SWAN Field Day
Pemberton – Saturday, 5 May 2018

9.30am Registrations and morning tea at Mountford Winery, Bamass Rd

10.00am Inspect Andrew and Sue Mountford’s karri forest and discuss management issues, especially the need for a commercial thinning and the intention of reducing fuel for fire protection.

12.00noon Lunch at Big Brook Dam

12.45pm  Short presentations:

• Update on WA Forest Alliance’s “Forests for Life” proposal 
• Warren Catchment’s Council – who they are and what they do 
• Southern Forests Food Council 

1.30pm Depart for Julian Sharp’s property, Hawke Rd (off Old Vasse Hwy)

2.00pm Inspect Julian’s eucalypts for timber which date from the 1980s and his more recent venture using eucalypt thinnings to grow Shiitake mushrooms. 

3.30pm Wrap up 

Download flyer for map and more details on properties.

Cost - $40 per person ($30 for members) & ½ price for kids.  Pay on the day.  Covers morning tea and lunch.
RSVP by email – by 30 April for catering purposes to
 richard.w.moore2@gmail.com

At the last SWAN meeting, the committee resolved to invite a number of people invested in growing pine to meet and discuss the future of the softwoods’ sector. 

A preliminary meeting was convened in Hester last Sunday and 14 people attended.  They have called the group the Softwood Connection and have already prepared a Public Statement expressing their concern for the future of the industry.  (see below)

SWAN President Duncan Beggs has also requested a meeting with the Minister, to brief him on the reasons for the public statement and to explain why the Softwood Connection is demanding an independent investigation  of the industry. 
 
It is clear that there remains amongst our membership a number of people with a deep commitment to both the value of, and the need to grow pine, in either plantation or agroforestry contexts.  They maintain a strong belief that growing pine is worthwhile and should be expanded into the future.
 
The Softwood Connection was united about the need for more regular meetings and communication to focus on the future of private growing of pine.  A members only forum has been added to this website for online exchange and discussion, contact, email afgswan@gmail.com if you would like to be part of this initiative.

Public Statement

The South West Agroforestry Network, SWAN, warns that the softwoods industry in Western Australia is on the road to ruin.

If this happens, in 20 years a West Australian may no longer be able to buy a piece of pine grown in WA This will result in the potential loss of thousands of jobs and likely more than $600 million annually.

“Successive State Governments’ lack of action and the continued distortion of the market price are the main causes,” says Duncan Beggs, President of SWAN.

“The Softwood Connection, a group of SWAN members, has called on the State Government to conduct an urgent, independent, and transparent review of the industry,” says Mr Beggs.

“If the economic settings are put right people will invest in growing pine to meet the impending shortfall in supply. We are at risk of missing out on a part of our sustainable future – Wood is Good!”

Our Corymbia maculata- spotted gum - were high pruned to 6m and thinned last year (thanks Bob Hingston!) and it is now time to deal with the coppice.  We have 18 x 500m rows of trees and in the 2 northern most rows we will keep the coppice to maintain the privacy screening between us and our neighbours.  We have planted some Casuarina Cunninghamiana - sheoak - on the southern side and when it thickens up we can remove more stems.

For the rest of the area we will be using this mix in a 15 litre packspray:

1. 150ml glyphosate +
2. 1.5gm brushoff (metsulphuron-methyl) +
3. 20ml Pulse (wetter)

We have to use a FAN nozzle not a cone nozzle and spray foliage to point of run-off with wand, spraying ‘inside’ the foliage ie total coverage. 

​Cath Miller

Everyone registering for the SWAN field Day on Saturday 5th May will go into a draw to win 3 beautiful handcarved kitchen utensils by 3WoodsDesigns valued at over $50.

Musa Agri is the founder of 3 Woods Designs and also the maker and designer.

"My love and passion for woodworking has travelled everywhere with me since my childhood in Sudan, where my uncle had a woodworking shop. He taught me at a young age how to use tools such as handsaws and planes.

When I moved from Sudan to Western Australia, I changed my career path and worked as a mining laboratory technician for seven years in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia.

It wasn’t until I moved to the South West of Western Australia that I discovered this area’s unique and beautiful timbers. I particularly fell in love with three types of wood -- jarrah, sheoak and marri."

As first generation farmers with no land management or animal husbandry skills (beyond a couple of horses) moving to 85 acres should have been a bit daunting, but it wasn't.  As the saying goes, you don't know what you don't know.

Even when planting 3000 spotted gums in 2009, (Thanks Bob Hingston!) I knew nothing about trees, not even that they only grew at the top!  That all changed when I did the Master TreeGrower (MTG) course in 2014 and we started thinking about how we could use more trees on the farm. 

When we arrived there was a large patch of remnant vegetation, a dam and an old gravel pit. No driveway, no sheds, no internal paddocks and no house. Until 2014, everything had evolved "organically" i.e unplanned.  Inspired during the MTG course, I started drawing a plan which I then coloured and coded in MS Word.    Being part of the Peer Group Mentoring Program (PGM) also helped with the vision, especially the management of the native forest.

The latest Google Map shows that everything on that 2014 plan has been planted except the teal blue squares at the bottom, the site for our perennial food forest fruit and nut trees scheduled for 2017.  We had ripped and mounded in 2017, but have only just finished the irrigation in time for planting this year.  The fence strainer posts are in and we are ready to order our trees.  (see below)

The PGM program has helped almost 30 landholders in the southwest with their plans for trees, and we don't just draw the boxes and lines on the map, we will often help with the planting.  

Cath Miller
Capricopia Farm
capricopia.cath@gmail.com

Funding for landholders with wetlands and waterways

Are you a landholder in or around the Gelorup, Capel, Kirup, Busselton, Cowaramup and Dunsborough areas with a waterway or wetland on your property?

GeoCatch currently has funding available to assist landholders to conduct fencing projects to exclude stock from waterways and wetlands and/or carry out revegetation to improve water quality and enhance biodiversity.

For more information contact GeoCatch on
​9781 0114 or email geocatch@dwer.wa.gov.au
​
Kind regards from the Team at SWCC

https://rei.dwer.wa.gov.au/strategies/water-in-the-landscape/fencing-and-revegetation-program/.

New grant to help farmers contribute to a sustainable WA forestry future
  
Farmers and other landowners are invited to apply for Farm Forestry Assist, a one-off afforestation grant to plant radiata or maritime pine trees on their land in 2018.

Forestry Minister Dave Kelly launched the FPC Farm Forestry Assist grant program during his presentation to the 2018 World Forestry Day Dinner in Bunbury, hosted by the Leschenault Timber Industry Club.

The grant of $500 per hectare is available to landowners who are interested in establishing new 20 to 50 hectare plantations to support the State's vibrant softwood industry.

Farm Forestry Assist participants may opt for free, high-quality radiata pine seedlings from the Forest Products Commission's nursery instead of the $500 per hectare grant.

Forestry Minister Dave Kelly said: "The McGowan Government supports a strong, sustainable forestry industry into the future and sees opportunities for developing the softwood plantation resource on farms. Planting trees on farms provides a range of environmental and on-farm benefits, and has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to the forestry industry."

Criteria addressing the location, scale, soil, access and management of the plantations are in place to ensure that any resulting plantings have the capacity to contribute to the Western Australian softwood industry in a meaningful manner.

Applications close at 5pm on Friday April 27, 2018. For more information, visit http://www.fpc.wa.gov.au/farm-forestry-assist
 

SWAN - South West Agroforestry Network was invited to be part of Balingup SFFD on Saturday 20th April.

We were hosted in the SWCC tent along with a number of other NRM and environmental groups.  It was a very busy day and a number of your committee members manned the stand at various times. 

Our display promoted the Peer Group Mentoring Program (PGM) and several of the visitors to SWAN display expressed an interest in participating. The poster shown below was part of the SWAN display and shows the reach of the PGM program across the southwest highlighting the mentors in yellow and the mentees in pink.

Thanks to the day, many more people are now aware of SWAN.  In fact, as a result of seeing our display and having a chat with a volunteer,  a number of landowners have signed up for this newsletter. They will now be able to see the range of services we provide to landowners interested in using trees. 

SWAN thanks the South West Catchments Council for having us in their Landcare Tent again this year.  Its a great opportunity to meet new people interested in multi-purpose trees and to catch up with colleagues.

Much of the day was spent showing kids how to plant and care for seeds while their parents learnt about the Peer Group Mentor Program

Photo below shows Peter Huf promoting the Peer Group Mentoring Program 
sponsored by Komatsu - Live your Dream.

SWAN is strong advocate for multipurpose use of trees.   When we planted our Corymbia maculata - spotted gum - in 2009 we were "only" thinking about their use as a windbreak, screen and shelterbelt with the potential for sawlogs in the future.

Now we have bees we really appreciate their later flowering time - May to June - when compared to our native jarrah - (Nov - Dec) and marri (Jan - Mar). 

​Our Eucalyptus leucoxylon flowers between Mar and April and our Hakea Lissocarpha flowers from June to August, so we have trees and shrubs flowering all through autumn and winter.

There are many lists and databases around that talk about wood colour and hardness and plenty of detailed resources that describe the properties of individual species and their preferred habitat, but it is not easy to find a resource where you can easily compare species. SWAN is compiling a list that details tree height, bark colour, timber colour, flowering time, flowering colour, preferred habitat, growing form and if suitable for fodder.  

See our page on Species Selection.

In July 2017, four volunteers from the SWAN Peer Group Mentor Program helped Gail Stubber plant, stake and bag 1500 Eucalyptus Saligna - Sydney blue gum.  She has been lucky with some good rain falls over summer and her trees are up and away.

She also planted some Eucalyptus patens - blackbutt on a lower, wetter part of her property and their growth is even more impressive (see below)

As well as her wide spaced eucalypts for timber, Gail is exploring a number of other agricultural endeavours including finger limes and industrial hemp.  Gail has just been appointed executive officer of the newly founded WA Hemp Growers’ Co-operative. 

Guided by Peter Cooke of Agknowledge, Gail was the driving force behind the project and supported by Farming Together’s Farm Co-operatives and Collaboration Pilot Program.

Ms Stubber said the objectives of the co-op were to collaborate and guide the direction of the WA’s fledgling hemp industry, attract funds and be a voice to help get the industry off the ground.

​
Overview
The Peer Group Mentoring Program is based on the principle that landowners listen to landowners.  Graduates of Master TreeGrower courses with some experience in using trees can choose to become mentors of other landowners.  SWAN provides training in effective mentoring.  Mentors are paid for their time in supporting landowners who want to use trees and revegetation but aren’t too sure how to start. 

The evidence is that mentoring is an effective method for helping landowners on their journey of using trees.  ‘Stories’ collected using the social research technique called “Most Significant Change” show clearly the positive impacts of the Program 
 
Current situation
There are currently 12 trained and active mentors.   The mentors are located in two cells; one in the Busselton/Margaret River area and the other in the Manjimup/Pemberton area. There have been approximately 10 requests per year from landowners who want to participate in the Program.
 
Summary of mentoring process
The first step in the process is to set up an initial site visit.  The visit usually involves three mentors.  The focus of the initial site visit is on listening to what the landowner is interested in doing and discussing ideas on how the landowner might be able to achieve his/her interests. 

A report is prepared for the landowner.  The report is essentially a summary of the conversation and usually includes suggestions on next steps and useful contacts.

One of the mentors takes on the role of contact person for the mentee.  The idea is to provide on-going support; i.e. staying in touch and helping the landowner over any hurdles, such as how to order seedlings, how to do weed control and how to plant a tree.
 
KOMATSU Live your Dream
SWAN member Clare Kent and her partner Peter Huf were successful in securing a "Live your Dream" grant from Komatsu which will support the development of the PGM over the next 6 months. 

The funds will support the existing mentoring team in the South West.
​

Highland researchers offer a boost for forestry firms
Researchers at Inverness College UHI are working with partners in Finland, Sweden and Ireland to help forestry service companies improve workforce skills and expand their business opportunities. The three-year, Europe-wide Forest Business Innovation and Advancement project, will see Euan Bowditch and Elspeth McDonald, of the university’s forestry research department, work with contractors, harvesters, and tree planters from the private sector in Scotland to identify gaps in knowledge and new opportunities. It aims to create a digital education platform, which will include new training opportunities, examples of best practice, partnership working models and planning tools. Read more...

NZ Government to fund 500,000 trees in the next 10 years
There has been woeful progress in recent years on forestry planting. Flip flops on the emissions trading scheme made so-called 'carbon farming' – getting paid to store carbon in forests – unattractive. Committing capital to a 30-year growing cycle is hard when the policy changes with the three year electoral cycle.  Forestry Minister Shane Jones has symbolically planted the first five of the 500,000 trees the government plans to fund over the next 10 years – matched by 500,000 to be planted by private sector forestry investors. Now he needs to swiftly identify land to accommodate such plantings.

New ways to fund and reward such planting will also need to emerge and offer more than just the value of the ETS carbon credits. One possible answer: a social impact bonds-style approach. This would see the Crown, as the beneficiary of stored carbon to avoid open-ended costs of failing to meet international carbon reduction targets, make an annual payment to forest owners for maintaining such forests.

Interesting potential may emerge for long-term income streams to marginal land owners and communally-owned Maori land that has proven difficult to put to commercial use. Many sheep and beef farmers may find they can make better money from trees than ruminants.

The second caveat is that not all these forests can be planted for eventual harvest. Rather, much of that planting should occur on marginal, erosion-prone farmland and be left in place.

Some of it should be native forest planting, but much will need to be fast-growing species like pine, since native forests are slower-growing and won't help the country to meet its carbon targets quickly enough.  Read more...

CZECH FOREST HELPS NASA PLOT CLIMATE CHANGE
The Žofín forest in South Bohemia belongs among the oldest protected nature reserves in Central Europe. This unique woodland, which has been protected for more than 180 years, has now become a focus of research carried out by the US space agency NASA. They want to use the data collected in the forest to compare it with measurements taken from space. That could enable them to get a more accurate picture of the Earth’s surface. Read more...