Forest Talk

“We cannot stop cyclones from coming, but we can reduce our vulnerability to them. This will need to include sustainable land management in our erodible catchments so that we do not repeat past mistakes,” says environmental forestry consultant Dr Sean Weaver. 

“Extreme weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle are coming to stay and we absolutely need to get ready for them. This means the right land use for the land in question. In many erosion-pron..... more

While staff and contractors remain focussed on the immediate response to Cyclone Gabrielle, the Eastland Wood Council (EWC) is continuing to advocate for its members’ workforces.

Members of the Council met with Government Ministers to discuss the challenges facing the industry in Tairāwhiti, as well the priorities.  

EWC Chairperson, Neil Woods, says it was a productive meeting: “There was plenty of discussion about opportunities too, how ..... more

“If Government is serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions from heavy transport and getting better value from forestry then we need a collective task force supported by Government focused on creating sustainable business from Forestry, and producing sustainable biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Collective action has kick-started the replacement of coal by biomass as fuel for process heat. We could achieve similar from heavy transport deca..... more

The Environment Committee is calling for submissions on the Climate Change Response (Late Payment Penalties and Industrial Allocation) Amendment Bill.

This bill seeks to amend provisions in the Climate Change Response Act 2002 relating to the Emissions Trading Scheme. These amendments concern the settings of industrial allocation and the penalty that applies when small forestry participants fail to surrender or repay units by the due date.

The ..... more

With Lake Taupo Forest closed, New Zealand Forest Managers (NZFM) says in the passing weeks since Cyclone Gabrielle, it is starting to understand the impacts it has had on our forests and lands, and on next steps to take. 

NZFM is prioritising minimising health and safety risks to the general public. It has had all stand adjacent to public roads assessed, and is removing those deemed high risk – which are mainly in the Rangipō area. Priority is ..... more

Grimmer Contracting’s new Komatsu 895.2SS forwarder is the first SpeedShift in New Zealand. In other words, it enables operators to use the machine's full speed range without having to stop to change gear. SpeedShift automatically shifts the machine up a gear as the operator increases speed, which results in both lower fuel consumption and higher average transport speed, says Komatsu. Our Iron Test Team decided to find out for themselves. 

Signi..... more