Forestry

The native hardwood industry welcomed announcement by Minister Tierney to offer additional support for workers, contractors, communities and new regional businesses but was disappointed that the mill exit package doubly punished those businesses that had acted in good faith, said Deb Kerr, CEO of the Victorian Forest Products Association (VFPA).  

Farmers have rallied against reckless renewables outside Queensland Parliament House, urging Labor to rethink its plans to destroy prime agricultural land and pristine rainforest and animal habitat throughout Queensland ... Federal Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said Labor’s reckless race to achieve 82 per cent renewables by 2030 needed a Senate Inquiry.

DAFF has opened consultation ... “The amount producers are being asked to contribute is equivalent to 6 per cent of Commonwealth biosecurity funding in 2024–25 ... By comparison, importers will contribute around 48 per cent and the taxpayer will contribute around 44 per cent ... From 1 July this year, the government increased cost recovery for delivering biosecurity activities for risk creators and importers, representing an average price increase of 28 per cent across biosecurity fees and charges" : Dr Chris Locke.

Serena Kirby. Arborist Ben McGovern is keen to dispel misconceptions about his profession and wants more young people to take up arboriculture as a career. Ben moved to Denmark with his family seven years ago and has been working with Ecologic Tree Service for the past four years. "We are all about caring for, and managing, trees," Ben said.

Frank Batini has set down the history of the Wungong catchment trial in order to provide a record that shows how difficult it is to implement any active forest management in the northern jarrah forest. This account may be of interest to forest managers in other parts of Australia.

ARR.News sought the response of FCNSW regarding recent protests against native forest logging, recent timber harvesting and plans for harvesting in the site of the proposed Great Koala National Park and measures to prevent injury to koalas and other wildlife.

Australia’s peak farm body has called on delegates at the ALP National Conference this week to vote down a radical anti-farming motion backed by the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN). Farmers say the “Climate, Clearing and Cows” motion, which calls for methane emissions to be halved in the next 6.5 years, is misinformed and in conflict with mainstream scientific opinion.

Titled, Embracing Our Natural Capital: The Science, Technology and Art of Managing Forests For All Values, the 2023 ANZIF conference, will provide an exceptional learning and development opportunity ... an opportunity for forest scientists, managers and growers to come together to enhance our knowledge and explore the future of our forests and sector.

Forestry Corporation has almost completed a groundbreaking replanting program that has seen more than 11-million seedlings planted in the state’s pine forests this winter. Almost three years on from the Black Summer bushfires and the recovery effort in softwood plantations continues.

Vic Jurskis. The facts haven’t deterred the ecowarriors of North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) from trying to hasten the demise of the sustainable, renewable, solar-powered native timber industry. They don’t care about habitat for people, other than themselves. They’ve launched an application for an injunction to ‘save’ the overcrowded koalas that are breeding more rapidly than ever on all the soft new growth resprouting after the Black Summer holocaust that they helped to create.

The state government decision to close the native forest timber industry culminates eight years of mismanagement that turned VicForests from a profitable business into a loss maker, an analysis by a Traralgon consultant has found ... Mr Cameron said Australian hardwood sawn timber mill gate revenue sold for 3.5 times the price of Australian softwood sawn timber, and contributed to much greater value-adding and job creation than softwood.

The state government has been accused of using a landmark Victorian climate report, which was written without any input from forestry researchers or the forest industry, to prematurely close the native forestry industry. These forestry groups resent the lack of consultation and have attacked the intellectual content of the report ... The report was written without any contribution from leading forestry experts – Forestry Australia, which represents forest scientists, forest managers and timber growers; Forest & Wood Products Australia, the sector’s chief research and marketing arm; the Victorian Forest Products Association; and leading forestry academics.

Forestry Australia has released a series of two-page Position Statements to better inform members and the community of its position on a range of issues. Designed to be short, sharp and easily understood, the first five in a series of position papers covers the areas of Ecologically Sustainable Forestry Management, Forest Fire Management, Forest Fire Recovery and Restoration, Sustainable Forest Harvesting and Forest Research, Development and Dissemination ... President of Forestry Australia, Dr Michelle Freeman said the organisation is seeking greater recognition by policy makers, media and the wider community of balanced science-based positions on important forest policy and forest management issues.

The future of Victoria's forests has been captured by political ideology and complex legalities rather than being determined by science and professional expertise, according to Forestry Australia ... "The problem is, there has been no universally accepted definition or clarity regarding how key components of the [precautionary] principle should be interpreted or applied in practice," Forestry Australia said.

VFPA welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement to reverse the highly contested rainfall regulation, known as ‘water rule’, under the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) ... The announcement means the Australian Government will permanently remove this perverse rule from the Carbon Farming Initiative Regulation from 1 June 2024.  

The final report of the Trials Review, Information and Genetics (TRIG) project, has been released along with advisory information and updated data. According to TRIG Steering Committee Chair, Dr Kevin Harding, the project sought to leverage the past work of Victoria’s farm forestry sector by accessing legacy information and datasets to ultimately deliver new, updated tools and information for the next generation of farm forestry plantings.

Deputy Secretary of Biosecurity and Compliance Dr Chris Locke said new fees and charges for importers would better reflect the true cost of delivering Australian biosecurity services. “While some importers will experience slightly larger increases in the prices, the average increase across all importers is around 28 per cent,” said Dr Locke.

The Supreme Court of Victoria has announced its decision on VicForests appeal of last November’s landmark court decision in Kinglake Friends of the Forest and Environment East Gippsland vs VicForests, known as “The Glider Case”. The panel of three judges upheld Justice Richards’ findings that VicForests’ actions were in breach of environment laws.The orders limiting logging in forests that are home to endangered gliders will remain.

Ecology, community and renewable timber were on the agenda last week as the NSW Minister for Agriculture, The Hon. Tara Moriarty MLC spent time in Bagawa State Forest near Coffs Harbour. Minister Moriarty said the field visit provided a deeper understanding of how State forests are managed to balance multiple uses and objectives. 

It’s not only the timber industry that’s in decline, the government’s forestry agency, the Forest Products Commission (FPC) is also sinking fast. The WA 2023-24 Budget Papers indicate that this commercial business is failing under the Labor Government. It is predicted to continue to make losses in coming years.