Australasia's home for timber news and information

Pacific Island loans financing illegal tree felling

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia’s Westpac Bank is financing some of the Pacific's most unsustainable and destructive logging operations and has provided loans to companies in the Solomon Islands linked to illegal tree felling. Sources: Brisbane Times, Sydney Morning
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Nanoscience to benefit wood adhesives

Research to improve wood adhesives through the use of nanotechnology earned Dr Joseph Jakes a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Jakes is a research materials engineer and his exploration of wood at the nanoscale has resulted in the development of
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PNG logging report damning

Papua New Guinea's new government has been handed a report into an alleged giveaway of the country's tropical forests. The present caretaker prime minister, Mr Peter O'Neill, initiated a commission of inquiry into controversial forestry concessions granted over the previous decade whe
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Tours above and below NZ virgin forests

A New Zealand-first zipline canopy tour through virgin native forest will open for business on the Mamaku Plateau near Rotorua. Rotorua Canopy Tours will take visitors deep into the New Zealand bush on an incredible journey from forest floor to canopy via a network of walking trails,
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Harvard rewarded by NZ forests

Harvard University is reaping the rewards of investing in plantation forests in New Zealand when forestry investments were unfashionable. At a CNBC Delivering Alpha Conference Jane Mendillo, chief executive of Harvard Management Company, said she really liked natural resources, and in
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Frame & Truss Award for Pryda

Pryda has won the 2012 Frame & Truss Manufacturers Association (FTMA) Supplier of the Year award. Source: Timberbiz
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Gunns blazing with sales of Green Triangle

Gunns is raising $64 million through the sale of part of its stake in a plantation forest investment trust. The company has told the Stock Exchange it will sell 58 per cent of its stake in the Green Triangle Forest Trust, which owns plantations in Victoria and South Australia. Sources
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HIA campaign against non-compliant products

The Housing Industry of Australia (HIA) is spearheading an industry campaign to ensure building products meet Australian Standards and comply with the Building Code of Australia. The HIA has identified a significant and growing number of non-compliant products are being used for resid
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Asia Pulp & Paper achieves US and EU certification

Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) announced that its production mills are achieving SVLK certification under Indonesia’s new Wood Legality Verification System in a major stride towards addressing requirements to supply to countries such as the US and those in the EU. Source: Lesprom
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Malaysia facilitates timber exports to Europe

In a move to boost exports of Malaysian timber and construction products to Europe, the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) is working with the United Kingdom’s Trada Technology Ltd (TTL) as an approved testing laboratory. Malaysia recognizes that the only way to ensure its prod
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