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The UK Wood Awards has announced its shortlist for this year’s awards, which includes a bright red 170m water-crossing and a majestic 20-seat oak banqueting table. Source: Timberbiz The 30 shortlisted projects, which are in the running for awards in six different building categories and four furniture and object categories, are located across the United Kingdom, from the Cornish coast to the Lake District National Park. Among the 20 shortlisted buildings is a barrel-vaulted extension to Westminster’s coroner’s court and a redevelopment of a historic water mill on the River Test in Hampshire. The shortlist also features a new CLT-framed social housing terrace by Hackney Council and a vibrant performing arts hub in Camden showcasing both reused and engineered timber. The 10 shortlisted furniture and object projects include a freestanding demountable Douglas fir kitchen and a collection of sculptural vessels, handcrafted from local hardwoods. A playful steam-bent ash rocking chair and an innovative jetty structure made from forest thinnings are also shortlisted. From over 200 entries, the shortlisted projects have been carefully selected by two expert juries. The winner of each project category will be announced live at an evening ceremony on Wednesday, 19 November at Carpenters’ Hall in London. All category winners will then compete for the prestigious Gold Award. All shortlisted projects are listed below: Furniture and Objects: A Forest Datum by the Design + Make Post Grad Course, Architectural Association Karyo Rocking Chair by Isabelle Moore Design A Banqueting Table Reimagined by Box 9 and TedWood Somer Kitchen at Balbougie Steading by Somer Levity Collection by Katie Walker Furniture and Gaze Burvill The Growth Project by Darren Appiagyei Pebble Jumble by Jan Hendzel Studio Red Knot by Laura Welsh Her Captain’s Chair by Lily Hitchcock Design Rinato Coffee Table by Dominic Grasso Buildings: Vert, London, by Diez Office Westminster Coroner’s Court, London, by Lynch Architects Amento, Suffolk, by James Gorst Architects Walworth Town Hall, London, by Feix & Martin The Armadillo, Norfolk, by Unknown Works Upminster Tithe Barn, Upminster, by Purcell Rafter Walk, London, by Asif Khan Studio Urban Nature Project, Natural History Museum, London, by Feilden Fowles Pine Heath, London, by Studio Hagen Hall Two-Family House, Newquay, by Rundell Associates Bay House, Devon, by McLean Quinlan Young’s Court Development at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, by Stanton Williams Paradise, London, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios Beech Court Pavilion, Abingdon, by David Morley Architects Farmer’s Arms Cold Food Store, Lake District, by Hayatsu Architects Chowdhury Walk, London, by Al Jawad Pike Mill House and Maker’s Workshop, Hampshire, by Cooke Fawcett Architects The Cowshed, Cotswold, by Design Storey Architects Roundhouse Works, London, by Patrick Dillon and Reed Watts Architects New Wave House, London, by Thomas-McBrien Architects.

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The International Sustainable Forestry Coalition (ISFC) has welcomed Weyerhaeuser, one of the world’s largest private owners of timberlands and one of the largest manufacturers of wood products in North America, as its 23rd member company. Source: Timberbiz Weyerhaeuser owns or manages approximately 10.4 million acres of timberlands in the United States, as well as additional public timberlands managed under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has been an industry leader in sustainable forestry for more than a century and manages 100 percent of its timberlands on a fully sustainable basis in compliance with internationally recognized sustainable forestry standards. “The decision by one of the world’s largest forest and forest products companies to join the ISFC will help us scale our impact to new levels,” said Dr David Brand, Independent Chair of the ISFC. “Weyerhaeuser’s deep knowledge, expertise and long-term perspective will be invaluable as we work together to ensure the role of sustainable forest management is well-understood and continues to provide immense impact in the world.” Weyerhaeuser’s responsible stewardship includes managing its land for multiple uses, including natural climate solutions such as forest carbon, renewable energy, carbon capture and sequestration, conservation and more.

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The American Forest Foundation (AFF) announced that Netflix has committed to a 15-year contract to purchase verified carbon credits produced through AFF’s Fields & Forests project (F&F), an Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation (ARR) carbon project that partners with family landowners to transition their underused fields to thriving, working forests. Source: Timberbiz Netflix’s investment will help launch the first 6,000 acres and expand the project across the US South, providing additional revenue streams to rural landowners while planting trees to combat climate change. “Netflix’s partnership shows what’s possible when business and nature come together. With the right investment and science, natural climate solutions can be both a powerful and credible tool to address our most pressing conservation challenges.” said John Ringer, Senior Director of Project Finance and Environmental Markets at AFF. “We’re grateful for Netflix’s leadership, and we invite other companies to follow their lead by investing in new approaches that support America’s rural communities and family-owned forests.” Netflix provided critical early-stage financing for F&F through an innovative financing approach: milestone prepayments. By tying upfront financial support to key milestones such as acres enrolled, milestone prepayments help F&F offer robust financial and technical resources to more landowners. F&F is designed for small-acreage landowners who have historically been locked out of the voluntary carbon market due to high upfront costs and programmatic complexity. To make the project accessible, AFF pays for and handles all site preparation and tree planting and provides landowners with ongoing technical support and annual payments throughout their 30-year contracts. To date, F&F has enrolled 2,500 acres of family-owned lands, set to plant 1.4 million new trees, and committed US$2 million to landowners in the form of direct payments. By 2032, F&F aims to enrol 75,000 acres, estimated to produce 4.8 million carbon credits and support family landowners across the US South, with aims to continue growing the program beyond that scale. “This land is my only connection to my grandma. And I want it to provide for my daughter as she grows up,” said Alisha Logue, a Georgia landowner enrolled in F&F. “Fields & Forests has given me a way to protect and ensure my family’s legacy.”

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Sustainable Timber Tasmania kicked off its bushfire preparedness work with the first of two Fire Refresher Days held in Deloraine on Thursday. Source: Pulse Tasmania The forestry agency is conducting critical training ahead of the approaching fire season, with a second refresher day scheduled for the southern region later this month. Minister Felix Ellis said STT has a crucial role in the state’s firefighting capabilities. “STT do a terrific job, they are out there managing our forests in a sustainable way to ensure we are on top of our fire readiness,” Mr Ellis said. “These refresher days complement that work nicely, giving STT firies and contractors a chance to refine their skills before they use them on the front line of our fire season.” Last year, STT contributed approximately 14,000 hours to firefighting efforts across its staff and contractors. The agency conducts strategic fuel reduction burns throughout the year to help protect communities and the environment by reducing potential fuel loads in Tasmania’s public production forests. Mr Ellis said as we come into fire season, it is important for Tasmanians to be aware of their surroundings. “Have a plan, pay attention to the conditions and stay engaged with key services like the Tasmanian Fire Service, PWS and STT this fire season,” he said.

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The Bioeconomy Science Institute, Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest research organisation, launched its new look. The new visual identity was unveiled by Hon Shane Reti, Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, during a visit to the Lincoln campus of the Bioeconomy Science Institute. Source: Timberbiz “This is an exciting step in sharing our new organisation with the outside world,” Mark Piper, Transition CEO said. “As we start our journey as Bioeconomy Science Institute it’s great to be able to share this new visual identity which speaks to the organisation that we are building, for the benefit of Aotearoa New Zealand and the world.” Minister Reti was at the Lincoln campus of the Bioeconomy Science Institute to learn more about commercialisation efforts. Before unveiling the new visual identify at the Bioeconomy Science Institute’s Tuhiraki head office, he also announced NZ$6.5 million of new industry funding to develop methods to reduce methane emissions from grazing livestock and witnessed the signing of a new licensing deal with Nelson-based Seaweave to commercialise aquaculture monitoring technology. People are at the centre of the Bioeconomy Science Institute, the organisation’s staff working with those in the science sector, industry and communities to deliver impact together. This network is reflected in the new logo, with collective effort radiating outwards to create a difference in the real world. The colours used in the visual identity are derived from those found in nature, the starting blocks for the Institute’s work. The Bioeconomy Science Institute brings together AgResearch, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, Plant & Food Research and Scion into a single organisation, conducting research to advance innovation in agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, forestry, biotechnology and manufacturing; protect and enhance ecosystems from biosecurity threats and climate risks; and develop new bio-based technologies and products. The Bioeconomy Science Institute is a Crown Research Institute, owned by the New Zealand Government and governed by an independent Board of Directors.

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The proposed 1.2GW Forest Wind project, to be built within Australia’s largest exotic pine plantation between Gympie and Maryborough, has been canned. Source: Energy Source Citing community concerns, Queensland’s Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the LNP government would repeal legislation set by the former Labor Government that would allow that allowed the turbines to be built in state forests. He said the legislation was “creating fear and anxiety in local communities”. “The Crisafulli government is ending years of uncertainty for the local community by repealing the special purpose legislation introduced by Labor designed to steamroll the local community in their reckless rush for renewables,” he said. Wide Bay Residents Against the Forest Wind Farm Project said its members were “elated” that the proposal had been dumped. The proponents of the Forest Wind project said the location has been “carefully selected and designed to minimise impacts on the landscape, environment, and community”. The wind farm would have produce enough clean energy to power around 500,000 houses—one in four Queensland homes and remove 2.62 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. Criticising the government’s decision, Queensland Conservation Council director Dave Copeman said, “Pine plantations are key areas we should look to build projects because the local biodiversity has already been severely impacted. “The Crisafulli Government’s move to prematurely axe Forest Wind is just another indication that they’re putting ideology over the practical need to build renewable energy to get down emissions and power bills.” It’s not over yet though. A Forest Wind Holdings spokesperson says the firm remains “committed to delivering great outcomes for Queensland aligned to LNP policy Forest Wind remains committed to deliver a landmark renewable energy project for Queensland, despite the State Government’s decision not to proceed under the current Exclusive Transaction process and to repeal the Forest Wind Farm Development Act 2020 (Qld)”. “Forest Wind was designed to complement Queensland’s energy mix with late-afternoon sea breezes that align perfectly with peak demand,” the spokesperson said. “Our proximity to South-East Queensland and Gladstone, direct access to the Powerlink network, and extensive forestry road infrastructure position us to deliver reliable, affordable, and low-impact renewable energy. “Forest Wind is actively assessing risk-mitigation strategies and intends to reapply under a similar State process in due course. The team remains dedicated to working collaboratively with government, Traditional Owners and the community to secure the project’s future.”  

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Both India and China markets have continued to improve through July and August with a very slow but steady climb upward trend in log prices in both destinations. The best news in all of this is we are not seeing major swings either way with the market fundamentals continuing to display a very settled trajectory. Source: Allan Laurie, Laurie Forestry All eyes are on the Nelson region with reports varying but likely around 7,000 hectares of wind damaged forests. The broad age class spread suggests mid to late rotation ages are impacted the most and therefore a high component of export likely. Unlike the recent Central North Island event, the Nelson region marketing plan will be very much constrained by Port Storage limitations and the ability to load 1 vessel at a time at each of Nelson and Picton ports. Thus, this wind damage recovery is unlikely to lead to an over-supply situation which would otherwise negatively impact the likely target market for the volume being China. The announcement of the closure of the Carter Holt Harvey Eaves Valley sawmill, whilst fully expected, is a major blow for the region. This will also ensure more logs have to head to China from the storm event. Meanwhile across the China Easten seaboard, daily usage has started to tick up again, as at mid-August heading north of 50,000 m3. Inventory has remained relatively stable with the supply and demand planets reasonably aligned despite record summer temperatures negatively impacting broader productivity outputs. And just when you started to believe the western media about China being in the deep financial doodoo reports, the Government have announced the largest project ever undertaken in human history is about to start in Tibet Whilst reports vary on the statistics, common numbers talk to 5 powers stations on the Yarlung Zangbo river which collectively, will be 3 times greater than the, up till now, biggest ever Three Gorges project. This latest one is expected to include four tunnels through mountains, each 50km long to connect rivers, in total costing US$167bil and requiring 3.5million employees. When completed the dams will generate 300bil kilowatt hours. A total of in excess of 2,000km of new roads to connect the dots will be required with 60 – 70% of that length comprising bridges and tunnels. And just when you thought that was amazing, the project is at 4,000 to 5,000 metres above sea level, much higher than Mt Cook (3,724m). My first enquiry has been around any positive impacts for your average Kiwi forest-owner. Unfortunately, even as your very fit crow flies, it is about 2,500km to the Eastern Seaboard so potentially not, given that will be 4,000km+ in your average logging truck. But such a scale project must surely have a trickle-down effect with the broader economic stimulus being enormous. India has remained boring by comparison, but the key here is prices and demand are continuing to improve, currently more so than China. Like China, India as a nation, know wood extremely well. Wood usage across the economic stratum has been significant for thousands of years. Dwindling availability of traditional hardwoods stands our wonderful Radiata pine in good stead. Match this to the likelihood of the current tariff regime, which negatively impacts NZ in isolation being removed, the future looks very bright in this increasingly important market. Our company has promoted and now secured a steady demand for pruned logs in India. This is longer term very good news given this lifts the broader Radiata pine quality message game significantly. India demand is good, domestic prices are stable at new higher levels than Q1 and inventory is the lowest is has been for some time. Expected vessel arrivals are steady at 7 to 8 per month of which 1 – 2 are from NZ. That will at least double if we can get the tariff removed. As at mid-August, daily hire rates for log vessels are pushing very slightly higher but ship owners are meeting significant resistance. This reflects good numbers of vessels opening on NZ and ships fuel (bunker) costs are stable. Right now, the charterers are the cat and the ship owners the mouse. This could change in a heartbeat depending on northern hemisphere trade and how resourcing conflicts ties up the supply chain. As always, please remember the thoroughly important message, “despite the challenges, it remains, as always, fundamentally important, the only way forward for climate, country and the planet, is to get out there and plant more trees”.

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Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) announced yesterday it will close its Eves Valley sawmill in Brightwater, New Zealand, bringing an end to operations that have run since the 1980s and putting 142 people out of work. The closure is part of CHH’s plan to consolidate structural timber manufacturing at its Kawerau site in the Bay of Plenty. Source: Timberbiz E tū (union) delegate Maria Hemara says the announcement is devastating. “I’m feeling devastated, I feel like I’ve lost my whole family. We work together for 40 hours a week, we’ve built friendships, and it’s all being taken away. It’s like going to your own funeral,” she said. “I’ll be looking for jobs – I’ve tried supermarkets, and other mills around here. If not, I’ll have to go temping something. “I think it will be a burden for the whole community. They will share our grief. The loss of jobs and productivity in the region isn’t good for anyone.” E tū National Secretary Rachel Mackintosh says CHH’s move is a strategic decision that ignores the human cost. “This isn’t a company going broke – they’ve chosen to centralise operations in Kawerau. But we’re talking about people’s lives here, and it’s cold comfort for more than 140 workers who are now facing unemployment in a region already hit hard,” Ms Mackintosh said. “These workers, many of whom have put decades of their lives into the mill, are now caught in the crossfire of a corporate decision. E tū will do everything we can to support our members through this difficult time. We’re calling on CHH to do the same, and we also expect the Government to step up. “Instead of shrugging its shoulders at rising unemployment, the Government must be part of the solution, with targeted support for affected workers and communities.”  

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Leading design platform for mass timber, CLT Toolbox, has rebranded itself as SPEC Toolbox. The platform originally focused on Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and has grown to include eight product categories, and the new brand reflects its expanded mission.Source: Timberbiz The product expansion now provides tooling for Glulam, LVL, light-frame construction, screws, hangers, and brackets, with an acoustics module to be released soon. This approach of eliminating technical barriers for specifiers is resonating within the industry, with the platform boasting over 5,000 user signups globally and partnerships with 30 major product suppliers. The company says the evolution to SPEC Toolbox is a key step forward for users and partners, broadening the scope of technical problems the platform is engineered to solve to provide digital tooling to the industry that makes it easier to specify modern, innovative products. “Our mission is simple: to make innovation easy to specify,” said Adam Jones, CEO of SPEC Toolbox. “Product manufacturers drive innovation for industry and passionate engineers every day are seeking solutions for their projects that challenge the norm. “CLT and the mass timber industry is an embodiment of this innovation, and I experienced this myself both as a supplier at XLam and a specifier at WSP. “Now, with SPEC Toolbox, we are giving designers the confidence to specify the materials of the future and enabling a much-needed shift towards more sustainable and cost-efficient construction and putting incredible manufacturer solutions right into the hands of engineers” For engineers, the platform eliminates the need to build significant spreadsheets that can take hundreds of hours or to rummage through disparate supply chain data found in PDFs. SPEC Toolbox removes the technical barriers to product specification, scaling engineering capacity and giving designers the confidence to specify the materials of the future. This directly addresses the challenge that innovation is often hard to specify, fulfilling the company’s mission to make it easy. The platform’s success has been driven by its diverse and talented founding team, including: Adam Jones (CEO), who previously felt the specification problems as a supplier at XLam and a specifier at WSP. Ringo Thomas Co-founder & CCO, who has poured his career full of experience in B2B sales to help drive the growth of a global customer footprint in a very short time Lelissie Bedada Co-founder & Head of Engineering, leads the engineering effort of 17 structural engineers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ikhsan Agustian Co-founder & CTO, who invented key technology the team leverages to build the world-class software & leads a team of 20 software developers in Semarang Indonesia. “If you’ve got any technical barriers to product specification, then SPEC Toolbox wants to help you,” Mr Jones said “Our goal is to eliminate all technical barriers to innovation, empowering the industry to build a more sustainable future.”

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This Labor government’s environmental policy doesn’t look like it’s being run by those in Macquarie Street, but maybe by rooftop protestors who contribute little to society and inner-city hypocrites who choose mining by consumption of the very products they campaign against. Source: Australian Rural & Regional News These high-end activists are screaming “koala crisis”, all the while happily living in high rise towers built from concrete and steel, wrapped in plastics, stuffed with furniture made from imported timber ripped from forests overseas with zero environmental standards. That’s not conservation. That’s hypocrisy. The latest rumour out of the timber industry is that the full 176,000 hectares will be locked up in the Great Koala National Park. Yet only days ago, Chris Minns himself said he wasn’t guaranteeing it. Which is it, Premier? We got a Labor government that is being bulldozed at every turn by Penny Sharpe and activists running the show. All the while being cheered on by inner city independents like Alex Greenwich, Jacqui Scruby and Michael Regan. Politicians who prefer the city benefits of their own ruined environment. It’s the same old Labor. Same chaos with the unions. Same favouritism for Western Sydney. And once again, its regional families paying the price. Timber is the most sustainable resource we have. It grows back, sequesters carbon while it grows, stores carbon as the product, breaks down naturally, can be recycled, and it even supports renewable energy and composting. Compare that to driving a car, using a phone, or wearing a watch, all of which rely on mining products that have far greater impact on the environment than forestry ever could. But responsible and well managed mining isn’t the enemy either. We need metals and minerals to drive our economy and our lifestyle. Labor’s own data paid for by the public tells a very different story from the activist fairytale. Dr Bradley Law, the lead scientist from the Department of Primary Industries, was gagged for years. His 7-year study across 224 sites with 25,000 hours of monitoring found that regulated timber harvesting in state forests had no effect on koala populations, nor did land tenure. The real dangers to koalas being wildfire, chlamydia, urban deforestation, vehicle strikes, and dog attacks. Forestry, which plants more trees than it takes, doesn’t even make the top five. And yet, instead of confronting those real threats, Labor wants to lock up the GKNP which will only proliferate pests and weeds through chronic underfunding. Improving technology gives us better counts, and the CSIRO estimating 287,830 – 628,010 koalas in Australia shows they may not be endangered anymore. Labor’s own high-tech drone survey backs it up with more than 12,000 koalas in the GKNP assessment area alone. Most in state forests, not national parks. The evidence is clear for Minns and yet he is still refusing to be transparent. Instead of trusting their own robust data, Labor relies on activist driven ideology and emotion. They’ve weaponised the koala as a political mascot for votes in Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong. Worse still, the “Community Panel” designed to guide GKNP decisions was dominated by environmental NGOs, mostly from Sydney, not locals. Only recently did Penny Sharpe start calling it the Community and Environmental Panel. While Labor demonises our local timber, they’re opening the door to timber imports from countries that don’t hold a candle to our environmental standards. So, in trying to “save” the koala, they’re threatening to offshore thousands of Aussie jobs, and we already import $6.8B worth of timber from countries where deforestation is rampant and unregulated. State forests currently operate with modest Community Service Obligations, $20M in total, or $8.50 per hectare. National parks, by contrast, carry obligations of $850M, or $121 per hectare. These figures come from a 2019 report, and no updated analysis has been provided. That’s a 14-fold cost difference per hectare, and taxpayers deserve transparency about whether these numbers have shifted. The GKNP is nothing more than a glossy billboard for city votes, paid for with regional jobs. That’s the hallmark of Labor: the same old game playing dressed up as environmental conservation. If we’re serious about improving the environment, just look at the facts. NSW already has 7.6M hectares of national parks compared to just 2M hectares of state forests. At a cost of $121 per hectare, have national parks really delivered the outcomes we were promised? And what difference will locking-up another 0.176M hectares for a name change actually make, for the environment, or for koalas? Michael Kemp is the Member for Oxley (NSW) for the National Party.

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Tilhill Forestry, the UK’s leading forestry business and a member of BSW Group, is delighted to announce the acquisition of the business and assets of specialist timber harvesting company Duffy Skylining Ltd.

This strategic acquisition allows Tilhill Foresty to further expand its technical harvesting capabilities, following significant investment in its core fleet over the past couple of years.

Duffy Skylining specialises in harvesting on steep and challenging terrain, utilising advanced skylining techniques and operating with three highly skilled crews.

Founded in 2018 and based in Inverness, Duffy Skylining predominantly works along the west coast of Scotland and has been instrumental to various projects, including on the A82.

Graeme Kemp, harvesting director at Tilhill Forestry, said: “We are thrilled to further enhance our steep ground harvestings operations with the acquisition of Duffy Skylining.

“The specialist fleet will allow us to harvest in some of the UK’s most complex forests, and the expert knowledge of the team is second to none. We have a great working relationship already and are very excited to build on this as we look to lead the timber harvesting sector.”

Calum Duffy, founder and owner of Duffy Skylining, added: “This is a very positive move, both for our business and the wider industry. Our team are the very best at what they do, with safety top of the agenda, and joining forces with Tilhill makes for an incredibly compelling service offer.”

Duffy Skylining and its assets, including 12 employees and 12 machines – consisting of skylines, harvesters, forwarders and an excavator – will be integrated into the existing Tilhill Forestry business and brand. Calum Duffy will continue to manage and direct all operations in the specialist division.

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