Forest Talk

The Northland forestry industry will celebrate the nominees and crown the winners this week at its gala awards night.

The 2026 Northland Forestry Awards will take place tomorrow at McKay Stadium, Whangarei, with hundreds of forestry professionals and supporters from around the region gathering to network and acknowledge those exceptional companies and individuals who continue to demonstrate innovation, leadership and best practice across all aspects ..... more

A fatal incident near Dannevirke has resulted in prosecution and a reminder of the obligations of forestry businesses.

Trevor Beale was prosecuted by WorkSafe New Zealand after his employee Tejay Alan Debenham died while felling trees at a rural property on Weber Rd on 17 November 2023.

Mr Debenham was working alone and unsupervised when a tree limb struck him, causing him to fall off a nearby cliff. The site contained multiple high-risk hazard..... more

Five University of Canterbury School of Forestry students were given the opportunity to attend August’s New Zealand Institute of Forestry Conference in Dunedin, thanks to Wāhine in Forestry.

The five students were Sylvia Gordon, Lily Morris, Liv Bayne, Lucy Cartledge and Rylee Kilsby-Port. 

Sending the students to the conference, titled Back to Business: Forward with Confidence, gave them the chance to step beyond the lecture theatre and b..... more

The Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association of New Zealand (WPMA) has welcomed WorkSafe New Zealand's confirmation that the Workplace Exposure Standard (WES) for softwood dust will remain at its current level of 2mg/m³.

The decision follows a consultation on proposed WES values for softwood dust, hardwood dust, flour dust and welding fumes. As part of the outcome, WorkSafe has also confirmed that the WES for hardwood dust will increase from 0.5..... more

The Forest Growers Levy Trust (FGLT) application process for 2027 funding will take place in September this year as an open call, consistent with previous years.

The purpose of the FGLT is to help advance the New Zealand plantation forestry industry both domestically and internationally.

It was established in 2013 to manage the proceeds of the levy on harvested wood products.  Applicants will have the whole of September to prepare and subm..... more

University of Canterbury students are gaining hands-on research experience while contributing to decades-long datasets tracking how native ecosystems recover from fire and other major disturbances.

Field Ecology students venture into the Southern Alps, where they contribute to long-term ecological datasets while building practical fieldwork, data analysis and scientific communication skills.

Dr Sara Kross, from the University’s School of Biolog..... more