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LapWall, Finland’s largest wooden element manufacturer, has been involved in numerous demanding construction projects. One example is Metsä Wood’s new Kerto LVL mill under construction in Äänekoski, Finland. Source: Timberbiz In this project, LapWall was responsible for delivering the roof, including the design, manufacturing, and installation of roof elements. The roof spans approximately 47,700 square meters, equivalent to six full-sized football fields. Roof elements measure up to 2.5 meters x 24 meters, enabling the fast and safe coverage of large areas with minimal lifts. Up to 1,500 square meters of finished roof can be installed in a single day. LapWall specialises in wooden wall and roof elements, which are increasingly in demand due to the rise of industrial construction methods. This approach focuses on pre-manufacturing structural components in factories before transporting them to construction sites. Compared with on-site construction, pre-fabricated products shorten project timelines, improve quality, and reduce moisture-related risks by shifting more work into controlled factory environments. The roof elements for the Äänekoski mill were produced at LapWall’s factory in Pälkäne within 5.5 months. The elements were transported wrapped in protective plastic, which was removed only upon installation, eliminating the need for additional weather protection and saving time. Lightweight wooden elements also provide logistics advantages. For example, LapWall’s delivery to Äänekoski included 696 roof elements, requiring 196 truckloads, far fewer than for concrete elements. Additionally, waste is minimized as the plastic wrapping and any leftover wood can be 100% recycled. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) provide detailed information on the carbon footprint across the supply chain, allowing builders and designers to assess the environmental benefits of using wood as a construction material. LapWall uses Kerto LVL in its products, particularly as the primary beam in roof structures. Kerto LVL enables the creation of lightweight, hollow wooden elements that are exceptionally strong and material efficient. Its hollow structure allows for integrating insulation and ventilation systems directly into the elements. In the Äänekoski project, the roof structure required approximately 800 cubic meters of Kerto LVL. The technical properties of Kerto LVL, including its strength, rigidity, and dimensional stability, make it ideal for element production, even under varying temperature and humidity conditions.  

John Deere revealed several new autonomous machines during a press conference at CES 2025. Building on Deere’s autonomous technology first revealed at CES 2022, the company’s second-generation autonomy kit combines advanced computer vision, AI, and cameras to help the machines navigate their environments. Source: Timberbiz “Our agriculture, construction, and commercial landscaping customers all have work that must get done at certain times of the day and year, yet there is not enough available and skilled labour to do the work,” said Jahmy Hindman, Chief Technology Officer at John Deere. “Autonomy can help address this challenge. That’s why we’re extending our technology stack to enable more machines to operate safely and autonomously in unique and complex environments. This will not only benefit our customers, but all of us who rely on them to provide the food, fuel, fibre, infrastructure, and landscaping care that we depend on every day.” Autonomy Expanding to More Machines: Autonomous 9RX Tractor for Large-Scale Agriculture: Tillage is one of the busiest times of the year for farmers. With the second-generation autonomy kit, featuring 16 individual cameras arranged in pods to enable a 360-degree view of the field, farmers can step away from the machine and focus their time on other important jobs. The advanced autonomy kit also calculates depth more accurately at larger distances, allowing the tractor to pull more equipment and drive faster. Autonomous 5ML Orchard Tractor for Air Blast Spraying: Protecting crops through air blast spraying is a challenging and repetitive job. Featuring the latest autonomy kit with added Lidar sensors to address the dense canopies found in orchards, the initial machine will be offered with a diesel engine. A battery electric tractor of comparable size and capacity to existing diesel 5M/ML models on the market today will follow. 460 P-Tier Autonomous Articulated Dump Truck (ADT) for Quarry Operations: Quarries supply the essential raw materials vital for building roads, buildings, and infrastructure, and it’s a complex process to mine, process, and transport materials. Using the second-generation kit, the ADT will handle the repetitive tasks of transporting material around the quarry to facilitate different steps in the cycle. Autonomous Battery Electric Mower for Commercial Landscaping: Commercial landscaping is a highly competitive industry and having the staff to support different bids is essential. The autonomous commercial mower leverages the same camera technology as other Deere autonomous machines, but on a reduced scale since the machine has a smaller footprint. With two cameras on the front, left, right, and rear, 360-degree coverage is achieved, and staff can focus on other aspects of the job. Select machines will be autonomy ready from the factory and the second-generation perception system will be available as a retrofit kit for certain existing machines, providing customers with multiple paths to adoption based on where they are in their technology journey. The machines are managed via John Deere Operations Centre Mobile, the company’s cloud-based platform. By swiping left to right to start, the machine can be started once placed in the appropriate spot. Through the app, users also have access to live video, images, data and metrics, and the ability to adjust various factors like speed. In the event of any job quality anomalies or machine health issues, users will be notified remotely so they can make necessary adjustments. The fully autonomous machines were on display at John Deere’s CES booth at the Las Vegas Convention Centre. The booth also showcased cutting edge technologies customers across industries are taking advantage of, like connectivity, AI, renewable fuels, and electrification.

Vietnam is the second country in the world that has signed the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), a bilateral, legally binding timber-trade agreement which aims at improving the forest administration and promote legal timber trade to the EU market. Source: vietnamnet.vn Under the VPA, countries that wish to export timber to the EU must have the Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) which can prove the legal origin of timber. EU only allows imports of timber with a Forest Law Enforcement, Governance & Trade (FLEGT) certificate. VPA has set criteria that exporters have to satisfy in order to export to the EU, including compliance with regulations on land and forest use rights, on management, the environment and society, on seized timber handling, timber import, transport and trade, and on timber processing and export, as well as regulations on tax and labour. The criteria has posed technical barriers for many timber exporters, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. However, Cuong has advised Vietnamese enterprises not to consider VPA as a barrier, but an opportunity. “In the immediate time, the EU’s strict requirements may cause difficulties or have negative impact on Vietnam’s timber exports, but in the long term, they will be good for the country’s development sustainability,” Cuong said. Regarding VPA compliance, Ngo Sy Hoai, deputy chair and secretary general of Vifores (Vietnam Timber & Forest Products Association), said Vietnam has prepared a legal framework, and control and management to be able to satisfy the requirements set by VPA. However, agencies still need to find an optimal mechanism for FLEGT licensing to every consignment of timber exports, to be sure that the mechanism can match EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation). To implement EUDR, Vietnam must do two things: first, declare due diligence practices (DDS) on the origin of timber; second, establish electronic evidence of geographical coordinates of the forest area/log lot, ensuring that the purpose of forest use doesn’t change from natural forest to planted forest or to other industrial crops. “The regulations seem to be technically difficult to follow. Vietnamese woodwork enterprises are ready to satisfy the EU’s requirements. There are many subjects related to the regulations, including farmers, merchants, transport agents, and enterprises that process and export products for export to the EU,” Hoai said. According to Hoai, though Vietnam’s timber export volume to the EU is smaller than to the US and other countries, Vietnam will still strictly observe EURD to send a message that Vietnam is concerned about issues related to forests and the wood industry. “Vifores considers the issues related to the EU’s strict requirements on deforestation and forest degradation as both challenges and opportunities,” he said. Currently, some neighbouring countries, such as Malaysia and Thailand, have voiced their opposition to the agreement. If Vietnam can satisfy the requirements upon the agreement, Vietnam will be able to retain the EU market or even expand the market. “Despite big difficulties, we still believe that we can implement EUDR,” Hoai said.  

In the first three months of the National Housing Accord, Australia commenced construction on 43,247 new homes according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Source: Timberbiz This is 4.6% higher than the June 2024 quarter and 13.9% higher than the same quarter in 2023. The strongest growth was in new detached house starts, rocketing 20.5% since June 2024 and up 5.3% over the year to September 2024. Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said while the strong rebound in new detached house construction has been welcomed by the industry, there is still a long way to go to reach the level of output required to meet the Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes. Over the year to September 2024, the number of new homes commencing construction reached 165,048, well below the 200,000 required. If building activity continues at this pace, Australia will commence construction on just over 825,000 new homes over the next five years. This is around 350,000 new homes short of the Housing Accord target. “Our performance in apartment construction will be the key to whether we meet the target. Apartment construction levels remain too low because the investment appetite is not there. “Low productivity, labour shortages, costly and restrictive CFMEU pattern agreements, a lack of supporting infrastructure and a high inflationary environment all contribute to project costs not stacking up. “If we are going to solve the housing crisis, we need to build more apartments and make them more attractive for people to invest in – only then will we see a lowering of rental inflation and more homes for Aussies,” Ms Wawn said.

A new prefabrication building company based in Central West NSW is helping to address the state’s current housing crisis, while also sourcing local timber and creating local jobs. Green Timber Technology, which has recently been established in partnership with The Pentarch Group, will fabricate timber walls, roofs and floors in the factory and then deliver them to site for assembly, mostly within NSW. Source: Timberbiz Housing affordability and availability is the single biggest pressure facing the people of NSW. Instead of taking around nine months to build a new home, this process can produce around ten homes per week. Once fully operational, the company will build a new home roughly every four hours. The company also aims to achieve zero waste. The houses that will soon be fabricated at the company’s Orange site, will not only be affordable, but also high-end architecturally designed homes. The 10,000m2 facility is also adding a robotic element to its production line while still creating local jobs, with plans to employ 70 people by 2026. While the prefabrication element helps dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to build a new home, the operation still involves essential building trade elements including plumbers, builders and electricians as part of the final construction phase. “This exciting new approach will help deliver on the Government’s priorities by producing affordable housing, which is the single biggest pressure facing the people of NSW,” Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty said. “It will significantly increase the speed of construction through automation and avoiding weather impacts. “I congratulate the company for also working to achieve zero net waste and providing improved worker safety, because construction will occur in a controlled environment,” she said. “This prefabrication building company is also vertically integrated with Pentarch Forestry’s softwood plantations and mills which are based at Oberon, which is ensuring local timber and timber products are sourced in the region, reducing transport costs. “NSW sourced timber has an important role to play in addressing our housing crisis, and it’s companies like this that are demonstrating well timed critical problem solving to address this challenge. “The benefits for the local economy, industry and the community have come at a very welcome time.” Executive Director, The Pentarch Group Stephen Dadd said sourcing local products was an integral part of this new venture for the company. “In addition to the timber aspect, we hope in the future to see some other companies follow our lead and look at what other housing products could be produced locally,” he said. “We are not using the entire Electrolux site, so there is potential for further growth into a prefabrication housing hub.” CEO of Green Timber Technology’s Orange site Pete Morrison said around 20-25 people would be employed in the early stages of production on the floor to oversee the panel, flooring and roofing components, and additional staff in the design and structural engineering aspect.

Private Forests Tasmania has written to the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank expressing its surprise and disappointment at its decision to deny finance to projects in the native forest logging sector. Source: Timberbiz The bank has been widely criticised by those in the timber industry for its decision to withdraw its longstanding support for Tasmanian forestry contractor T P Bennett & Sons and drop them as a customer on “ESG (environmental, social, and governance) grounds”. TP Bennett & Sons have been logging in Tasmania for five generations. The Australian Forest Contractors Association has chosen to end its business relationship with the bank because of the decision. In his letter to the bank, PFT chairman Jim Wilson says PFT is very supportive of the intent of the bank’s statement to support the transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. “We were surprised and disappointed that your Board had adopted a specific policy of not providing finance to projects in the native forest logging sector,” he said. Mr Wilson says in the letter that sustainable forest management, including sustainable native forestry, is recognised as one of the solutions to climate change rather than a cause of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that ‘sustainable forest management aimed at providing timber, fibre, biomass, non-timber resources and other ecosystem functions and services, can lower GHG emissions and can contribute to adaptation’. “Sustainable forest management ensures that the productive capacity of the forest is maintained over time. This means biomass removals do not exceed forest growth. Trees grow more vigorously and sequester carbon at higher rates when they are young, increasing in biomass and therefore carbon storage. Carbon sequestration rates decline as the tree matures and begins to decay,” Mr Wilson said. “Native forests managed for sustainable wood production take advantage of this natural cycle. “After growth rates have peaked, trees are harvested from these forests and converted into wood-based products. For solid wood products, the carbon can continue to be stored for decades or even hundreds of years until they are re-used, re-purposed or disposed of in landfill. Even in landfill, wood products will remain as a very long-term carbon store.” “Any policy that aims to cease harvesting in sustainably managed native forests will likely result in no additional mitigation benefits. “Conversely, the demand for native forest hardwood timbers will continue to grow and meeting this demand with imported hardwood timber creates a significant risk of increased GHG emissions and poor biodiversity outcomes as the imported timbers are often sourced from countries with less environmental regulations than Australia. “The native forest industry also provides the skills and equipment to fight bushfires and manage outbreaks of pests and diseases. Therefore, active forest management plays a role in reducing susceptibility to bushfires, pests, and disease, which in turn leads to climate benefits.” Mr Wilson says PFT urges the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to reconsider its policy position of not providing finance to native forest harvesting projects. “…native forest harvesting done in a sustainable manner can provide enhanced GHG mitigation and other benefits as well as contributing substantially to Australia’s regional economies,” he said.  

The New Zealand Forest Owners Association says the Government’s decision to merge the country’s seven Crown Research Institutes (CRI) could strengthen forestry’s important role in bolstering the bioeconomy. Source: Timberbiz The announcement, which will affect CRI Scion, it will see all CRIs merge into four Public Research Organisations focused on the bioeconomy, earth sciences, advanced technology and health and forensic sciences. Forest Owners Association chief executive, Dr Elizabeth Heeg, says while the merge will result in significant change for Scion and its staff, it also presents an exciting opportunity that aligns closely with the sector’s strategic direction to strengthen the bioeconomy. “We are cautiously optimistic that the creation of this new Public Research Organisation places forestry at the forefront of facilitating New Zealand’s transition to a more sustainable future, all the while providing for our wood and fibre needs,” Dr Heeg said. “Our sector is already a major producer of renewable resources. It has great potential as a source of bioenergy and gives New Zealand a huge competitive advantage as the world moves away from fossil fuels. “Other primary industry residues simply don’t compare in energy or monetary terms.” Under the reform, Scion will merge with AgResearch, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research and Plant & Food Research to form the new Bioeconomy PRO. This PRO is said to be focused more on economic outcomes while continuing to deliver public-good science. “Scion has done critical work on shifting New Zealand’s dependency on fossil fuels to an economy using biological processes and renewable materials from planted forests,” Dr Heeg said. “Their role in protecting, strengthening and growing New Zealand’s forest estate of pine and alternative timber species should not be understated. “Retaining this expertise and the commercial opportunities and partnerships fostered by Scion over the years will be important for setting forestry in good stead under this merge.” While forest growers are optimistic the suite of changes will improve the science system, execution will be critical to the reform’s success. “Merging CRIs into four key entities will not be an easy feat without any additional funding,” Dr Heeg said. “Research and development is the area of highest investment for funds raised under the Harvest Wood Material Commodity Levy and forest growers will want assurances that there will continue to be a focus on fundamental forest research under the new structure, as well as sufficient funding for this essential work to continue, particularly at a local level. “Equally, without investment in this space, forestry’s role in the bioeconomy will be much more difficult to fulfill.” Once fully established, the bioeconomy is estimated to inject a further $30 billion into New Zealand’s economy. New Zealand has already begun paving the way for a wood-based future, using its forests to produce a variety of biological resources including construction timber, paper, pharmaceuticals, bioplastics and now renewable bioenergy. Mr Heeg said that more investment in this area creates exciting possibilities. “Today’s announcement signals a commitment to seeing the bioeconomy come to fruition, with trees featuring as a very critical component to complete that pathway,” she said.

The New South Wales Government has announced a raft of projects to help protect critical plantation timber in southern NSW under the Government’s $13 million Plantation Fire Protection funding package. Source: Timberbiz Funding has been endorsed for 15 local projects which will form a network of enhanced fire protection initiatives across the Murray region, including Greater Hume, Snowy Valleys, Cootamundra-Gundagai. Albury and Wagga Wagga LGAs. Ranging from latest technology fire detection cameras to aerodrome-based water supplies for firefighting, the projects have been identified to collectively deliver the maximum fire protection, hazard reduction and response capabilities for plantations and communities in the region. A panel of government and industry experts have identified the projects by analysing existing arrangements and identifying gaps and opportunities. While the projects will protect plantation resources, they also provide increased protection for the local residents and businesses of the area. “The 2019/20 bushfires had a devastating impact on our communities and industry, with significant losses to plantation resources that are essential for the future of NSW’s housing and construction sectors,” SWG Chair Dean Anderson said. “This funding represents a proactive approach to fire prevention, detection, and rapid response suppression. The projects will integrate the latest fire detection technology, enhance aerial firefighting capacity, upgrade critical fire trails, and establish additional water storage and transport facilities. These measures will not only protect softwood plantations but also provide increased fire resilience for residents and businesses in the region. Key funded initiatives include: $1,100,000 for the upgrade of Ellerslie Range Fire Trails Program which are strategically important to protect at-risk plantation estates in the Snowy Valley which includes the Southern Cross Forest complex, Green Hills and Bago State Forests; $983,339 for the upgrade and maintenance of priority fire trails in Bondo, Bago, Carabost and Jingellic State Forests; $5,720,000 for Tumut Aerodrome, to improve water supply for aerial firefighting and the construction of hangar for fire suppression aircraft; $100,000 for two high volume trailer mounted water pumps for rapid refilling of water transport trucks and fire tankers, to be housed in the Bondo forest depot and Ardrossan forest depot; $329,490 for a network of Remote Automated Weather Stations to provide data to the Bureau of Meteorology to inform fire preparedness and response across the region; $145,625 for firefighting water storages in strategic locations exposed to uncontrolled fires – for both private and public plantation land in the Ellerslie forests area to the west of Adelong, forest areas to the west of Humula, Carabost State Forest and Murraguldrie State Forests; $456,000 for two bulk tankers to transport firefighting water, to be housed at Green Hills; $387,106 for specialist tractor and mulcher, based in Tumbarumba, to undertake growth suppression and non-burn hazard reduction in key fire corridors; $1,537,800 for an all-terrain firefighting machine with water tank and high flow water pumps that will deliver large volumes of water in difficult plantation situations to be housed in the Tumut area; $828,139 to expand the PSN (Public Safety Network) radio network for plantation workers, across the Murry region; $325,000 for three additional fire detection cameras on Mt Ikes, Table Top and Mt Flakney to complete the network monitoring the Murray Valley timber plantation estate; $220,000 for the Australian Fire Danger Rating System – which provides critical data to assess fire risk across the Murray region; $767,500 to upgrade of cabins in five fire towers to ensure early detection in Munderoo Fire Tower (Snowy Valleys), Tumorrama Fire Tower (Snowy Valleys), Burngoogie Fire Tower (Wagga Wagga), Kendall Fire Tower (Snowy Valleys) and Kangaroo Fire Tower (Cootamundra-Gundagai). “The collaboration between government, industry, community and fire authorities has been instrumental in shaping these initiatives,” Carlie Porteous, SWG Executive said. “We commend the NSW Government for recognizing the importance of this industry and taking decisive action to mitigate future fire risks.” Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty said the Murray region was hit particularly hard in the 2019/20 bushfires. “We lost a significant stock of our future housing timber – we can’t afford to lose anymore,” she said. “These projects will play a vital role in protecting the remaining critical timber supplies in the Murray region as we move into the 2024-25 bushfire season and beyond. “These same timber plantations will produce the quality timber our NSW housing sector so desperately needs now and for generations to come, so it’s important to find ways to protect them from bushfires. “I am confident this program will build resilience into this important regional industry through measures that deliver improved fire prevention, detection and response, making our communities safer in the process.” The Independent Member for Wagga Wagga, Dr Joe McGirr, said memories of the disastrous Dunns Road fire five years ago were still fresh in local minds, so these measures to reduce the fire risk in the Snowy Valleys were very welcome. “The softwoods industry is an economic powerhouse for the local economy so it’s essential that all steps possible are taken to protect livelihoods and businesses that depend on safe and secure plantations,” he said. “The enhancements at the Tumut aerodrome will be an important addition to the region’s firefighting capacity. “This is the result of positive collaboration between industry, the Rural Fire Service, Snowy Valleys Council and government and I congratulate all involved.”

The Federal Government’s decision to prioritise an Australian Carbon Credit Units Scheme proposal, which seeks to cease or defer native forest harvesting, has been described an underhanded attack on Tasmanian jobs. Source: Timberbiz Tasmania’s Minister for Business, Industry and Resources, Eric Abetz, says it is also a direct assault on the environment, ignoring research from the CSIRO’s retired chief research scientist as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Mr Abetz said that this “latest sneak raid must be called out for what it is”. “This is an attack on regional jobs here in Tasmania, plain and simple,” Mr Abetz said. Designed by the Australian National University (ANU) and NSW Government, the Improved Native Forest Management in Multiple-use Public Forests Method (INFM) would require native forestry to be ended across Australia including in Tasmania. However, despite being supported by the Federal Government, it has been revealed NSW undertook no consultation with the Tasmanian Government before it launched the plan. Tasmanian Forest Products Association Independent Chair, Sarah Courtney, said the model tries to force the Tasmanian Government to march in lockstep with the radical proposal by the NSW Government. “The model proposed by the NSW Government, and backed by the Federal Government, would see the end of sustainable native forestry in Tasmania” Ms Courtney said. “Our industry has bipartisan support in Tasmania. But this looks like another case of a mainland state trying to impose its opinions onto our island.” Ms Courtney said it was pleasing to see both Minister Abetz, and Federal Shadow Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Jonno Duniam, calling out the absurd hypocrisy in the model presented by the NSW and Federal governments. “Both the Tasmanian Government and Federal Opposition understand the importance of forestry for Tasmania’s regional communities,” Ms Courtney said “That’s why the TFPA is joining with them today to call on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to immediately dismiss this proposed model and show that the Federal Government supports Tasmania’s regional communities, and the thousands of people employed in our sustainable forestry sector.” Mr Abetz said he had written to Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins to express his disappointment. “And it is important to note that this is a direct assault on jobs in her very own electorate,” he said. “Wood is renewable, recyclable and at the end of the day bio-degradable and Tasmania’s forest practices are second to none in the world. “It’s how we get the timber and fibre we need to build houses, hospitals and schools while supporting communities and families across Tasmania. “If we don’t harvest the timber we need here, we have to import it from overseas at great expense and belching tonnes of bunker fuel fumes into the atmosphere in the process.” Mr Abetz said Tasmania would not support any carbon credit scheme proposal that undermined the value of its native forestry sector and put at risk local jobs in an attempt to placate extremist environmental groups. “We will continue to back in our forestry sector through our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future,” Mr Abetz said. Federal Shadow Minister for the Environment, Fisheries and Forestry, Jonno Duniam, accused the Federal Government of yet another attack on this industry. “Labor promised that native forestry jobs would be secure under their government, but now Chris Bowen and Julie Collins are using a backdoor way to shut it down. They need to be honest with businesses and workers engaged in native forestry to explain why they are abandoning them,” Senator Duniam said. “Timber workers deserve better than the Labor Government who are more interested in pandering to activists than looking after regional jobs. “The Albanese Government need to urgently scrap this process and, in doing so, recognise the importance of native forestry for our environment and our economy. If we can’t get our hardwood here, it will be imported from unsustainable sources that do not share our high environmental standards,” he said.  

In 1890, noted bushman and early explorer, Alfred Howitt, recounted his observations of the changing nature of eastern Victoria’s eucalypt forests to the Royal Society of Victoria. Source: ON LINE opinion He noted that prior to the mid-1860s, these forests had been regularly “burnt off by aborigines, either incidentally or intentionally. These annual bushfires tended to keep the forests open, and to prevent them from being overgrown, for they not only consumed much of the standing or fallen timber, but in a great measure destroyed the seedlings that had sprung up since former conflagrations”. In just 25 years, the beginnings of European settlement – including cattle and sheep grazing – had largely over-turned this delicate balance. Regular burning declined as indigenous communities were displaced and as the new settlers sought “to lessen and keep within bounds bushfires which might otherwise be very destructive to their improvements”. According to Howitt, the reduced annual burning allowed forests to quickly became choked with small trees and scrubby understories, thereby making them more flammable. When summer bushfires inevitably occurred, they burned with a greater and more damaging ferocity than before. Howitt’s observations of regularly fired and more open pre-European forests aligned with similar accounts from explorers and early settlers elsewhere in Australia. In 2011, the publication of Bill Gammage’s book, The Biggest Estate on Earth, strengthened a consensus that indigenous burning, in conjunction with fires naturally ignited by lightning, maintained most of Australia’s pre-European forests in a far more open and less flammable condition than they are today. There are exceptions to this general rule, such as the tall, ash-type eucalypt forests growing on the wettest parts of the southern ranges. They were reportedly just as dense prior to European settlement as they are today. Being inherently wet, they were far less affected by indigenous burning or lightning-ignited fires. However, they would periodically dry-out during prolonged droughts and could then burn with a ferocity that would generally kill most trees and stimulate a replacement regrowth event. Cognisant of such relatively minor exceptions, Australia’s land managers now widely accept that fire was far more prevalent in most of our forested landscapes during pre-European times, and that it was generally of moderate to low intensity because its frequency generally prevented the build-up of heavy fuel loads. After tens of thousands of years of indigenous occupancy, all but the wettest Australian forests and woodlands had become adapted to regular, relatively low impact fire. In southern Australia, the premise of approximating nature by maintaining low fuel loads has, since the 1950s, underpinned organised forest fire management based around fuel reduction burning undertaken during cooler seasons either side of summer. While these burns can replicate the low to moderate fuel state to which most forests and their ecology are naturally adapted, the necessity to control them due to neighbouring property and safety concerns makes it nigh-on impossible to match the full extent of annual pre-European burning. Despite this, if there is sufficient annually fuel reduced area, it can lessen the extent and environmental impact of most summer wildfires by both reducing their intensity and making them easier and quicker to control. In view of this, one would expect support for fuel reduction burning to be high amongst Australian ecologists, but recent public commentary by some academics suggests otherwise. For several years now, Lindenmayer and Zylstra, have strongly advocated the cessation of fuel reduction burning in lieu of leaving southern Australian forests unburnt indefinitely. According to their theory, long unburnt forests will naturally evolve into a low-flammable state, thereby removing the need for fuel reduction burning which they claim to be increasing, rather than mitigating, the bushfire threat. More recently, senior ecologist Don Driscoll has added his voice to the anti-fuel reduction burning chorus based on research purportedly showing that previously burnt forests suffer worse ecological impacts (compared to long unburnt forests) when subject to major wildfires. In a recent article on The Conversation website promoting this research, Driscoll noted that: “Clearly, fire management and policy needs a big rethink. Alternative approaches to large-scale prescribed burning are required”. Given that Driscoll’s research involved over 120 co-contributors, it may be reasonable to conclude that his views on fire management are widespread within the fraternity of ecology academics. The opposition to fuel reduction burning being led by some of these ecologists, represents an astounding denial of the historical record of past fire and how it has shaped Australia’s forested ecosystems. Furthermore, the published ecological research papers collectively advocating a no-burning fire management approach, displays a disturbing lack of practical understanding and experience of both fuel reduction burning and wildfire suppression, exemplified by misconceptions such as: Assuming that all forest types are targeted for fuel reduction burning when there are significant areas that are not targeted, such as, for example, the wet ash-type forests. An unjustifiable extrapolation of the fuel and fire characteristics of non-fuel reduced wet forests which rarely burn, to drier forest types that are naturally adapted to more frequent fire. A tendency to imply that there is no difference between the environmental impacts inflicted by unplanned summer bushfires under hot, dry conditions and those of planned low intensity burning undertaken in mild autumn or spring conditions. Condemning fuel reduction burning as being responsible for severe biodiversity impacts in the absence of any direct comparison against the biodiversity impacts associated with heavy fuel build-up in long unburnt forests, and especially after such forests have been subjected to a hot summer wildfire. A lauding of indigenous cultural burning over conventional fuel reduction burning without acknowledging that both methods are based on the same principle of using low intensity fire during cooler times of the year. A context-free faith in small scale indigenous cultural burning (Driscoll refers to it as ‘right-way burning’) as a superior alternative to conventional broadscale fuel reduction burning despite it being more responsive to the huge scale of Australia’s forests and the bushfire threat. Advocacy of a shift to a more streamlined ‘wildfire response only’ fire management regime based […]