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Trees for Survival Charitable Trust is calling on New Zealanders to play their part in helping to ‘reforest Aotearoa’ by donating a native tree to their nationwide school program. Source: Timberbiz The charity’s inaugural ‘Donate a Native Tree’ appeal kicks off on 27 May and will run until 31 May 2024, aiming to raise as much as possible to help them bring the program to the schools on their waiting list. National Manager Phil Lyons said people can decide to donate a tree for NZ$7, give a monetary donation or join the Trees for Survival community by becoming a regular donor. “Trees for Survival has been blessed with an incredibly passionate team of talented and knowledgeable facilitators, enthusiastic principals, teachers and students, motivated landowners, and incredibly supportive partners and community groups over the years,” Mr Lyons said. “We often get approached by the community asking how they can participate in the program and the answer is simple – just donate. “It only costs NZ$7 to donate a native tree, and the more trees we have, the more students we can provide a hands-on environmental education experience and make a bigger impact across New Zealand.” As an added incentive, every donation made during the Donate a Native Tree appeal will go in the draw to win one of three NZ$50 Mitre 10 gift cards. Every native tree donated to Trees for Survival goes to a local school to be nurtured and grown in their custom-built shade house before being planted by school students on land that will benefit from restoration. “Students develop an understanding that they can have a positive impact through their actions, by helping to improve waterways and increase biodiversity. It’s a powerful thing,” Mr Lyons said. What began with three schools in Auckland has now grown into a nationwide program involving 230 schools in 2024. In 2023 alone, 5,500 students planted 146,280 native plants through the school program, with a total of more than two million native plants and trees planted since the program started in 1991. Having a local focus that can be replicated nationwide is paramount to the program’s success, said Mr Lyons. “When we can connect a school with local landowners and local partners, they’re able to see year-on-year the impact they can make on their local environment. Lyons added that donations and partnership discussions are welcome at any time, not just during their Donate a Native Tree appeal period. “Without more donations, our roots are bound, and we simply can’t grow so please give generously.” The Rotarian initiated charity, Trees for Survival first began in 1991 with a shade house and a plan to inspire New Zealand students how to grow and nurture NZ native seedlings and plant them on erosion-prone and at-risk land across Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Fisher-Price unveiled its all-new wooden toy line, Fisher-Price Wood, for children ages 6 months to 5 years. The products are made with wood from FSC-certified sources and designed to last, allowing families to pass them down from generation to generation. Source: Timberbiz With early childhood development at the forefront of Fisher-Price’s purpose, these wooden toys offer a wide range of fun play patterns from colourful puzzles and blocks to role play, music-making and more that help spark creativity, develop fine motor skills, and stimulate problem-solving. “For 94 years, Fisher-Price has been dedicated to helping children have the best possible start in life through innovative, trusted toys that provide hours of fun and enrichment,” Brian Fitzharris, SVP and General Manager, Fisher-Price, said. “With the debut of Fisher-Price Wood – a line that harkens back to the brand’s very roots, we’re bringing a fresh perspective to the timeless appeal of wooden toys that are affordably priced, made from FSC-certified wood, and designed to nourish a child’s creativity and development.”  

In this new book by Aaron Williams, this third-generation British Columbia logger returns to the forests of Haida Gwaii, to witness a way of life in the grip of change. Source: Timberbiz By the time Williams began learning how to fall a tree, his family had been making clear cuts on BC hillsides for nearly a century. During his father’s generation, the industry started to crumble, and by the time Williams arrived, he knew his future lay elsewhere. But his father continued in the trade, his work taking him into the forests of Haida Gwaii. There, Williams follows him into a season at Collison Point, where the loggers are increasingly unwelcome visitors to the ancient forests. The Last Logging Show captures the spectacular setting of Haida Gwaii and the people who call it home. It unravels the lives and dreams of those who log the forests for a living, who have toiled alongside their Haida co-workers for generations but while old approaches to forestry come to an end, new ways come into being. Thoughtful and compelling, this is a story of connection, community, and the force of fundamental change. Aaron Williams’ first book, Chasing Smoke (2017), was based on his experience fighting forest fires in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Idaho.  

Stora Enso’s Chief Financial Officer and Deputy CEO, Seppo Parvi, has decided to leave Stora Enso to assume a role with a company outside of the forest industry. He will leave Stora Enso during the fourth quarter of 2024. Source: Timberbiz “Since joining in 2014, Seppo Parvi has, in his role as CFO and member of Stora Enso’s Group Leadership Team, been integral in transforming Stora Enso to ‘The renewable materials company’,” Hans Sohlström, President and CEO of Stora Enso said. “He has also played an important role as Stora Enso’s country manager Finland, and in developing the forest industry more broadly. On behalf of Stora Enso, I want to express our sincere gratitude for Seppo’s significant contributions to Stora Enso and wish him the very best in his future endeavours,” Stora Enso will immediately begin the search for Seppo Parvi’s successor.

Conversations around trees on farms are often centred on tall trees, but the importance of the vegetation layers below the canopy can’t be understated in supporting biodiversity. Source: Timberbiz Due to grazing pressure or the presence of exotic pasture grasses, many patches of remnant vegetation do not have ongoing tree recruitment, grass tussocks or shrubs. Infill planting that includes native grasses, herbs, shrubs and small trees is vital to provide healthy habitats for bird and insect life. Jon Finch, Entomologist at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, notes the importance of creating and protecting diverse understory for wildlife. “We really need to think about adding multiple layers to our plantings and allowing that to be undisturbed and not grazed, sprayed or managed,” he said. “Everything from grasses, which are important for holding soil together and providing food, to native herbs and flowering plants that produce nectar and pollen, to shrubs providing structure, shelter and food, then above that small and large trees that slow wind speed and provide shade. “Having these diverse plantings brings structural complexity back into the landscape, which wildlife needs to survive and prosper.” Both insects and birds play significant roles on agricultural land, providing services for pest control, pollination and soil health. Like insects, birds play a vitally important role in healthy ecosystems. Despite their importance to healthy ecosystems, there are signs that birds and insect populations are struggling, largely due to loss of habitat. For birds, loss of habitat is paired with an increase in introduced species that are over-abundant. Establishing or maintaining a healthy understory is an important part of supporting bird and insect communities. The first step is to protect areas of remnant vegetation, which often contains vegetation of mixed ages, including dead trees and tree hollows, which are extremely rare on farms yet a vital habitat providing shelter and resources for threatened species. In areas where tall trees require infill planting, caging individual tree seedlings for protection against browsing or damage from deer is an effective approach embraced on many farms.

Regular electricity shortages over New Zealand’s colder months could be a thing of the past if New Zealand diversified its heating sources to include biomass as a fuel. Brian Cox, executive officer of Bioenergy Association said New Zealanders were getting too familiar with this message from the energy sector at the same time every year. Source: Timberbiz “The announcement from Transpower that there may be insufficient generation to meet demand on the morning of 10 May is a situation which will become more common if there is too much reliance on electricity for energy supply. This is compounded by the announcement last week by the gas industry about looming gas shortages. “This is a situation of putting too much focus on a single form of energy.” With continuing strong population growth, a focus on decarbonising industry, and greater electrification of the vehicle fleet, Mr Cox said New Zealand risks being caught seriously short in electricity generation capacity for years to come. “And of course uncertainty over the future of the Lake Onslow hydro battery project has been hanging over the market for almost a decade. It has meant while those demand factors have been growing, generators have been hanging back from making any generation commitment, lest they be left with stranded assets if Onslow went ahead,” he said. While a decision on Onslow has been made for it to not go ahead, long lead times to create more generation capacity create a real squeeze on New Zealand’s electricity generation supply for several more years yet until those new generation assets come on stream. “If ever there was a time to have a joined-up national energy strategy, that time is now. And if we did, it would be very timely to include the use of biomass alongside electricity as an energy source for industrial processes, like heating and steam generation,” Mr Cox said. Mr Cox pointed to forestry firm OneFortyOne that recently signed an agreement with Canterbury Woodchip Supplies to take forest slash and turn it into biofuel to replace coal for heating horticulture crops in Nelson. “That company aims to reduce its slash and forest waste from its forests by 75,000 tonne over the next five years. That is the equivalent of 2000 logging trucks’ worth of timber.” With almost a third of New Zealand’s household waste comprising greenhouse gas emitting food scraps, there is also an ample feedstock source to enable the supply of biofuel for heating,” he said. The food waste sources for biogas production are diverse, including byproducts of food processing in the vegetable, meat, and dairy sectors, along with the methane gas emissions from landfills largely generated through waste food and organic matter within them. “A recent PowerCo report on renewable biogas highlights the potential this sector has to contribute to NZ’s climate change goals and energy sources.” Released in March the report identified the potential for an additional 18PJ of renewable biogas that could be sourced from waste processes, half from the North Island and half from the South Island. If tapped it means NZ could produce 23PJ a year, representing a reduction of 3.7 million tonnes of CO2 and equating to as much as 27% of NZ’s lower end of targeted gas reduction of 14m tonnes of CO2. Piped through the gas supply network, it represents about a 9% increase in NZ’s source of renewable energy. For companies needing gas for food processing, the use of onsite anaerobic digestors to produce biogas for their own use, also represents the next level in energy awareness. “Between forestry and food waste there is a very deep resource of biofuels that would go a long way to not only help remove this seasonal squeeze on electricity, but also make a major contribution to New Zealand’s efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions profile for the industrial sector.”

  A two-year research project has shed light on the promising opportunities for regional New Zealand to adopt short rotation forestry (SRF) for bioenergy production. The findings show that leveraging short rotation forestry will not only diversify regional economies, but also contribute to sustainable land management and generate environmental benefits as New Zealand looks for ways to transition to a circular bioeconomy and meet its net-zero emissions targets by 2050. Source: Timberbiz Silviculture and forest carbon scientist Alan Jones says Scion’s modelling shows that short rotation forestry as a feedstock for bioenergy has the potential to replace 6% of New Zealand’s annual fossil fuel demand from less than 1% of the land area. “We’ve built on research from a decade ago and assessed the feasibility of rapidly upscaling bioenergy production from forests. We’ve found there are particular regions well-suited to short rotation forestry which provides a real opportunity for communities to transform their economic base and reshape New Zealand’s energy future,” he said. A key outcome from Scion’s research is a ‘how to’ guide for short rotation forestry targeting landowners, forest investors, and government agencies. It not only outlines the feasibility of SRF but also identifies specific regions most suitable for it in New Zealand. Scion’s research recommends that short rotation forestry should be established on lower value land (Land Use Capability Class 5-7) in locations where transport distances to processing locations can be minimised. Regions highlighted include the Central North Island, Northland, the East Coast and Otago. The ideal species for short rotation forestry is Pinus radiata, owing to its rapid growth rates and high degree of adaptability and disease resistance in a range of growing locations. Other options include Eucalyptus fastigata and Eucalyptus regnans for their potential to rapidly yield large volumes of woody biomass from young age trees. Trees are generally planted in dense stands and managed to intensify rates of wood production for renewable energy, such as wood pellets, torrefied briquettes or liquid biofuels for marine and aviation sectors. SRF is a forestry practice that involves growing and harvesting trees on a short rotation cycle which, according to Scion’s modelling, would ideally be between 12 and 18 years for the production of wood biomass. This is considerably shorter than the conventional 28-year harvesting cycle. One of the key advantages of SRF is its ability to provide a steady supply of biomass for energy production on relatively economically marginal land, with plantations harvested multiple times. Additionally, SRF can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by displacing fossil fuels and promoting carbon sequestration in the form of sustainably harvested living trees. Scion’s research responds to signals from the Climate Change Commission that indicate the rising importance of bioenergy from forests in the coming decade. It also presents owners of low production grazing land on steeper hill country with alternative options to maximise productive capacity and increase economic viability. Several challenges could impede the future widespread adoption of SRF in New Zealand – primarily low value of bioenergy feedstock under present market conditions. Considerations such as land costs and transportation distances further complicate the potential adoption of SRF bioenergy nationally. To address these challenges, Scion’s analysis proposes integrating the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) carbon value of standing trees in SRF plantations into their economic assessment, which provides additional incentives for investment. Mr Jones says the guide provides a glimpse of what could be possible in the future for short rotation forestry as a vehicle to scale up bioenergy production. But the benefits would go much further if decentralised processing of harvested material was promoted to stimulate regional economies and fast-track bioenergy availability. “It’s about developing forest systems that are optimised for bioenergy. But in more economically disadvantaged regions, it also makes sense to build and establish processing facilities there because the energy itself is a lot cheaper to transport once it’s chipped and dried or transformed into liquid biofuels. To validate theoretical findings, Scion is collaborating with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) on developing designs for forest bioenergy trials. These trials will involve rigorous testing of growth rates, optimal density, and tree health for different species, including Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus varieties. The collaboration represents a critical step in moving from theoretical models to practical implementation, addressing the complexities and uncertainties associated with on-the-ground application. Scion researchers are also looking at optimising tree genetics and ways to optimise tree genetics by re-evaluating past stock for its compatibility with bioenergy. Conventional tree breeding over the past 50 years has focused on timber quality, minimal branching and straightness. As a feedstock for bioenergy, Mr Jones says optimal trees have very different traits. “We want high levels of branching, and we don’t mind growing bendy stems because we also want high resin production and high wood density. So, some of the traits that would have been conventionally bred out of that breeding stock in the past, we’re looking to bring back in for bioenergy.” By 2035, one scenario suggests 150,000 hectares of dedicated bioenergy forest could contribute to at least 5% of domestic fossil energy demand, displacing the equivalent of 3 Mt of CO2 emissions from oil combustion per year, or 4 Mt CO2 from coal.