Australasia's home for timber news and information

VicForests seeks community consultation on changes to its TRP

VicForests is seeking comment from local community members on its proposed changes to the Timber Release Plan relating to timber harvesting operations in North East Victoria, West Gippsland and East Gippsland regions. Source: Timberbiz The community consultation period begins on July
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NZ forest industry heading for a crash

New Zealand’s third largest export earner, forestry, is heading for a major crash unless steps are made to restrain the excessive exporting of raw logs according to New Zealand First. Source: Timberbiz “The growth of unprocessed log exports, mainly to China, has got out of contr
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Goodbye Mr Colbeck and thank you

It has been said many times recently that politics is governed by the hard and fast rules of mathematics – either you have the numbers or you don’t. Source: Timberbiz Richard Colbeck did not have the numbers and so has left behind a part of his life which he now writes abo
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Farming and forestry can deliver food

Improving co-operation between nations’ farming and forestry sectors will help reduce deforestation and improve food security, a UN report has suggested. Source: BBC News Between 2000 and 2010, tropical nations saw net forest loss of seven million hectares per year and a net gai
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50 million trees planted in one day

Officials in Uttar Pradesh passed out millions of saplings to be planted all over the state so it could increase its forest cover. Source: Huffington Post The shade-surging drive was part of a pledge India made at 2015’s climate change summit in Paris to increase the nation’s forest c
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Wood fuel not as bad as thought

Felling trees for firewood is an eons-old practice that in recent history has come under criticism by conservationists. But according to new research conducted by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the true environmental impact of wood fuel needs to be better unde
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Barkskins book of kauri logging

If Annie Proulx had her way, New Zealand would have featured in more detail in her latest novel, Barkskins. Source: The New Zealand Herald Much of that was about the logging of kauri forests; descriptions of the overall ecosystem including detail about flax. Also jettisoned, a section
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Pining away for over 100 years

This winter marks the 100-year anniversary of pine plantations in the Ovens Valley. Source: The Myrtleford Times The first plantings occurred near the Ovens River on dredge tailings left from the gold rush days, near Mountbatten Avenue in Bright. Northern Region HVP Plantations genera
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Working together for a safer, healthier workplace

New Zealand ACC and WorkSafe New Zealand launched the inaugural ‘Reducing Harm in New Zealand Workplaces Action Plan’. Source: Timberbiz The Plan supports their collaborative efforts to meet the government’s target of reducing serious injuries and fatalities in the workplace by at lea
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Wood smoke draws researchers to New Zealand

The burning question of winter is attracting international air quality scientists to Wellington later this month to design a large-scale joint research program. Source: Timberbiz, Scoop NZ Leading researchers in atmospheric wood smoke and its impact on health from the US, Canada, Swed
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