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A research group has succeeded in creating a map of above-ground forest carbon stocks (biomass) across Japan at a high resolution of 10m x 10m per pixel. Source: Timberbiz The group consisted of Professor Tomomichi Kato of the Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, and Mr Hantao Li (currently doctoral student at the Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo), the Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Science the University of Tokyo, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and George Mason University in the United States. In this study, data from satellites such as PALSAR-2 (mounted on JAXA’s Daichi-2) and Sentinel-2 (European Space Agency) were used as input, and above-ground forest biomass measurement data from airborne laser surveying1 was trained into a machine learning model2, making it possible to create a map with a resolution rarely seen anywhere in the world. The total amount of above-ground forest carbon stocks across the country based on this study was 1440±565 T (Tera = 10 to the power of 12) g Carbon (1.44±565 million tons of carbon). This is smaller than the estimates from conventional nationwide ground surveys. The forest above-ground carbon stock map created this time will be made public on the JAXA website along with forest above-ground biomass, timber volume, and tree height allowing anyone to estimate above-ground forest carbon stocks in any region. This is expected to make it much easier to estimate carbon credits in forests owned by small municipalities, companies, and individuals, where measurement has previously been difficult due to human and financial constraints. The results of this research were published online in the natural sciences journal Remote Sensing of Environment. In Japan, forest carbon stocks have been estimated nationwide from statistical data such as forest registers (lists of tree species and forest ages), but these estimates do not match the current situation because they are not actual measurements.  

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched an updated guide to implementation of phytosanitary standards in forestry, including good practices for forest health protection to help reduce the human-facilitated spread of forest pests and their impacts. Source: Timberbiz The FAO publication uses plain language to describe a wide range of phytosanitary concepts and recommended practices to national and regional governments and industry stakeholders in the forest sector, including International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. Originally published in 2011, this second edition of the guide includes an overview of new and revised standards and updated phytosanitary information and guidance that is relevant to the forest sector. International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures provide guidance to countries and governments in meeting their obligations to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), an intergovernmental treaty relating to plant health, and are designed to harmonize phytosanitary measures for the purpose of facilitating international trade whilst preventing pest introduction and spread. They are crucial for safeguarding forests against the introduction and spread of harmful pests and diseases. “This updated guide will provide forest policymakers, planners, managers and workers with the knowledge and guidance they need to reduce the risk of pest spread in international trade and help protect forests and the livelihoods of forest-dependent people,” said Zhimin Wu, Director of FAO’s Forestry Division. A combination of climate change and expanding global trade and travel has enabled the rapid introduction and spread of pests, putting forests at greater risk than ever. For example, pine wood nematode has caused significant damage to native pine forests in China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, with the Korea Forest Service reporting the loss of 12 million pine trees due to the nematode between 1988 and 2022. Similarly catastrophic is the Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) one of the world’s top 100 most invasive alien species. It is predicted that, without phytosanitary measures, the Asian long-horned beetle and the citrus long-horned beetle (Anoplophora chinensis) could cause damage totalling about EUR 85 billion and a loss of 30% of the hardwood forest area in the European Union The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures, the governing body of the IPPC, has adopted 13 new International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures relevant to forests and the forest sector since the first edition of the guide, all of which are included in this second edition to ensure the guide’s continued relevance and effectiveness. In addition to presenting good practices for forest health protection, the guide also includes examples of forest pest introductions and their impacts around the world to better illustrate the threat they pose as well as setting out steps towards a healthier future for our forests.  

The statement “Forest machines are destroying the world,” made by a young child, sparked the creation of the Climate Heroes project. Stephen Bellas, MD at Komatsu Forest UK, took this comment to heart. Recognizing the need to change the perception of forestry among children, he aimed to inspire and recruit the next generation. Source: Timberbiz The talent shortage in the forestry industry is a significant issue that requires a long-term solution. A survey conducted in local schools revealed that many teachers were unfamiliar with Komatsu Forest and the forestry industry. This gap in knowledge needed to be addressed. Komatsu Forest UK, based in Carlisle, partnered with the Community Sports Trust (CST) of Carlisle United Football Club to launch the Komatsu Climate Heroes project in 2023. The CST focuses on community support, working with schools, promoting diversity and inclusion, and supporting the elderly. Since January 2024, CST has delivered 20 different classes, each consisting of six sessions on climate change and the environment. The program has already involved 370 children, teaching them the basics of climate change, biodiversity, and local and global environmental actions. After five weeks of classes, the children visit the Komatsu Forest site to learn about the forestry cycle and harvesting. For many, it is eye-opening to discover that a tree planted today will be harvested when they are old and retired. The project will continue in 2025, with plans to involve 600 more children, bringing the total to nearly 1,000 participants over two years. Mr Bellas and his team are deeply committed to the project and find it incredibly rewarding to support the next generation. The project truly captures the essence of Komatsu’s values and has not gone unnoticed, with the Komatsu = By educating and inspiring young minds, Komatsu Forest UK is not only addressing the talent shortage in the forestry industry but also contributing to a more sustainable world.

The renewable power of consumer goods made from sustainable Australian forest products should be celebrated for their key role in our recycling ecosystem this week’s National Recycling Week, according to Australian Forest Products Association CEO Diana Hallam. Source: Timberbiz National Recycling Week from 11-17 November is a prominent Planet Ark campaign celebrated annually during the second week of November and aims to educate Australians about the importance of recycling and recycling correctly. “The good news is that many of the products Australia’s forest industries create are recyclable. Everything from paper and cardboard packaging to tissue products, coffee cups and the repurposing of softwood and hardwood timbers – the forest products sector’s contribution to recycling is enormous. Our products also store carbon which helps fight climate change,” Ms Hallam said. “Consumer demands around the enhanced need for recycling is also driving innovation in our industry, for example with evolution of compostable wood fibre coffee cups – reducing the need for such products to go to landfill. “The effort of our local pulp and paper industries is huge in this area. They recycle more than 1.8 million tonnes of recovered paper and cardboard annually, using it to make new office paper, boxes, gift cards, tissue, paper towel and more. “Paper products can be recycled many times over and when paper has reached the end of its useful life it can be composted, and its nutrients returned to the soil. In terms of recycling and reuse, we are the model industry for a circular economy. “Our products also play the additional role providing an alternative to non-renewable and other carbon intensive products – from single use plastics right through to building and construction products. “Finally, timber and fibre processing facilities also recycle and reuse their residue products like sawdust, which is used to create renewable heat and power, reducing reliance on external energy sources. “The forest products sector contributes a great deal to the national recycling ecosystem in a variety of ways. This National Recycling Week we celebrate that contribution as the nation and the world become more conscious about recycling importance,” Ms Hallam said.

New Zealand’s Tertiary Education Union is slamming cuts currently proposed that if confirmed, would see up to 20 jobs lost and the end of highly valued courses that industry leaders say they can’t do without. Source: Timberbiz Courses at risk across campuses in Taupō, Tokoroa, Rotorua, Tauranga and Whakatane include Apiculture; Forestry; Forest Management; Timber Machining and Pest Operations among many others. If the proposal goes ahead, it may result in the closure of the Waipa campus – a dedicated training facility that currently operates a working wood manufacturing plant. “Our Waipa campus is the only facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, and once it’s gone it will never come back. If it closes there will be no timber machining or saw doctoring block courses left in Aotearoa,” Kerry Parker, a Senior Academic Staff Member in Forestry and Wood Manufacturing said. “Industry leaders are distraught. They strongly prefer the on-campus delivery we provide over on-the-job training. They describe Toi Ohomai graduates as tradespeople whereas those trained on-site are more operators. And they are angry there has been no consultation or communication with them. “I train students who have come from Invercargill right up to Kaitaia. About 40 of them are currently part way through their qualifications, some with three years to go to complete their trade, and they are really upset about the possibility of being left out to dry.” Additional proposals have the rumour mill spinning that Taupō campus, in the heart of the North Island, is also at risk of closure. TEU’s Assistant National Secretary – Industrial, Daniel Benson-Guiu says that educational provision across Aotearoa is at risk and campuses outside the big cities, like the Taupō campus, is a case in point. “We need institutional leaders to come clean about their plans – and importantly they should be consulting early with Iwi, industry, local councils and affected communities. These campuses, and the training that comes out of them, are the lifeblood of regional New Zealand,” he said. “These proposals also come at a time when there is no clarity from the Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills about what the future holds for Te Pūkenga. So, decisions like this being made now will be inherited by future institutions and will result in a weaker vocational education and training system.” TEU has received 18 letters of support from forestry industry leaders strongly advocating for the retention of the current course offerings at Waipa.

New Forests has acquired almost 91,000 acres of forest in Oklahoma, in the US South from Rayonier, Rayonier also sold 109,000 acres on the Olympic Peninsula in northwest Washington. Source: Timberbiz This means that New Forests has expanded its portfolio in the US. The company already has forestry assets in California and has made investments in the Klamath River watershed. The Trinity Headwaters Forest is an almost 11,000-acre property situated in northern California, and forms part of New Forests’ 265,000-acre Klamath Forest estate portfolio. Its McCloud Forest is a 19,000-acre forest in the Mount Shasta region of California, made up of mixed conifers including true fir, Douglas fir, and Ponderosa pine In the past New Forests acquired several forest properties in the Klamath River watershed, including the Hilt-Siskiyou Forest and the Trinity Headwaters Forest New Forests said in a statement its new forest assets have a “wealth of biodiversity that includes recovering indicator species such as the American black bear.” The new assets are located near other related industries such as sawmills and pulp and paper mills. “This investment is well aligned with our underlying investment thesis that sustainable forest management in North America has the potential to deliver attractive investor returns,” Jeff Briggs, MD of North America at New Forests said. “We believe a forest management strategy that sequesters additional carbon compared to past management practices while producing a sustainable supply of wood fibre, has the potential to be successful across the US, and in particular the US South, a geography that presents substantial opportunity for New Forests and our investors.”

Turning native hardwood timber forests used for selective harvesting into carbon storage credits has been slammed by a leading native hardwood timber expert as a “dangerous” attempt to close a viable industry. Source: Timberbiz REEF Research Forestry Awareness Program chair Mr Noel Atkins regards this latest proposition as a ludicrous attack on the highly regulated Australian native hardwood timber sector, essential to sourcing hardwood timber for the country’s growing housing, construction, mining, railways and infrastructure needs. “Native hardwood timber is the only renewable sustainable resource that already captures and stores carbon,” Mr Noel Atkins said. “Taking a lock up and leave approach to forests is extremely dangerous.” “Unmanaged forests cause catastrophic bush fires, causing death to people and animals and destroys property. Setting aside the forests for carbon credits under a yet to be proven method of measurement sounds good, but it is a hair brained idea set to raise a paltry $100 million per annum. “The native hardwood industry in NSW currently generates more than $2.9 billion each year and provides 8900 full time jobs (Ernst and Young Report 2023) and up to 22,000 indirect jobs in the NSW regions. “Australia already imports $5 billion worth of hardwood timber, often from developing countries that don’t have the strict regulatory framework to protect fauna such as koalas and sugar gliders as we do here. “This short-sighted carbon credit proposal would see the decimation of the native hardwood industry in NSW and the rise of imported hardwood timber to nearly $8 billion each year, smashing an Australian regional industry, putting fauna at extreme risk and throwing productive Australians on the scrap heap.” REEF Research argues the vast quantity of timber in National parks could be used for carbon credits. “Closing native hardwood timber forests for selective harvesting would be short sighted when it is sustainable, promotes healthy ecosystems and is the ultimate renewable,” Mr Noel Atkins said. “The fact is, koalas prefer to live in managed forests due to the succulent leaves of new trees, and CSIRO data shows their population is on the rise in NSW!” The native hardwood timber industry only has access to 12% of the total public forest estate with 88% controlled in National parks and reserves. The 12% comprises approximately two million hectares of which around half is not available to harvesting due to inaccessible terrain, zoning restrictions and regulations to protect riparian zones, waterways, seed trees, old growth trees, habitat trees flora and fauna. Less than 1% of the public forest estate is harvested each year, supervised by the NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) complying with the Integrated Forest Operations Agreement (IFOA). REEF Research is committed to the native hardwood forest sector and improving its environmental footprint, protecting jobs in the region and delivering economic benefits. REEF represents and supports native hardwood timber businesses   and communities operating in the NSW regions.

New recruits have joined OneFortyOne’s Summer Fire Crew and have undertaken their practical skills training this week. Source: Timberbiz Over the past three days, the 10 new recruits were trained in practical skills that covered four-person canvas hose lay, operation of fire tankers, managing grass fires, and using radios effectively. Source: The Border Watch The crew included employees of OneFortyOne, and those contracted through Gildera Forestry Services and A&M Contracting. More than 100 people make up OneFortyOne’s fire organisation including firefighters, supervisors and a logistical support team. The new recruits were supported by OneFortyOne fire crew members Phil van der Hoek, Dane Handreck and Chloe Mackenzie. OneFortyOne fire manager Justin Cook said the OneFortyOne crew attends a range of fires and support other brigades. “OneFortyOne attends more grass fires than we do plantation fires, we will attend fires that are close to our plantation and assist the CFS to put out the fire in a paddock, before it reaches the plantation,” he said. “So that’s important to the training.” Mr Cook said fire risk is calculated daily, and crews respond accordingly. “Every day during the fire season OneFortyOne declares fire reaction, based on the fire risk for the day. “And depending on the fire reaction, we can have four, seven or eight fire tankers on standby.” Fires can be reported by OneFortyOne’s fire tower networks, a notification from the CFS or a phone call from a member of the public. The regional duty officer is then responsible for dispatching resources to a fire. “We don’t go to every fire in the landscape, but we do to those that are within our plantation, other forest growers land, or that buffer around our and other forest growers’ plantations,” Mr Cook said. There are six fire depots located through the OneFortyOne estate: Mount Gambier, Mount Burr, Penola, Glencoe, Noolook, and Comaum. OneFortyOne’s plantation also extends throughout western Victoria from Edenhope to Dartmoor. “We spread out resources across the area so that the travel time to any fire occurring on our estate is minimised,” Mr Cook said. “Getting to a fire and putting it out whilst it’s small is always the best option.”