The Australian forestry and forest products sector has been a-buzz following the very explicit support offered by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Senator Richard Colbeck in their speeches to the industry gala dinner last week.
READ MOREIn this first Wood Matters edition for 2014 there can be no other topic than what can be done to avoid the shocking NZ forestry safety record of 2013.
READ MOREThe start of 2014 has seen a continuation of the trends of the second half of last year – strong demand and increasing prices for export logs and strong demand but mixed trading conditions for domestic processors.
READ MOREWelcome to Tom Otterson who started recently at PF Olsen's Gisborne branch as a Harvest Manager. Chris Perry commenced working as a Graduate Harvest Planner/Roading Supervisor in the Forest Engineering team in Rotorua recently.
READ MOREDid you know you can access past articles in Wood Matters by using Google.
READ MOREThe Danes show us a simple and fun approach to promoting the benefits of building with wood.
READ MOREMany involved in the forest industry will be acutely aware of the difficulties in keeping abreast of constant plan changes as they affect forestry operations under the RMA.
READ MOREFrom the 1st January 2014, a compulsory Forest Owner Commodity Levy ("Levy") of 27 cents per tonne was introduced on all products sourced from trees in plantation forests in New Zealand.
READ MOREMany of our readers would have noticed a recent article in the New Zealand Herald newspaper titled "Scorched Earth" in which the author, Sam Judd, sought to attribute many of the problems of erosion and sedimentation of New Zealand waterways to the practices of the forest industry and particularly clear cutting of Radiata pine.
READ MOREWith the introduction of the new Forest Growing Levy on 1 January 2014 big changes are being made to the way forest growing is funded and organised in New Zealand. The aim is to bring forest growing research under a single management structure to ensure efficient organisation and delivery of research to industry end users.
READ MOREFor deforestation completed in the 2013 calendar year, the deforestation emissions return is due by the 31st March 2014, with surrender of units due by the 31st May 2014.
READ MOREAlthough we are now well into summer, it was only late October that we were shipping the last of our containerised tree stocks to a Dunedin client for the end of its last year's planting programme. This order was a repeat (and expanded order) from the prior year based on not only exceptional tree stock survival rates, but also exceptional early growth rates.
READ MOREThe three forestry fatalities in November and December add to seven previous fatalities classified as forestry sector earlier in the year. This is of course a terrible record and tragedy for the families involved.
READ MOREOne of the challenges being faced by PF Olsen Australia foresters at the moment is how to determine the adequacy of coppice restrike for second rotation blue gum plantations in order to decide whether or not to replant or manage for coppice.
READ MOREAs we approach the end of 2013 the improved trading conditions and prospects in many wood products markets provides a basis for optimism in 2014 for forest owners.
READ MOREOn Friday 6st December the government released its decision regarding when it will restrict the use of some types of emission units within New Zealand's Emissions Trading Scheme.
READ MOREGrapple processors are being used extensively in harvesting Radiata pine in NZ. In order to harvest the increasing volumes of trees, harvesting technology that offers higher efficiency and reduces the safety risks to forestry workers will become the norm – grapple processors are in this category.
READ MORERecently, the results of a survey on the New Zealand Public's perceptions of the Environment in NZ[1] were published. The survey is a continuation of a programme of surveys conducted by Lincoln University every two years since 2000 and provides some very useful benchmarks of public opinion.
READ MOREFrom the 1st January 2014, a compulsory Forest Owner Commodity Levy ("Levy") of 27 cents per tonne is being introduced on all products sourced from trees in plantation forests.
READ MORELarissa Anderson has recently been appointed H&S Coordinator and assistant to Nic Steens in Rotorua office.
READ MORE