just looking at electrification, it is also looking at the other alternative fuels as the trajectory towards electrification … this project funded by Minister Scriven is looking at everything from biofuel to alternative renewable diesel. “The learnings and solutions we develop will not just help our industry – they can accelerate decarbonisation throughout the broader heavy vehicle freight sector. “Importantly, we are also involving Primary Producers South Australia as the peak state farming organisation, the South Australian Freight Council and the South Australian Road Transport Association so obviously we will start in the Green Triangle with the forest industries, but we want to make sure the benefits, and the learnings are shared across the state and across the industries. “Stage one is envisaged to take up to 12 months and then the ambitious plan is to get some trucks on the road in about 12 months’ time. “We would have liked them a little bit earlier but speaking to OEM manufacturers like Scania there is significant demand for these trucks in Europe and actually getting us into their production schedule is important, but that conversation is already under way.” Tabeel Trading Nominees (TTN) general manager Adrian Flowers added that TTN’s trucks travel over 3.3 million kilometres every year meaning even modest improvements in emissions can deliver significant carbon savings. “This project is not just about understanding how electric trucks operate in our region; it’s about creating a practical roadmap for how South Australia – and indeed Australia – can decarbonise freight in complex regional operations,” he said. “Australia is a big place and as soon as you move away from the cities and the distances that we travel, the overall net weight that we fall on our heavy vehicle combinations, it is much higher than what it is anywhere else in the world so the sheer size and distance that we travel is probably the biggest obstacle we need to overcome. “Here in the South East of South Australia we’re very, very fortunate the distance between our resource; the forest, and to our various mills here locally enables us to come up with strategic plans to limit the distance, get creative about what our shifts look like in our trucks and that will eliminate some of those challenges.” The Decarbonising the Freight Task project aligns with the Master Plan’s goal of developing a clean and green circular economy. The South Australian Wood Fibre and Timber Industry Master Plan, launched in February 2024, was developed by the Forest Industries Advisory Council of South Australia (FIAC-SA) as part of a State Government election commitment to provide a vision to further grow and develop South Australia’s $3b forest industry.

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Dr Dean Meason, a senior scientist with the Scion group of the Bioeconomy Science Institute, has been named New Zealand Institute of Forestry’s 2025 Forester of the Year. Source: Timberbiz The award recognises Dean’s outstanding contribution to forest hydrology research, which has provided insights that are shaping the future of forestry and water management around New Zealand. From 2019 – 2024, Dr Meason led Scion’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-funded Forest Flows research programme, which provides a more accurate picture of what’s happening to the water in New Zealand’s forests and helps inform regional freshwater policy development and land-use decisions in a changing climate. Post-2024 support from Forest Growers Research is focussed on developing a forest hydrology toolkit for foresters. Dr Meason and his team have further MBIE funding (through the Catalyst fund) to collaborate with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on continued research. This new program, focussed on the Aupōuri Peninsula’s Te Hiku region (Northland), will use data from NASA satellite missions to find a new way to accurately measure water use for different land uses and how it varies across the region. This research will provide new insights for freshwater management at scales previously not thought possible. Dr Meason has a PhD from the University of Hawaii, a Master of Science from the University of Georgia in the US and a forestry science honours degree from the University of Canterbury. He has been with Scion since 2009.

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