The Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group was formed last year as a volunteer driven support group to restore the ancient Ludlow Tuart Forest and the Heritage Mill Settlement to their full potential. 

www.facebook.com/ludlowtuartforestrestorationgroup/

The group formed after the Federal Government listed tuart woodlands and forests as critically endangered. There are patches of tuart woodlands and forests stretching 420 kilometers along the Swan Coastal Plain from Busselton to Jurien Bay.  The world's only tall Tuarts (Eucalyptus Gomphocephala) grow at Ludlow just north of Busselton and are up to 40 metres high.  There are fewer than 2000 hectares of tall Tuart left, which makes it one of the rarest forests in the word.

The Busselton Mail recently ran a feature to promote the group and highlight what could be done.

www.busseltonmail.com.au/story/5236669/working-group-to-restore-forest/

Group president Evelyn Taylor said the forest was huge in its day and responsible for the colony being so successful.

“[The timber] was the first export from WA. We need a diversity of age in the forest – we have none at the moment – we just have old trees."

Retired forester and group vice-president Des Donnelly said action needed to be taken in the Ludlow Tuart Forest . 

“The forest is overrun with weeds, the tuart trees are over mature and they will die in the next 100 years if we don’t start replanting now. There are many other factors which are affecting the forest, including the over-abundance of peppi trees, which are a fire hazard and weeds such as arum lilies. The first thing we need to do is plant more trees and there are areas where we can do that,” he said.

“We can grow the trees, we know how to do it."

(Photo by AFG/SWAN Member Rachael Wedd of her bluegum/pine forest in Nannup)
 
Forestry Minister Dave Kelly has unveiled a new community grants program for local organisations that are active in areas and towns connected to Western Australia's forestry industry.

The Forest Products Commission's new Community Support Program offers grants of up to $2,000 for community groups, not-for profit organisations and sporting clubs.

Preference will be given to applications that will contribute the greatest benefit to regional communities that are connected with WA's forestry industry.

A total of $20,000 has been made available for the Community Support Program.

Forestry Minister Dave Kelly said,  "The McGowan Government supports a strong, sustainable forest industry that provides jobs, and we balance that with our commitment to protecting and conserving our environment. FPC contributes close to $100 million each year to regional communities and is an important regional employer in Western Australia."

Applications close on April 11, 2018.
For more information, visit http://www.fpc.wa.gov.au/community-support-program

BALINGUP SMALL FARM FIELD DAY

Once again, SWAN will have a display in the South West Catchments Council Landcare marquee at the Balingup Small Farm Field Day on Saturday 21st April. Come along and say hello to some of the volunteers and create a tree.

The theme for the 2018 Balingup Small Farm Field Day is - Small farms. Big ideas.  The event will showcase all aspects of small farming; caring for the land and animals, growing trees and food, cooking with fresh local ingredients and creating fashion and crafts with natural products.

SMART FARMING PARTNERSHIPS GRANT APPLICATION

Most of SWAN's annual activities are partly funded by government grants. A number of grant submissions have been pulled together over the last few months with the most comprehensive being Smart Farming Partnerships grant application.  The basis of this application was to unlock the potential of native forests on private land with the development of a Farm Forest Inventory Management System.  (See graphic below)

​Richard and Robyn Walker have clearly illustrated the benefits of a well managed native forest management plan with their award winning work at The Towers.

After being clear felled for timber over 100 years ago and left un-managed since, the 300ha of native forest was in a sorry state when they took on the property.  The forest was overpopulated with trees which had stopped growing, were susceptible to disease and vulnerable to lower rainfall associated with the changing climate. 

Despite the approach being unprecedented in Western Australia, they developed a management plan to develop The Towers forest as a commercially viable native forest.  Read more about the 2016 WA Tree Farmer of the Year ...
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NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR FOREST PRODUCTS INNOVATION HUB
The Australian Forest Products Association has welcomed the launch of the $4 million Mount Gambier Hub of the National Institute for Forest Products Innovation.  This facility will partner with the Launceston Hub which was launched last year. 

“The south-east of South Australia is a major region for softwood plantation innovation and the launch of this Hub is the realisation of a vision which was seeded several years ago,” Mr Hampton AFPA CEO said.

“There are nearly 180,000 hectares of plantation forests in South Australia, producing logs valued up to $321 million in 2015-16. This Hub will make the most of what is already a huge amount of knowledge and experience in forest industries in the Mount Gambier region.  Read more...



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BAG TO THE FUTURE
The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) is calling for a ban of single use plastic bag.

“It is good to see that many jurisdictions have already taken the step to ban single use light weight plastic bags.The UK Government has just announced it will eliminate avoidable plastic waste by 2042 across the nation and Australia should not be left behind,” CEORoss Hampton said.

“Australians use around 4 billion plastic bags every year. There is an alternative for plastic bags that is both convenient and good for the environment – renewable and recyclable paper bags that store carbon and are made from sustainably sourced Australian wood fibre.

“Using Australian renewable and recyclable paper products also underpins considerable economic activity and jobs in our sustainable paper businesses, many of which are based in our regions,” Mr Hampton concluded.

REGIONAL FOREST AGREEMENTS EXPIRE IN VIC
With RFAs coming to an end, green groups have started to apply the template of litigation and market intervention that has slowed Australia’s coal industry. The Wilderness Society’s national director Lyndon Schneiders said that International buyers are being warned off Australian products that do not meet “acceptable” forest practices.

The challenge for government is to not repeat the mistakes of the Managed Investment Schemes, introduced to encourage agricultural diversification after the decline of the local forestry industry. The MIS became an attractive tax deduction scheme for wealthy investors and soon spiralled out of control. Two of the largest schemes, Timbercorp and Great Southern, collapsed in spectacular fashion, with combined losses of more than $1bn.

Today’s industry has set a national target of planting an additional 400,000ha, with up to a quarter of that done by farmers on a small scale. For funding, the industry is eyeing $100m from the Emissions Reduction Fund across four years, establishment of low-interest loans for plantations and new carbon-related financing programs, “including carbon pricing mechanisms and purchasing of the rights to stored carbon”.

The industry says it can access 5.5 million hectares of Australia’s 125 million hectare state forest reserves. It wants the RFAs to be extended for another 20 years on a rolling five-year basis, with state and federal agreement that there will be no loss in net timber supply.

The National Parks Association (NPA) has done its own research, which has led it to some stark conclusions about the economics of the state forest operations. It says the value of Australia’s native timber stocks has declined by 30 per cent to $2bn between 2005 and 2015, and hardwood sawn wood production has dropped by 44 per cent over a similar period. In contrast, plantation stocks increased in value to $10bn and softwood sawn wood production is up by 10 per cent

NPA says the primary drivers behind the decline in hardwood production in state forests are increasing competition from hardwood and softwood plantations, both domestically and internationally, and higher costs relative to international competitors. There is weak demand for structural timber; decreasing demand from Japan for pulp because of falling paper consumption and efficiencies in the production process; and a reduction in the area of forest available for harvest.

“Many of these trends are predicted to continue, which means that demand will continue to fall and profitability from native forest logging will be increasingly difficult to achieve,” according to the NPA report.

“The industry is facing a shortfall of softwood timber because it put the wrong trees in the ground. They had the opportunity but billions of dollars was wasted on fraudulent tax schemes which put the wrong types of trees in the wrong places. Now they are going back again for another attempt." Read more...

WORKPLACE SAFETY
Agriculture, forestry and fishing remains the most dangerous industry in Australia, according Safe Work Australia data. Statistics show 44 workers died in agriculture, forestry or fishing in 2016 and over 3,500 people suffered serious injuries in the same time period.   This is double the rate - 14 per 100,000 workers - compared to the second most dangerous; Transport, postal & warehousing with 7.5.  These 2 sectors contributed 50% of all workplace fatalities. Agriculture has 2.6% of workforce but 21% of fatalities.  Agricultural vehicles, for example tractors and quad bikes, accounted for 82 out of 221 (37%) worker deaths over 4 years. Forestry makes up around 10 percent of that overall workforce and around four per cent of workplace industry or death. Read more...

Arrangements for the field day in the Pemberton district on 5 May are starting to take shape. 

The program includes short talks by Jess Beckerling on the Forests for Life proposal and by Mark Fraser (CEO, Warren Catchments Council). 

There will be a visit to Julian Sharp’s property in the afternoon. Julian is the Principal of Southern Farm Forestry and Landcare Services and currently the Chair of  the Warren Catchments Council  

He has lived near Pemberton for over 35 years and despite no family history of oil production, he has been producing organic-certified olive oil for four years from the olives harvested from his 2.5ha, 540-tree grove which is mainly comprised of olive-oil varieties. He also has 50 trees for table olives.

Julian has many years’ experience in the farm forestry, plantation establishment, landcare and sustainability fields. Qualifications and experience include the Diploma of Conservation and Land Management, Sustainable Development and Environmental Science at Murdoch University, an accredited Australian Master Tree grower, an active member of the South West AgroforestryNetwork, Peer Group Mentor with the Australian Agroforestry Foundation, a Community Landcare Technician and manages a Land for Wildlife registered property.

Options for a property to visit in the morning are still being considered.

​Don't forget to like the SWAN Facebook page for regular updates on forestry and timber topics. We include a selection of the more popular stories in each newsletter.

GRANT SUPPORT FOR FARMERS TRIPLES
In Ireland, Minister for Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten confirmed that Cabinet had approved the increase in payments to grow forestry crops. This increase will result in the overall grant support received by farmers under the Forestry for Fibre scheme rising from €4,250/ha to €11,465/ha over the lifetime of the scheme.  It is hoped that the trebling of payments will attract more farmers to take up the opportunity to increase production of renewable energy crops for local commercial heat use under the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat.  Read more...

HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPORTANCE OF FORESTRY
Irish Minister of State with responsibility for Forestry Andrew Doyle recently toured Galway to highlight the importance of the forest industry chain to the local and regional economy in the county.

“With all the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, forestry has proved to be an extremely good choice for some farmers to pursue on the best-use-of-land basis.
The forestry schemes are providing alternative best-use options for farmers in Galway and farmers can choose to diversify their income stream with forestry, which can be financially rewarding as well as helping to mitigate the effects of climate change through natural carbon storage,” he said.  Read more...

IRELAND BEHIND ON TREE PLANTING
A Forestry Programme report says that the country’s tree-planting targets for  have been missed. The government believes more tree-planting will go some way to help Ireland meet its 2030 emissions reduction target, which it is on course to miss.

The planting of conifers was increasing up to 2017, at which point planting fell 22% short of its overall target.  Total afforestation figures for the years 2015 – 2017 show that overall planting is 7% lower than the target.  The shortfall in planting for native woodlands, agroforestry, and forestry for fibre combined was much greater at 74%.

While more traditional forestry has a rotation of approximately 35 to 40 years, the species planted under the Forestry for Fibre scheme have a rotation of up to 15 years. A payment of €510 per hectare is available each year up to the time the plantation is felled.

There has been controversy over delays in payments from the state agency Coillte. The organisation said it would have to regain the trust of landowners who took part in the farm-forest partnership scheme and who went without payments for years.Under the plan, Coillte would plant land with trees and give farmers a cut of the proceeds when the forest was harvested.

The government continually underspent its budget for its afforestation scheme with an underspend of some €22 million during the first three years of the programme. This underspend is being put down to the lower than expected demand from landowners. The allocation for 2018 is €106 million. Read more...

A BILLION TREE TARGET IN NZ
Applications have opened for the Afforestation Grants Scheme (AGS), which provides $1,300 of Government funding per hectare for new forests between five and 300 hectares.

Collaborative efforts towards the ambitious one billion trees target are under way in NZ. The commercial forestry sector is projected to plant half a billion trees in the next 10 years. Private landowners, government agencies, NGO’s, iwi, regional councils, nurseries and the private sector working hard to plant the other half.

“This will see us go from 55 million trees this year, to 70 million in 2019, to 90 million in 2020. From there we will be aiming for 110 million a year over the next seven years of the programme. said Minister for Forestry Hon.Shane Jones.

“This year, almost 7.3 million trees will be planted through various Ministry for Primary Industries schemes – about half of which will be indigenous species."

“Planting will include both exotics and natives. We want to enable planting of a mix of permanent and harvestable forestry, using both exotic and native tree species on private, public and Maori-owned land. Species include radiata pine, red wood, totara, eucalyptus, Douglas fir and mānuka.

“Forestry is a great choice. It will help landowners to diversify their income, invest in their family’s future and improve productivity – as well as help to play their part in economic development and meeting environmental goals, such as tackling erosion,” Mr Jones said.  Read more...

TURFED OUT FOR TREES - THE NEXT CLEARANCES IN SCOTLAND?

It was sheep last time... ALMOST 6000 people have signed a petition calling on the Scottish Government to stop giving forestry grants to landowners replacing tenanted farms with trees. The petition calls on Forestry Commission Scotland and Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing, to stop landowners “removing people from farms or demanding they buy or quit” to open the door to being able to claim vast sums of public funding to plant commercial forestry through the Forestry Grant Scheme.

The petition adds: “The Scottish Government is currently promoting the increase of forestry by awarding huge sums of money through the Forestry Grant Scheme. Every farm unit that closes means a loss of livelihood to the tenants, a loss of tenant farmers for Scotland, a loss of farming diversity in a country with the most concentrated pattern of land ownership in the developed world, and a loss of people, skills and trade for fragile rural economies.” Read more...

NOVA SCOTIA

"We know that whenever we do something extra to a log — involving more human effort, tools, and machines—we add value to it." Taylor is head of Taylor Lumber, a family-run business that started out in 1936 with three employees. Over five generations it has grown to employ between 90 and 110 people directly and indirectly through logging operations, a sawmill operation, a planing mill, a chipping plant, a pallet manufacturing plant, and a retail supply store. 

“Rather than cutting more trees, we need to cut fewer trees but do more with them,” said Taylor. He said this approach will also employ more people. “Nova Scotia is a small province with a small wood supply. Our focus should be on producing lumber for our local market, building local industry, and keeping jobs here, not for us producing lumber for export.”

Back in 2003, a study about the value-added wood products industry  was prepared for the Nova Scotia Community College and funded by Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC) and ACOA. It found that despite the higher revenues generated and job creation potential of the value-added sector, viability has been “threatened” by a number of factors including provincial policies around the use of crown land, the provincial focus on primary manufacturing (pulp), and unsustainable forest harvesting. The report stated that “more roundwood currently being harvested needs to make its way into the supply chain of the value-added wood products industry in Nova Scotia. Instead much of the roundwood is leaving the province to be processed elsewhere or is being converted to very low value-added products.”

​Raymond Plourde is the Wilderness Coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre. He doesn’t mince any words when it comes to how he feels about CelluFuel and products like biomass and biofuel. He says we need another “high volume, low value commodity product made from trees…like we need another hole in the head.”  He points to centuries of high-grading for lumber and “decades of rampant clear cutting to feed the insatiable pulp and paper industry” (Industry doesn't exist in isolation, there are customers who are driving this demand! CM) and the more recent “high-volume consumptive pressure of big biomass for domestic and foreign electricity generation,” as all leading to the decimation of habitat and the “ever-growing list of endangered forest-dependent wildlife species.” Read more...

OREGON FORESTERS FOLLOW RULES

Oregon’s forestland owners are overwhelmingly following regulations aimed at managing and harvesting timber. They had a compliance rate of 97 percent with 57 key rules related to logging, road building and water protection under the Oregon Forest Practices Act, according to a study by the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODFA)

"Minimizing the amount of waste slash in waters of the state had a compliance rate of 76 percent", Paul Clements, ODFA’s training and compliance coordinator said. "Areas of low compliance included leaving vegetation around small wetlands, which may not be readily apparent during the dry season, and a rule requiring landowners to use properly sized culverts on roads crossing streams was only properly followed about half the time", Clements said.

This problem was the subject of a 2013 Supreme Court decision that was favorable to the timber industry — as runoff from culverts wasn’t found to be industrial pollution — but only after years of litigation.

Oregon’s rules for forestry and logging are intended to minimize the effects of disturbances, Clements said. “You can’t go get logs without disturbing something.”  Read more...