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Finland is the most forested country in Europe, and more than one in 10 Finns own a forest. In other words, forestry is a very popular investment among their assets. Source: Timberbiz Why do the Finns invest in forestry – three forest owners have provided their take and it includes economic security, generational continuity and nature values. What kinds of investments are forests? The general answer was: stable. The price of forest land has risen steadily over the decades, and forests typically yield an interest income of about 3–5%, says Kati Kontinen, lecturer in forestry and member of the supervisory board of Metsäliitto Cooperative. “Forest estates are in high demand. No more land is produced, which ensures that the value of the forest is maintained,” says Ms Kontinen. Forest owner Reija Asikainen considers forests an easy investment for a person interested in spending time in nature. For Asikainen, who works as an environmental consultant, it has been more natural to invest in forests than in a buy-to-let apartment, for example. “Timely clearing, early cleaning and thinning improve the growing stock and thus the value of the investment,” says Asikainen. “These forests aren’t managed for money” So how do people join the diverse group of forest owners? As a rule, by inheriting family-owned forest. “Discussions of what to do with a family’s forest assets should be started with the children or other heirs well in advance. There may not be much interest in a forest estate inherited without warning, but a timely discussion may arouse interest in a completely different way,” Ms Kontinen said. Thinking in advance also helps with tax planning. There are many ways to inherit: a sale, gift, and gift-like transaction all have different tax consequences. For Ms Kontinen, a planned transfer between generations meant that she and her two sisters decided to set up a real estate partnership, which now runs the estate. She had already bought her first forest estate when she was 18. “Someone else might have bought a car, but I had a notion that investing in forests was safe.” Eemeli Hasanen, 22, also has experience of planned generational transfer: he became the owner of his family’s forest estate four years ago. In his day job, he drives a tip truck, and he spends his weekends and holidays working in the forest. According to Mr Hasanen, running a family farm and managing the forests is a vocation. When he was at school, he spent his evenings and weekends in the forest helping his grandfather. “I already knew as a little boy, when I sat on Grandpa’s tractor, that this was where I came from, and this was where I’d stay,” Mr Hasanen said. “These forests aren’t managed for money but to provide well-managed forests for future generations.” Forests are associated with so many memories and emotional ties. Some of them date back to childhood, and others, through stories, even to the childhood of grandparents. Kati Kontinen, Reija Asikainen and Eemeli Hasanen all visit the forest not only for work but also for pleasure. The forest is a gym, a break room and a berry cellar. “Yes, I do go to the forest every day. Sometimes I go horseback riding, sometimes I do a bit of clearing,” Ms Kontinen explains. Commercial and recreational uses of forests are not mutually exclusive. Raspberries often grow on seedling stands, and as the forest grows, blueberries and lingonberries appear. Older, moss-covered spruce forests are great for camping and picking mushrooms. Reija Asikainen says that the desire to take care of forest regeneration and biodiversity is more important than profit. For example, this is done by increasing the number of deciduous tree and retention trees. Retention trees are trees that are allowed to grow and eventually decay in the forest, thus providing habitats for many species. Approximately 25,000 species live in Finnish forests, and a fifth of them depend on decaying wood. Wood trade statistics alone cannot measure the value of a commercial forest. “We should stop and think about all the things that are made of wood and the products that can be replaced with wood – plastics and fossil fuels. This is also an important issue for many forest owners,” Ms Kontinen says.

Paper Excellence Group has announced the operational integration of the recently acquired Domtar Corporation and Resolute Forest Products with the legacy Paper Excellence business, forming a leading, unified forest products company in North America. Source: Timberbiz According to the company this integration represents a strategic alignment of the companies’ strengths, resources and expertise, creating a stronger organization poised for future growth and innovation, while maintaining the highest levels of environmental stewardship. Together, the companies will now be doing business as Domtar. Domtar’s new brand identity symbolizes the combined legacy, shared values and forward-looking vision of the three organizations. The new logo reflects the spirit of collaboration, sustainability and commitment to excellence that will define Domtar’s future. The inclusion of a seedling in the logo represents the company’s commitment to nurturing potential and fostering growth, symbolizing the start of something new and the continuous journey toward flourishing success. It also signifies an important evolution, capturing the essence of the gradual development of our legacy companies and the natural progression from a small, humble beginning to a thriving, mature global organization. “Today marks a new and important chapter in Domtar’s journey, representing the bright future ahead of us,” said John D Williams, non-executive chairman of the Management Board of Domtar (and its sister organizations). “As a fully integrated company, we are better positioned to deliver for our customers, strengthen relationships with our key stakeholders and drive innovation across our industry. As a result of the integration, we now have a company that boasts the best of our three legacy companies and is poised to pursue and achieve future growth and success. Our new brand is a reflection of our shared mission to lead with purpose and impact.” Domtar will continue to serve pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and wood products markets, leveraging its expanded capabilities to offer enhanced products and services to clients worldwide. Products will be marketed under their legacy names, and commercial information will be updated on the Domtar website in the coming weeks; until then, information will be available on the legacy platforms. Domtar will maintain its corporate offices in Fort Mill, South Carolina, Richmond, British Columbia, and Montreal, Quebec. There will be no changes to the company’s physical location or production footprint as a result of this announcement. The company’s commitment to sustainability and community investment will continue to be a core focus as it moves forward under the new brand.

SCA has become a partner in SE-technology and in a pilot plant developed and operated by SweTree Technologies. With SE-technology, more seedlings can be quickly and efficiently produced from the best seed material from forest breeding. Source: Timberbiz SweTree Technologies is running a pilot project to develop automated seedling production via Somatic Embryogenesis (SE) together with the forest companies Stora Enso, Sveaskog, Södra and Holmen. SCA has now also entered the project and become a partner in the SE-technology and in the pilot plant developed and operated by SweTree Technologies. So far, development has focused on spruce seedlings, but with SCA’s involvement, SweTree has also started the development of SE-technology for pine. This is done jointly with all participating companies, in parallel with the development that is underway for spruce. “We are very pleased to have SCA on board with the SE-project. SweTree is now bringing together the five major Swedish forest industry companies in the development of this important and revolutionary technology. This means that we are well equipped to take our SE-technology all the way to a commercial facility for production of SE seedlings on an industrial scale,” says Christofer Rhén, CEO of SweTree Technologies. “We have collaborated with SweTree for a long time and now it was time to take the next step. This is an exciting development project with great potential, and which is at the forefront of research in terms of the production of the best forest seedlings. With an increased degree of breeding, we can produce seedlings that grow even better and thus capture more carbon dioxide. We also get access to more renewable raw materials to replace fossil products with. In this way, our forests can contribute with even greater climate benefit,” says Thomas Vestman, Head of SCA’s seedling business NorrPlant. SweTree Technologies has been working for several years to develop the automated SE-technology. SE is a vegetative propagation method, with which seedlings based on the best seed material from forest breeding can be quickly and efficiently produced in large quantities. This technological leap enables commercial seedlings with higher growth and resistance to diseases and pests, which is positive for both the forest economy and the environment.

Businesses, unions and health and safety experts are making a united call to the New Zealand Government about the changes they believe will improve the health and safety system and save lives. Source: Timberbiz Business New Zealand, the Council of Trade Unions, the Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum, the Health and Safety Association of New Zealand and the NZ Institute of Safety Management (NZISM) have issued an open letter on Labour Day to Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden as part of her review of the health and safety regime. The letter identifies three key areas to improve New Zealand’s health and safety record: Better system leadership and coordination Improving and investing in WorkSafe NZ Better regulations and guidance. The group urges the Minister to refrain from substantial overhaul of the 9-year-old Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. The Act is based on similar legislation to Australia and the United Kingdom, where workplace fatalities and injuries are much lower than New Zealand. The letter shows an unprecedented degree of consensus between representatives of workers, large and small businesses, and experts across the health and safety landscape. Businesses, unions and health and safety experts are making a united call to the Government about the changes they believe will improve the health and safety system and save lives. “We are making this call on Labour Day because it’s an important day to recognise the value of workers to our economy and the desire of all of us that they return home safe and well every working day. Our regime is just not working the way it should, and we welcome the chance the current review has provided to get it right once and for all,” CTU President Richard Wagstaff said. The Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum conservatively estimates the cost of workplace illness and injury in New Zealand at NZ$4.9 billion per year. More than 70 people a year on average die in workplace accidents, double that of Australia and another 900 die from diseases caused by work. Making the right, targeted investments in health and safety will pay dividends to businesses, communities, and the country. Workers need to return home healthy and well, and businesses need to have access to guidance and support to improve health and safety in their workplaces. “We can and should do better, even lifting our performance to that of Australia’s would save almost NZ$1.4 billion a year, saving lives and injury, and preventing families and communities from being shattered,” said Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum Chief Executive, Francois Barton. Submissions on the review close on 31 October. The open letter is supported by key leaders and experts across the health and safety system, including the Employers and Manufacturers Association, GM Safety Forum, Te Rōpū Marutau o Aotearoa (the Māori Health and Safety Association), Women in Safety and Health Excellence New Zealand, the New Zealand Society for Safety Engineering, the Faculty of Asbestos Management of Australia and New Zealand, the New Zealand Occupational Health Nurses Association, the Occupational Health Physiotherapy Group, New Zealand Occupational Hygiene Society, Occupational Therapy New Zealand Whakaora Ngangahau Aotearoa, ShopCare Charitable Trust, the Forestry Industry Safety Council, MinEx (the Health and Safety Council for the extractive sector), MarineSAFE, StayLive, and the WorkSafe Chair of Workplace Health and Safety at Victoria University.

Mountain Blue, a company involved with blueberry genetics, has a plastic free packaging trial in place with Opal, on its Eureka brand with supermarket retailer Coles Group. Source: Timberbiz As part of Mountain Blue’s commitment to sustainable practices, this initiative has introduced kerbside recyclable and FSC-certified cardboard punnets for blueberries across 34 Coles stores located in Northern New South Wales over a two-month period. The punnets, which are an alternative to plastic containers, feature a unique transparent film produced from wood pulp, allowing customers to easily view the blueberries. By using FSC certified materials, the packaging reinforces a commitment to sustainability, ensuring the materials come from responsibly managed forests. The trial marks a step in packaging innovation within the fresh produce industry. The kerbside recyclable punnets, developed in collaboration with Opal, aim to provide a plastic free alternative without compromising on the quality and freshness of Mountain Blue Blueberries. The punnets are made from recycled paper manufactured by Opal in Australia and feature the robustness needed to protect fresh produce through supply chains and freight. “We’re excited to trial kerbside recyclable cardboard punnets with Opal. This innovation offers consumers sustainable packaging choices in Coles supermarkets,” said Andrew Bell, Managing Director, Mountain Blue. Chris Daly, Executive General Manager, Opal Packaging, said Opal is investing in research and development to test and commercialise products made from recycled and recyclable paper and cardboard. “By partnering with Mountain Blue, we were able to understand their packaging needs and work together with our automation and machinery team, to deliver a punnet solution that is innovative, functional and sustainable,” said Mr Daly. Brooke Donnelly, Coles General Manager of Sustainability, said the supermarket is continuously looking for ways to innovate and redesign its packaging, and this trial provides customers with a packaging alternative for a product they love to eat. “Fresh produce packaging is ripe for innovation, and we’re excited to provide our customers with a plastic free alternative for much-loved and in season blueberries,” said Ms Donnelly. “This trial is about ensuring the new cardboard punnets keep blueberries as fresh and tasty as the conventional plastic packaging, and to see how our customers respond to the change.” Consumers across Northern NSW can find Eureka punnets in the new recyclable packaging throughout October 2024. Mountain Blue hopes this trial will pave the way for broader adoption of sustainable packaging.

The Green Triangle’s 334,000 hectares forest plantations will be better protected from bushfires with a new 144kL water tank and dual diesel/electric water pump being installed at Mount Gambier Regional Airport. Source: Timberbiz Co-funded by more than $415,000 from the Albanese Government’s flagship Disaster Ready Fund and District Council of Grant, the new aerial firefighting assets will improve the ability of fire authorities to slow the progress of bushfires and better protect communities spanning from Kingston SE to Warrnambool, Victoria. Significant preparatory work to replace the existing 1960s built aerial waterbombing infrastructure has been completed with the installation of the new tank and pump expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. “The Green Triangle Region is an important part of Australia’s Forestry and Forest Products industry, with this investment core to protecting the pine and blue gum plantations across South Australia’s Limestone Coast and Western Districts of Victoria,” Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister said. “Modernising and increasing water access for aerial firefighting means the region is better equipped to combat bushfires, not only protecting the forestry plantations but also protecting the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Forestry workers across the Region.” South Australian Minister for Emergency Services, the Hon Dan Cregan said that this upgraded asset will be a critical resource to assist firefighting efforts in the South East, protecting communities and our timber resources. “The Green Triangle is one of the state’s most productive sectors and the support provided through the Disaster Ready Fund will ensure improved responses to those living and working in the region,” he said.

A cross-section of the nation’s leading minds have converged in Ballarat, to discuss the goal of creating a healthy and resilient future for Australia’s forests and share knowledge and ideas to ensure forests can provide a wide range of benefits for generations to come. Source: Timberbiz Approximately 300 scientists, researchers, forestry professionals and foresters will gather at Forestry Australia’s National Symposium, to be held at the Mercure Hotel and Convention Centre in Ballarat from 29-31 October. Under the theme – Healthy and Resilient Forests for our future, the symposium covers a wide range of topics, including the future of forestry in Australia with the co-owner of Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New – MONA, Kirsha Kaechele. Other key speakers include Racheal Cavanagh, who will talk the Aboriginal perspective of ‘Caring for Country’, while Dr Jacki Shirmer will talk about her study looking the Regional Wellbeing Survey. With artificial intelligence an emerging area of interest, Mike Lawson will talk about AI camera technology for bushfire detection. Acting Forestry Australia President Dr Bill Jackson said healthy forests can deliver a range of environmental, social, cultural, and economic benefits and are much more likely to withstand future shocks and stresses, such as those generated by bushfires, invasive species and those anticipated with climate change. The symposium aimed to facilitate conversation and explore strategies that address these issues and create a bright and innovative future for forests in Australia. “We have a wide range of sessions and topics to re-imagine the future of forest management, for all its values so our forests can continue to benefit Australia and Australians for generations to come,” Dr Jackson said.

Victoria’s emergency services are holding pre-summer season briefings across the state in preparation for the 2024/25 fire season. Source: Timberbiz A recent briefing in Portland was attended by more than 70 representatives from Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), the Country Fire Authority (CFA), Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV), the State Emergency Service (SES), Victoria Police, Department of Health, local councils and supporting agencies. In addition to a detailed presentation on the bushfire conditions expected in the region this summer, agencies provided an overview of their organisation’s plans for the fire season ahead. AFAC – the national council for fire and emergency services – has forecast an above average fire season for the Far South West District in its Spring Seasonal Bushfire Outlook. Forest Fire Management Victoria Far South West District Manager Sheree Mirtschin said the forecast for an above average fire season for the Far South West highlighted the importance of taking a year-round approach to preparing for summer bushfires. “Throughout the year, we’ve conducted planned burns across the district when conditions permit, while also completing maintenance on strategic fire breaks and access tracks; as well as mulching, mowing, slashing and spraying as part of our preparations.” “Now is also the time for the community to make sure they are ready for summer by preparing their properties and having up to date fire plans in place.” Authorities have been busy preparing for these conditions, with actions happening across the state to reduce risk and improve community safety. FFMVic prepares for bushfires all year through a range of actions, including planned burning, mechanical works, hazardous tree management, mulching and maintaining strategic fuel breaks. The workforce will be bolstered by up to 550 seasonal firefighters joining the workforce to help deliver fire and land management activities and respond to bushfires and other emergencies. FFMVic’s firefighting equipment includes more than 500 ultralight tankers and close to 100 heavy tankers, as well as more than 300 additional plant and trucks including dozers, tractors, graders, loaders, forklifts and excavators. The ground fleet is supported by an aerial fleet of 54 aircraft contracted for the 2024-25 summer season. The fleet includes a mix of firebombing aircraft, air supervision and aerial information gathering aircraft. Authorities are reminding the community that bushfire safety is a shared responsibility.

  Testing is underway in Victoria to explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to detect bushfires early to keep communities safe, thanks to a $1.5 million investment from the Federal and Victorian Governments. Source: Timberbiz Funded by the Federal Government’s flagship Disaster Ready Fund, the trial is being undertaken by Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), Victoria’s lead agency for managing bushfire risk on public land. It will assess the reliability and timeliness of smoke-detecting AI software using 24/7 ground cameras which have been mounted on specific fire lookouts across the state and have been configured to only detect smoke. The software and cameras will support the work of FFMVic’s specially trained Fire Lookout Observers, who work across 64 fire lookouts – especially at times when lookouts aren’t staffed after hours or due to health and safety concerns such as operating or climbing in the dark and extreme weather conditions. “New technology such as artificial intelligence has the potential to transform how we prepare and respond to disasters,” Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister said. “The early bushfire technology deployed in this trial could help authorities detect and suppress bushfires before they impact communities. “Our government is working with all levels of government to help build long term resilience and reduce the impacts of severe weather events when they hit. Early detection of bushfires is critical as it provides the best opportunity to suppress bushfires before they impact communities, the environment and important assets like drinking water and energy infrastructure. “By investing in cutting-edge technology like AI, we’re taking an important step forward in how we manage bushfire risk across Victoria now and into the future,” Victorian Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos said. “This AI trial gives us the opportunity to explore how advancements in science and technology can be utilised to stay ahead of the threat of bushfires – ensuring we’re prepared with the best tools available to detect risk faster while keeping our communities and environment safer.” Phase 1 of the trial took place during the 2023-24 fire season with cameras installed on fire lookouts at Mt Gordon, Mt Wombat, Peters Hill, and on a mobile trailer stationed in Mt Vandyke. Phase 2 of the trial will run through the 2024-2025 fire season and cameras are proposed to be installed on fire lookouts at Big Hill in Stawell, Mt Mittamatite and Mt Ida with further expansion planned for additional sites. Depending on results, FFMVic may extend the trials to fire lookouts on third-party infrastructure and also develop a remote detection strategy to plan future investment in the technology. The DRF is the Australian Government’s flagship resilience and risk reduction initiative which will deliver projects that support Australians to manage the physical and social impacts of disasters caused by climate change and other natural hazards. The Australian Government is providing up to one billion dollars through the DRF. The funding runs over five years from 1 July 2023. The DRF aims to help communities protect themselves against the impacts of disasters. For more information, including a full list of projects, visit the National Emergency Management Agency’s website at www.nema.gov.au/programs/disaster-ready-fund  

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has today released Australia’s State of the Forests Report: Synthesis 2023. Source: Timberbiz ABARES Executive Director, Dr Jared Greenville, said the five-yearly report covered all areas of Australia’s forests – public and private forests, forests managed for production and forests managed for conservation and the full range of social, economic and environmental values. “Gaining a better understanding of our forests is a crucial part of ensuring they are managed sustainably,” Dr Greenville said. “That’s why this report is so important—it provides the information that Australia’s policymakers and planners need if they are to plan continued growth into the future. “In 2021 Australia’s forest area was 134 million hectares and has increased by 750 thousand hectares over the previous 5 years. “Most of Australia’s forests are privately managed with 90.8 million hectares, or 68% of Australia’s forests, on leasehold or privately owned tenures. “The Indigenous forest estate is 80 million hectares, representing 60% of Australia’s total forest area. This is an increase of 10 million hectares since 2018. “In 2022-23, the value of logs harvested from native forests and commercial plantations was $2.4 billion, and the sector employed 51,123 workers in 2021, only slightly down compared to 2016. “Over the period 2016-17 to 2020-21 the average annual area of harvest from multiple-use native forest was 77 thousand hectares or about 0.06% of Australia’s total area of native forest. “A total of 49 million hectares (37%) of Australia’s native forest is on land protected for biodiversity conservation, or where biodiversity conservation is a specified management intent. “The most common threats to nationally listed forest-dwelling fauna and flora include land-use change and/or forest loss; unsuitable fire regimes; predation and competition by introduced fauna and flora; and small or localised populations. Forestry operations were the least prevalent of the 11 specified threat categories for listed forest-dwelling fauna and flora. “Carbon stocks in Australia’s forests increased slightly to 19,417 million tonnes, during the period 2016 to 2021. In addition, in 2021, 167 million tonnes of carbon was present in harvested wood products, a 5% increase since 2016.” SOFR Synthesis 2023 is the 6th in the series of five-yearly national reports on Australia’s forests and presents a new approach for national reporting. For more information https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/forestsaustralia/sofr