Forest Products Industry

Engineers at Cambridge University have reconstructed a historic wooden bowling machine that bowled out players from the Australian cricket team during a visit to the city more than a hundred years ago. Sources: Timberbiz, Cambridge University photos Adam Page Using patent illustrations and an old photograph discovered online, the team brought the 7ft contraption to life using materials that would have been available when Dr John Venn, who first described what are now known as Venn Diagrams and was also president of Gonville & Caius College, created it in the early 1900s, and which bested the Australian cricketers in 1909. The Venn bowling machine propels the cricket ball using a wooden throwing arm powered by elastic rope. But what makes its design special is the ingenuity used to put spin on the ball – when the arm travels it pulls a string, which turns a spindle and a bobbin, which in turn spins the ball holder and the ball. Hugh Hunt, Professor of Engineering Dynamics and Vibration at Cambridge, who previously led teams of investigators on shows Dambusters: Building the Bouncing Bomb, and Attack Of The Zeppelins, and who has a research interest in “spinning things that fly” set the University Engineering department the challenge of recreating the machine, which will be used at events and open days, and aims to capture the imagination of young people considering a career in maths and engineering. “It’s a great story, and an ingenious device, and at the time would have been in a lot of newspapers, but now it’s not really remembered outside the cricket world,” Professor Hunt said. “Most people learn about Venn Diagrams at school, but not many know about John Venn’s quirky side – that he invented a bowling machine using wood and string and maths, which bowled out members of the Australian cricket team more than a hundred years ago. So, the idea behind the project was to recreate a bit of history, and to show how much fun you can have with maths.” However, all the Cambridge engineers had to work from was a black and white photograph of the machine, and a patent application from the time. “The patent is around the intellectual property, rather than the technical detail, so we didn’t have a set of engineering drawings to work with. It meant we had to sketch it out for ourselves, figure out how the machine was actually going to work, and how it replicates the skill and speed of a spin bowler,” Thomas Glenday, Head of Design and Technical Services in the University’s Engineering Department, said. “The spin has been the key piece, and probably the most complicated part of the design. It’s thinking about the different forces that are acting on the ball simultaneously, and that transition of energy – it makes one hell of a diagram!” But beyond the technical challenges, an important consideration for the team has been making sure the reconstructed machine is historically authentic. “It’s a fun project, but we definitely wanted it to look the part,” Mr Glenday said. “We used high-quality hardwood, and really not much is made from wood these days, particularly for a device like this. But back then it was where the skill set was, people were used to working with wood, which has natural faults, which moves, which is not necessarily square. Today it would have been carbon fibre, and you’d be fabricating the pieces with a 3D printer.”

Despite global commitments to halt deforestation by 2030, only eight of the top 20 countries with highest rate of tropical deforestation have quantified targets on forests in their national climate action plans, also known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Source: Timberbiz This is one of the key findings of the UN-REDD report “Raising ambition, accelerating action: Towards enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions for forests,” published as countries gather for the Bonn Climate Change Conference. The report reveals a major gap in forest protection, management and restoration in current NDCs, which outline plans to adapt to and mitigate climate change. Analysed by climate experts at UNEP, the report shows that current NDC pledges submitted between 2017–2023 do not meet the global ambition to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. Forests play a key role in achieving the Paris Agreement on climate change, as they have the potential to con-tribute one-third of the emissions reductions required to close the 2030 mitigation gap. While 11 of the NDCs contain quantified targets relating to afforestation and, reforestation, mitigating climate change requires reducing deforestation first, as it takes many years to capture the carbon lost through deforesting an equivalent area through afforestation and restoration. To further harmonize national efforts, it is also crucial for NDCs to integrate existing national strategies to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, which 15 of the 20 countries have adopted. Given the role of forests in regulating hydrological cycles, buffering temperature extremes, preventing extreme weather events, and protecting biodiversity and human health, the ambition to end deforestation is essential for humanity to avoid tremendous risks to us, our planet and the life it supports. Yet, the report released today shows that global deforestation rates continued to increase, not withstanding a recent decline in Brazil. “After the 2020 goal by world leaders to halve forest loss was not met, we must ensure that the 2030 goal doesn’t meet the same fate,” said Dechen Tsering, Acting Director of UNEP’s Climate Division. “Climate action plans, due in 2025, need to have ambitious, consistent, detailed, target-ed, and actionable goals for forest conservation, restoration and sustainable use. This includes building on exist-ing national environmental policies, while enhancing support for Indigenous Peoples and local communities, who are the frontline stewards of forests.” The report calls for urgent international collaboration to enhance NDC ambition. As countries prepare for the sub-mission of the next round of NDCs for COP30 — known as NDCs 3.0, with a timeframe extending to 2035 — the report urges countries, especially those with extensive forest cover, to include concrete, measurable targets on forests in their revised NDCs. Increased NDC ambition must be accompanied by strong and immediate action. Predictable financial support at scale for forest-rich countries will be needed to take these steps.

International Labour Organization (ILO) is moving to boost safety and health in forestry work. Despite progress in recent decades, forests remain hazardous workplaces. New guidance from the ILO aims to better protect those women and men working in the sector. Source: Timberbiz Millions of forestry workers globally are set to benefit from an updated version of the ILO code of practice on safety and health in forestry work, adopted by ILO. The updated code, discussed and adopted in a meeting of experts held in Geneva by experts from governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations, aims to improve working conditions and practices in the forestry sector, which remains one of the most hazardous sectors globally. The new text also marks an important milestone as the first ILO sectoral code of practice since the ILO’s historic decision to add ‘a safe and healthy working environment’ in its framework of fundamental principles and rights at work. The revisions build on the previous 1998 code, as well as on International Labour Standards, including the now fundamental Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187). Despite improvements over the past three decades, forestry continues to see a high incidence of work-related accidents and dis-eases. The updated code provides practical guidelines to help better protect those working in forests. It reflects also wider changes in the sector and the world of work and includes new areas where improved practices and measures are required. The chairperson of the meeting, Jörg Schweinle, thanked participants of the meetings for their constructive dialogue and their efforts to help make forests safer workplaces. Director of the ILO Sectoral Policies Department and Secretary-General to the meeting, Frank Hagemann, congratulated participants on the work accomplished. He called for constituents and global industry stakeholders to actively engage in the promotion and implementation of the code at the national and international levels to make the sector safer for all workers. The code will be presented to the ILO Governing Body for formal approval and publication in November this year. After this the ILO, together with its constituents, will work towards its global implementation.

A project helping to protect native birdlife in Mohi Bush, New Zealand is also giving local students hand-on experience in pest management and environmental monitoring. Source: Timberbiz The Rodent Control Project at Mohi Bush near Maraetotara, which recently received funding from the Pan Pac Environmental Trust (PPET), is jointly run by the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC). It aims to reduce rodent numbers in Mohi Bush, aiding the breeding of key native species such as the Toutouwai (NZ Robin) and Titipounamu (Rifleman), Aotearoa’s smallest bird. This project is one of 11 local projects funded by PPET in 2024. The Trust was established by in 2019 by Pan Pac Forest Products Limited, a sustainable integrated forest products company based in Hawke’s Bay. Through PPET, Pan Pac contributes up to NZ$100,000 per annum towards projects that benefit the environment and culture of Hawke’s Bay. EIT Environmental Management Lecturer Chris Thorman said Mohi Bush has been without pest control for approximately the last five years, leaving the native bird species that were reintroduced to the area during a previous project vulnerable. Now, a large number of rats were raiding the nests of birds like the Toutouwai and Titipounamu. “Both of those two birds are very susceptible to rats predating their nest-ing sites and chicks,” Mr Thorman said. That made Mohi Bush the perfect location for a pest control program and an ideal training ground for students, who are getting practical experience setting and monitoring bait stations, traps and tunnel traps. “We teamed up with Natalie de Burgh from HBRC and the two of us developed the idea of a real authentic learning experience for students to carry out the pest control and monitoring as part of their Environmental Management studies.” PPET funding of $4,770 has gone towards equipment needed for the project such as bait, tunnel traps, PPE, and monitoring gear.  That has helped HBRC and the students service pre-set monitoring, bait and trap lines, which they will monitor regularly throughout the semester.