Forest Talk

“The past two years have been extremely challenging for some industry sectors but the pandemic has also created new business opportunities. Our primary industries – forestry, viticulture, agriculture, and fisheries - along with the science and technology and construction sectors have been the foundation of Marlborough's strong economic performance,” says Councillor David Croad.

With this in mind, Marlborough’s Economic Wellbeing Strategy 2022-32, the..... more

Late last year, Forestry Minister, Stuart Nash unveiled the Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) at Fieldays - a roadmap for the forestry and wood processing sector. 

New Zealand exports about 60% of harvested wood as logs for other countries to process and add value. In contrast, the 15% exported as value-added wood products return over 40% of total export revenue. The ITP charts a course to turn that around.

Sc..... more

The popular Trig Road Walkway, directly east of Levin, is closed for Logging from this month until mid-2024 as the trees are ready for harvest.

The Trig Walkway features walking and biking tracks, and access to the Tararua Forest Park via Kohitere Forest.

Logging of the 94-hectare block will start on 9 January 2023, with work scheduled to take 18 months. When the work is completed the walkway will reopen for cyclists and walkers.

Horowhen..... more

Rotorua’s recent Fast & Forward Forestry Expo raised some $40,000 to lead a mental health initiative for forestry at its charity auction dinner last month. Opened by newly appointed Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell, the charity auction was part of NZ’s first.  

The dinner was one of the highlights of the two-day Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA) expo, and was emceed by Jeremy Corbett. FICA CEO, Prue Younger, says the auction was to raise..... more

The first continuous monitoring service for damage detection in forestry is the focus of a collaboration between CollectiveCrunch, the creator of Linda Forest software solutions that provide forest inventories and climate analyses to global clients, and forestry’s Metsä Group’s.

The collaboration will enable Metsä Group to use a powerful AI-based solution that detects, quantifies, and monitors storm and pest damages. With CollectiveCrunch, Metsä Grou..... more

Principal forest science researcher, Dr Mike Watt, took the Individual/Lifetime Achievement for his leadership in forest science, at the recent Science New Zealand Awards celebrating Scion’s leadership in forestry science, bioplastics research and biotechnology. 

Scientists from all seven Crown Research Institutes and Callaghan Innovation were represented at the ceremony held in Parliament. The awards are in three categories - Early Career Resea..... more