The failure of railway sleepers imported from Peru highlights the potential for New Zealand-grown eucalypt timber if an industry can get off the ground, according to Marlborough New Zealand forester Paul Millen. Millen is the manager of the New Zealand Dryland Forests Initiative. Sour

A blaze that broke out at the Deanmill timber mill in Manjimup, Western Australia and has caused an estimated $2 million damage. Authorities are still assessing the damage but the Fire and Emergency Services Authority said the cause of the fire was accidental. Source: ABC Rural Broadc

The $1.6 million collapse of Perth Floor Centre, a timber flooring business, has left customers out of pocket with little chance of getting their money back. The company shut its four retail outlets in the metropolitan area last month and did not notify customers. Source: The West Aus

Tasmanian Timber Engineering, which employs 32 people and manufactures wood products including trusses, frames and laminated timber beams, has gone into voluntary administration. The company is one of Tasmania’s largest building suppliers. Source: ABC News

The deadline was up and the result is that Tasmania's forest peace-deal negotiators have asked the federal and state governments to help them reach an agreement after failing to settle their differences despite a second deadline extension. Sources: Ninemsn News, ABC News, The Australi

The commercialization of shrub willow as a bioenergy crop could be years closer, thanks to a $1.37 million grant that will allow Cornell researchers to take advantage of the newly mapped shrub willow genome to study hybrid vigor and yield. Source: R&D Mag (US)

Indonesia is urging its national timber industry to immediately verify their timber production. Director of Education on Processing and Marketing of Forest Products at the Forestry Ministry, Dwi Sudharto, said verification under the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK) must be d

Scion and the University of Waikato have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see the two organisations working together in research and teaching and to enhance their contribution to the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions, New Zealand. Source: Timberbiz