Forest Products Industry

Ten of the UK’s “toughest” trees, from an oak that survived a plane crash to a yew hit by a cannonball, have been shortlisted for this year’s Tree of the Year award. The Woodland Trust said its annual competition aimed to celebrate and raise awareness for rare, ancient or at-risk trees across the country. Source: BBC An oak tree in Rutland that was hit by a World War Two bomber and a yew in Surrey which could be 4,000 years old and was struck by a cannonball in the English Civil War are among the final 10 contenders for the title. Actor and nature podcaster David Oakes, a Woodland Trust ambassador, said the nominees had “defied the odds in extraordinary ways”. Of the 10 shortlisted, a panel of experts selected eight trees of differing ages and species, while the public chose two as wildcard entries. The public can vote for their favourite tree until late September via the Woodland Trust website, and the winner will be announced in early October – before progressing to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year finals. The aptly named “Bomber Oak” in Rutland features a slight dip in the top of the canopy as well as twisted misshapen branches after it was hit by a Lancaster Bomber during World War Two. The tree was also nearly lost some decades later when a water company sought to install pipes in a field. The Bollihope Burn Birch in County Durham has also been nominated. It is perched “precariously off a cliff” in an area once dominated by industry, including quarries, lime kilns, mines and a goods railway. Another shortlisted tree – the Crowhurst Yew in Surrey – survived a direct hit from a Civil War cannonball that villagers later discovered in 1820. A different plucky yew in Devon is up for contention because of its location at the top of a church tower overlooking Culmstock Village, where it has been for some 200 years. Another nominee, the “Preston Twin” in Brighton – is said to be the world’s oldest English elm and has lived four centuries despite the threat of Dutch elm disease, which killed another specimen of the same age that stood nearby. A wildcard selection for the list is the Donnington Oak, in West Berkshire, which stands between a small patch of forest and the ruined walls of Donnington Castle. The Woodland Trust said it was a young established tree during the English Civil War and survived unscathed during the castle’s gruelling siege and bombardment. Another wildcard selected by the public is the Balloch Castle ash, which stands on the lawn of the semi-derelict castle by Loch Lomond and is more than 150 years old. The trust said it had experienced a lightning strike, multiple storms, ash dieback, footfall from millions of visitors and an Oasis concert. The “Bendy Tree” in Newcastle, Northern Ireland – a much-loved wych elm along the town’s seaside promenade that grows almost horizontally after withstanding more than a century of the harsh coastal conditions – has also been nominated. Another nominee includes an oak, which stands alone in the Ynys-hir nature reserve in mid-Wales overlooking the Dyfi estuary, the Cambrian Mountains. The “Earlstoun Lightning Oak” in Dumfries and Galloway made the list, not only for its stature but for surviving a lightning strike. Oakes added: “Most things survive by fleeing … a tree, rooted for life to a single patch of ground, doesn’t get that option. “So, trees have perfected the opposite: the art of weathering whatever arrives. But a few are frankly show-offs. “The 10 nominees for Tree of the Year have all defied the odds in extraordinary ways, from clinging to cliffs and church towers, to enduring collisions and cannonballs.” May Chemais, who runs the Ancient Tree Inventory at the Woodland Trust, said: “Trees can be both tough and flexible, as the shortlist proves. “We hope people will enjoy discovering all the incredible stories of resilience behind our nominees this year.”

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Ho Chi Minh City is building a transparent wood supply chain, and traceability of forest products to meet the new regulations of the EU. Source: DanViet Ho Chi Minh City has approved the Forestry Management Program in the period of 2026-2030, aiming to digitize the entire area of production forests, traceability of forest products according to the supply chain and strengthen the control of wood processing and trading activities to meet the increasingly strict regulations of the international market. The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has issued a decision approving the Forestry Products Management Program in the City in the period of 2026-2030 to improve the effectiveness of state management, strengthen the control of forest products supply chain, conserve biodiversity and support enterprises to adapt to the new requirements of the export market. According to the program, Ho Chi Minh City currently has more than 1,000 wood processing enterprises operating in industrial parks, export processing zones and industrial clusters. The woodworking industry has contributed positively to economic growth, job creation, increased export turnover and promoted many supporting industries. However, the wood processing industry still faces many difficulties when it is heavily dependent on imported raw materials, the cost of production is high, lack of high-quality plantation materials, while export activities are affected by the decline in the demand of the world market and the increasingly strict requirements on legal timber traceability, forest certificates and carbon credits. In particular, the European Union’s Anti-Forest Loss Regulation (EUDR) requires agricultural, and forest products imported into this market to ensure that there is no origin from deforestation or forest degradation. This is considered an urgent requirement that enterprises and management agencies must build a transparent supply chain, strictly controlling forest products. The program aims to support the construction of sustainable production planting databases, improving the effectiveness of state management for importing, exporting, manufacturing, processing and trading forest products; at the same time, inspecting and classifying timber enterprises, minimizing violations and strengthening the management of wildlife farming activities. One of the outstanding objectives is the construction and deployment of supply chain traceability systems to each planting area, associated with geographic coordinates and planting area codes for EUDR-implemented industries. The city also aims to be 100% digitized production forest area, granting planting area codes and forest certificates; setting up applications for forestry forces and forest owners to declare forest products online. In addition, 100% of organizations, enterprises, production, processing, trading and import and export of timber and forest products will be fully disseminating the regulations on management, inspection and traceability of forest products; at the same time, it is managed and supported legally on the basis of information technology application. The city also aims to detect, strictly handle and gradually eliminate the points of sale, transportation, storage, processing, trading in forest products and illegal wildlife. To accomplish the above objectives, Ho Chi Minh City will build an information system and database for the classification of wood processing enterprises; deploy traceability according to the supply chain; apply information technology and geographic information systems (GIS) in the management of production, processing, trading and forest products, integrating into the shared database of the city. The city also strengthens inspection and control of production, processing and trading of forest products; regularly review establishments with signs of violations, identifying key areas, hot spots for illegal wildlife to organize inspection and processing according to regulations. Every year, it will organize an inspection plan for enterprises producing, processing, trading in forest products and establishments for wildlife. According to the decision of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Agriculture and Environment shall lead the implementation of the program, coordinate with the departments, branches, People’s Committees of communes, wards and special zones of Con Dao to organize; At the same time, periodically inspect and synthesize the results, advise the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to handle the difficulties and obstacles arising in the implementation process.

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