Australasia's home for timber news and information

Products – who wood have thought?

A forest conservation group has assembled a list of products you probably didn’t know are made from timber, and some of them will leave you stumped. Source: The Daily Mail UK In a bid to reveal the value of the mighty tree, the Forest Stewardship Council listed the not-so-obvious wood
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German softwood lumber output down

The German sawmilling industry produced considerably less spruce lumber in the first quarter of 2015 whereas the output of pine and other softwood lumber increased. Source: Euwid The output of rough-sawn softwood lumber across the whole range of assortments fell by 5.1% to a total of
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China – cause and solution for illegal logging

China is the world’s largest importer and consumer of wood-based products. Its booming domestic market is the main driver of growth in imports, though the country is also now the world’s most important timber-processing hub. Source: China File In 2013, China’s imports of timber-sector
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Forestry SA workforce to join OneFortyOne

An overhaul of ForestrySA operations could see more than half the current workforce in South Australia privatised. Source: ABC News Workers in the state’s south-east were told OneFortyOne Plantations would assume full management of plantation forestry assets. South Australian Fo
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ATFA Awards – a Queensland takeover

The Australian Timber Flooring Association Awards For Excellence were held in Melbourne to recognise and celebrate the best boards in the business, and honour the industry’s star performers. Source: Architecture and Design The Australian Timber Flooring Association (ATFA) President, J
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Support for limited logging in heritage zones

There is now bipartisan support in Tasmania for limited logging of trees within parts of the state’s World Heritage-listed wilderness. Source: ABC News Last month, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee urged the Australian and Tasmanian governments to ban commercial logging wi
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Bid to revive Gunns mill

A bid to resurrect the Gunns pulp mill is close to fruition but may require the Abbott government to approve the use of native forests as feedstock, provoking a monumental environmental stoush. Source: The Australian KordaMentha, liquidator of the collapsed timber company, is in the f
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Safety council’s first meeting

The newly created Forest Industry Safety Council (FISC) held its first meeting. The FISC was a key recommendation of the independent safety review panel that released its findings last year after investigating the industry’s appalling accident record. Source: Radio New Zealand T
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Cultural key to safety

Nelson Forests Ltd health and safety manager Les Bak forest safety is about respect, sharing knowledge, keeping it simple and getting workmates to look out for each other. Source: Stuff.co.nz “You can change beliefs but the way to get long term passion is to improve values.̶
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Pressure killed forestry worker

The owner of a forestry block in New Zealand where a man was crushed to death alleges the consultants he hired to clear his trees put pressure on the man to complete the work in an “impossible” time frame. Source: Stuff.co.nz Michael Steven Langford, 28, died on November 2
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