SOUTHERN WOOD COUNCIL -
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR 2011
(July 2011)
A young Dunedin forestry worker has been named the Southern Wood Council Forestry apprentice of the year. Twenty-three year old Ryan Honings of Dunedin, was presented with the honour at a recent Forestry Industry Training & Education Council (FITEC) graduation ceremony in the city. FITEC is the Forestry Industry's national training organisation.
His apprentice of the year award qualified him for the National Training Awards competition. Ryan was one of 50 forestry workers from Otago and Southland to graduate with a national certificate in forestry this year. The FITEC graduates gained national certificates in variety of forestry disciplines, from forestry skills including silviculture, harvesting and sawmilling, to business skills that cover supervision and leadership qualifications.
- download file 
CENTRAL OTAGO WOMEN FIRST RECIPIENT OF SWC FOREST PRODUCTS SCHOLARSHIP
(July 2011)
The first recipient of a new scholarship from the Southern wood Council believes forestry is the career of the future. Sarah Naylor has been awarded the inaugural annual Southern Wood Council Forest Products Scholarship, set up this year to encourage young people into a forestry career in Otago and Southland.
Twenty year-old Sarah grew up on her family's 283 hectare farm in Becks, Central Otago, and attended St Hilda's School in Dunedin. She is currently in the second year of a Forest Science degree at the University of Canterbury. She will receive a total grant of $4,500 through the Council's scholarship over the next three years, $1500 for each year of her studies.
- download file
GROWTH IN THE USE OF BIOENERGY FUEL IN OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND
(May 2011)
Bioenergy and biofuel is fuel produced from wood and from harvest residues - which is currently being left behind from log harvesting. The wood/residues are chipped for use in woodchip boilers, or manufactured into pellets to be used in pellet burners for industrial and commercial energy.
Wood biomass is already a popular option in Europe and North America. There is increasingly strong interest in bioenergy systems in Otago and Southland from commercial/industrial users.
- download file
SOUTHERN WOOD COUNCIL FOREST PRODUCTS SCHOLARSHIP
(Feb 2011)
A major new Southern Wood Council initiative is set to encourage more young people into a growing industry.
The Council has set up a Southern Wood Council Forest Products Scholarship at the University of Canterbury's School of Forestry this year, specifically for students from Otago and Southland. The lower South Island forest products industry grant will help a student from the region through their study for a Bachelor of Forest Science or Engineering degree at the School of Forestry, or for a Wood Processing related degree such as Mechanical, Process or Electrical Engineering. The on-going scholarship, the largest of its type in New Zealand, will support an outstanding student to the tune of $1500 each year for their final three professional years of study (years 2 to 4), a total value of $4,500. The entire forestry industry in Otago and Southland has come together on this, working closely with the School of Forestry.
- download file
THE CARBON POSITIVE BENEFITS OF FORESTS IN OTAGO & SOUTHLAND
(Dec 2009)
The Southern Wood Council welcomes research that shows New Zealand wood wins the wood miles argument. A recent New Zealand study that analysed the carbon footprint of a cubic metre of timber from "forest to market" found it can be just as environmentally friendly to ship timber overseas from New Zealand, as it is for the timber to be used locally. And that's good news for the Dunedin's log exporters and wood producers which are primarily export focused.
The report by Dan McCallum, commissioned by Nelson Forests Ltd earlier in the year, found ocean freight is five to ten times more efficient than road transport for carbon emissions, and is particularly efficient using large ships. It is just as efficient for example to ship timber products to Australia as it is to truck them from Nelson to Christchurch. It concluded the country's wood products are just as carbon competitive, if not more so, than those of other leading forest and wood producing countries, and are much more carbon friendly than steel, concrete and aluminium.
- download file
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF OTAGO'S FORESTRY
(Dec 2009)
The flow of logs through the ports of Otago and Southland continue to be strong, as log shipments from New Zealand reach a record high. Volumes over the last six months have grown significantly as Asian markets rebound from the recession, with log shipments from throughout New Zealand for September 2009 totalling 905,000 cubic metres.
Log exports from New Zealand to China from April-June 2009 were up 80 percent on the first three months of 2009. Growth in this market has been steady since the end of 2007. Locally, Port Otago reports there has been a log volume increase of 64 percent in six months from April to October this year, compared to same period in 2008. There has been a small expansion of the area devoted to log storage at Port Chalmers as a result.
- download file
DUNEDIN MAN NAMED TRAINING LEADER OF THE YEAR
(Sept 2009)
Making it as easy as possible for forestry workers to stay safe has earned a Dunedin
man national recognition. Neil Thomas, Manager of Forestsafe, was awarded the title of Training Leader of the Year
2009 by FITEC, the Forestry Industry's national training organisation at its annual award
ceremony in Rotorua recently.
- download file
POTENTIAL FOR OTAGO SOUTHLAND FORESTRY RESOURCE IN ETS REVIEW
(Sept 2009)
It's pleasing to see the importance of new forest plantations recognised by the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme. The Emissions Trading Scheme select committee set up by the Government to review the current Emissions Trading Scheme reported its findings earlier in the week, recommending that New Zealand has an emissions trading scheme, rather than a carbon tax, as the primary economic mechanism to manage climate change.
Peter Weir, Environment Manager for Tapanui-based Ernslaw One and Chair of the NZ Forest Owners Association Environment Committee, says policy and political uncertainty has actively discouraged new forest plantings over recent years. "The Government needs multiple party support to confirm legislation that provides for stable long term policy to incentivise new planting."
- download file
SWC BACKS INCREASED TRUCK WEIGHTS ON ROADS
(July 2009)
A government proposal which would allow trucks to carry heavier loads has the backing of the Southern Wood Council. Transport Minister Steven Joyce is seeking feedback on a plan to introduce a permit system allowing trucks to weigh up to 50 tonnes on specific routes, up from the current statutory limit of 44 tonnes.
Local councils will be involved in permit approval under the proposal, with the permit system ensuring that the heavier trucks travel only on appropriate designated roads and bridges. Southern Wood Council chairman Grant Dodson said the proposal has many benefits for forest owners transporting logs across the region.
- download file
FORESTRY TRAINING PROVIDING SKILLED WORKFORCE
(July 2009)
There's an underlying long-term commitment to forestry in Otago and Southland despite the current recession. The on-going investment in forestry is more than money and technology; it's also in equipping people to ensure a skilled workforce continues to base themselves in the region.
One such person is Kevin Marsh, a Forestry Supervisor with City Forest, who is currently overseeing replanting in the company's Waipori and Milton forests. A winner of the modern apprentice of the year - Forestry in 2006, the Dunedin-based 30-year-old is in charge of silviculture, supervising the crews contracted to plant the 400,000 seedlings going into City Forest blocks this year.
- download file
FORESTRY PRODUCTS INDUSTRY AWARDS WORKERS
(July 2009)
You're never too old to learn, as forestry workers in Otago and Southland will testify. From school leavers to a contractor pushing 60, the skills of Otago and Southland's forestry industry were celebrated at a recent Forestry Industry Training & Education Council (FITEC) graduation ceremony in Dunedin, which recognises the achievements of trainees within the wood industry.
The FITEC graduates gained national certificates in variety of forestry disciplines, from forestry skills including planting and thinning, to business skills that cover supervision and leadership qualifications.
- download file
WOODCHIP COULD BE THE ANSWER TO HEATING THE SOUTH
(June 2009)
Humble woodchips, traditionally produced for gardeners, is also a growing source of energy and potentially jobs. So much so, local forestry business Ernslaw Bio-Energy has imported two purpose-built woodchip machines from Germany to turn its non-export grade logs into a woodchip fuel. Conventional firewood is still part of Ernslaw Bio-energy's fuel operations. But wood is an even more efficient energy when chipped or manufactured into pellets, and this is increasingly going into woodchip boilers and pellet burners for industrial and commercial energy.
- download file
INSTALLATION OF MORE WOOD FUELLED BURNERS IN SOUTHERN NZ
(June 2009)
The installation of more wood-fuelled boilers in southern New Zealand by organisations with large energy requirements could have a big impact on air quality. That's the view of Living Energy Ltd Managing Director Rob Mallinson whose specialist bioenergy heating company installs commercial and industrial wood-fuelled boilers around New Zealand. Living Energy installed a woodchip plant at Dunstan High School in March and another at its hostel in Alexandra in April, replacing its traditional coal-fired system.
- download 0.2Mb file
ENERGY SOURCE HEATING UP
(June 2009)
Otago and Southland is very well positioned to exploit the emerging global shift into renewable energy sources. Southern forests are likely to be an important part of future energy resources, as New Zealanders tap into what's termed the new "green industrial revolution". Bioenergy and biofuel production from wood and harvest residues has been identified as a potential revenue stream for forest growers. Bioenergy currently provides 40 percent of industrial energy to the lumber and pulp & paper industries in New Zealand.
- download 0.2Mb file
WOOD USE ON CONSTRUCTION SITES INCREASING
(December 2008)
More wood is being used on construction sites around New Zealand, and Otago and Southland is no exception. There's been growth in wood used for new house framing, flooring, and new house floor joists, as more home builders make conscious choices for sustainable building options.
According to the latest BRANZ report on market share of timber and timber consumption in new building work for the first six months of 2008 in New Zealand, there was a 3.1 percent increase in timber share which was offset by decreases in concrete masonry/panels, light steel framing, and other framing. The new house framing market share was up by five percent, as was flooring.
Southern Wood Council chairman Grant Dodson welcomes the growth in wood use, and points out the increase is having a positive environmental impact as wood, of all the construction materials, is the only one that removes carbon from the air.
- download 0.04Mb file
SOUTHERN WOOD COUNCIL WORKS TO ELIMINATE DRUG & ALCOHOL ABUSE FROM THE WORKPLACE
(December 2008)
The Southern Wood Council has welcomed a new national New Zealand forestry drug and alcohol code of practice.
The NZ Forest Owners Association (NZFOA) has rolled out its policy to forest owners throughout New Zealand over recent weeks, inviting adoption from all individual businesses operating in the forest sector. The objective of the policy, and the Code of Practice of which it is part, is to minimise accident rates in New Zealand plantation forests. This move reinforces the Southern Wood Council's work in this area.
- download 0.04Mb file
RETIRING SOUTHERN WOOD COUNCIL CHAIRMAN PREDICTS GREATER WOOD USE IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY
(October-2008)
The use of wood for building in New Zealand is likely to take off as we recognise it is the world's most renewable raw material. That's the prediction from Matthew Hitchings, who has just stepped down as the inaugural chairman of the Southern Wood Council. Mr Hitchings has, for the last seven years, headed one of the most active regional forestry groups in New Zealand.
- download 0.04Mb file
SOUTHERN WOOD COUNCIL ELECTS NEW CHAIRMAN
(October-2008)
Grant Dodson is the new chairman of the Southern Wood Council, taking over from Matthew Hitchings. Mr Dodson, who is Chief Executive of City Forests Ltd, was elected to the position at the council's recent annual meeting. Mr Dodson is keen for the council to continue to be a well respected and unified voice for the wood products industry in the lower South Island, across all issues affecting forestry.
The Southern Wood Council represents all the major forest owners and the larger wood processing and manufacturing companies within Otago and Southland. It was formed seven years ago to promote and co-ordinate the sustainable economic development of the forest products industry in southern New Zealand.
- download 0.03Mb file
THEY'RE USING OUR TREES OVER THERE
(August-2008)
The effort in attracting one of Japan's leading paper producers to invest in forestry in Southland is paying off. The Oji Paper group, one of the largest paper manufacturers in the world, is benefiting from eucalyptus now being harvested in Southland, and shipped as woodchip to Japan.
The trees planted by the group in a joint venture company 16 years ago are now on-stream, and being transformed into high quality writing and printing paper half a world away. These southern plantings represent about 43.5 percent of all eucalyptus plantings in New Zealand. Now into its third year of harvesting, around 120,000 tonnes of logs are being cut from these forests each year, on a 15 year cycle. This is expected to double before 2011.
- download 0.02Mb file
SOUTHERN WOOD COUNCIL OPPOSES INCREASE IN ROAD USER CHARGES
(July-2008)
The Southern Wood Council has added its support to transport industry opposition for the latest increase in Road User Charges. Increases in the Road User Charge tax amount to 25 percent over the last 18 months, and this is affecting profitability in the forestry industry.
- download 0.03Mb file
FORESTRY BOOSTING LOCAL ECONOMY
(May-2008)
Already one of the top earners in the southern South Island, the forestry sector is poised to continue to be a major contributor to the region's economic growth over the next two decades and beyond.
The latest wood flow projections from MAF present a positive long-term outlook for Otago and Southland's forests, and for the wood processing industries they support.
- download 0.03Mb file
WHAT'S ON THE FORESTRY SECTORS' CHRISTMAS WISH LIST (20-December-2007)
New Zealanders' efforts to be kind to the planet don’t need to revolve solely around recycling household waste; there’s a big contribution we all can make to sustainability that’s right under our noses. Wood is the new 'green,' and using it is a very effective and straight-forward way of keeping the country’s carbon production in check.
- download 0.03Mb file
Otago and Southland Wood Availability Forecasts for 2007–2040
(20-December-2007)
Timber supply is predicted to grow in Otago and Southland in the long-term. After 2015, the combined Otago and Southland regional log harvest has the potential to increase from the current 1.5 million cubic metres, rising to about 2.8 million cubic metres from around 2020.
- download 0.04Mb file
Southern Forests Growing
Over 3.6 million radiata pine and Douglas fir seedlings were planted in Otago and Southland’s major forests over the past year. The seedlings were restocking the existing large commercial forests across Otago and Southland, as part of the routine cycle of sustainable forestry practiced by forest owners in replacing harvested trees.
- download 0.03Mb file
Southern Wood Council Welcomes Carbon Trading
The Southern Wood Council has welcomed the government's shift in its recently announced carbon trading scheme, to now recognise owners of forests planted after 1989.
- download 0.03Mb file
Think employment in forestry, and you may focus on a man chain-sawing trees.
But Julie Walkinshaw, Manufacturing Manager at the Dongwha Patinna (NZ) Ltd panel production plant at Mataura has put her hand up to say that the sector offers a lot more than tree trimming for career development, and for women.
- download 0.02Mb file
Forestry as a career
A DVD by the Southern Wood Council has put the region to the forefront in promoting forestry as a career to its young people. The 'Faces of Forestry' DVD is one of the first produced in New Zealand to promote career opportunities within the forestry and wood products industries.
Forestry requires a wide range of workers, and Southern Wood Council chairman Matt Hitchings says the DVD, produced in conjunction with the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT), is an ideal way to explain the depth of career prospects specifically to students.
- download 0.02Mb file
Carbon Sinks Seen As a Goldmine for Otago & Southland
The forests of Otago and Southland could well be thought of as green gold, thanks to the carbon storing qualities of its trees.
A report commissioned by the Southern Wood Council on the regional carbon balance of the southern forestry and wood processing sector backs this. Calculations of carbon sinks and emissions within the region show a net credit of carbon of 19 to one.
That means carbon produced by milling and processing of wood in Otago and Southland is off-set by the carbon credits earned through absorbing qualities of the forest plantations in the region. In effect, the carbon sinks significantly outweigh emissions, which is unique to the forestry industry...
- download 0.03Mb file
Council Concerned over Land Use and Climate Change Options
(05-March-2007)
Recently in an attempt to implement some of New Zealand's obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, the Government released a policy options paper on “Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change”. This is currently in consultation phase with public meetings scheduled in Invercargill on the 6th of March and Dunedin on the 8th of March...
- download 0.04Mb file
Forest Industries Release Careers DVD
(05-May-2006)
The Southern Wood Council took an opportunity at the recent Forest Industry Training
Presentation to launch its DVD – the Faces of Forestry.
- download 0.04Mb file
Modern Apprentice, Simon Carey of Alistair McKenzie Contracting receiving his National Certificate from FITEC Chief Executive Officer, John Blakey. |
Forestry Trainees Recognised at Regional Training Presentation (03-May-2006)
The forest industries showed their ongoing commitment to training, when around
135 people attended the Annual Regional Training Presentations, at the Dunedin Convention Centre last Friday afternoon.
- download 0.04Mb file
Council Welcomes Deforestation Policy Change
(December-2005)
The Southern Wood Council is delighted that the Minister of Forestry Jim Anderton is asking officials to explore measures to address the issues of green house gas emissions arising from deforestation, council spokesman Phil Taylor said today.
"This is the best Xmas present the industry could wish for."
- download 0.02Mb file
Time for Government to back Forestry for the Future (21-November-2005)
The Southern Wood Council is calling on the government to recognise the
environmental net benefit delivered by the southern forestry industry in the light
of a new study by leading primary industry expert Peter Sligh.
- download 0.25Mb file
Council Extends Pine Branch to Government
[Kyoto Protocol Carbon Credits] (30-June-2005)
- download 0.25Mb file
Future of Southland Wood Industry Jeopardized by Unjust Rating Policy (15-June-2005)
- download 0.25Mb file
Wood Industry Creates Strong Communities (14-June-2005)
- download 0.25Mb file
Southern Wood Sector Leads the Way in GDP Growth (17-May-2005)
- download 0.3Mb file
2005 Forestry Training Awards
(06-May-2005)
- Held in Gore
- download 0.08Mb file
The Southern Wood Industry Launches Journalism Award
(09-March-2005)
- Launch of the inaugural SWC Journalism Excellence award.
- download 0.25Mb file
The Southern Wood Council
(January-2005)
- a Unique Grouping (LEDIS Local Economic Develoment Initiatives, Jan 2005)
- download 0.1Mb file
Energy Management (09-May-2004)
– Reclaiming Power over Energy (NZ Forest Industries magazine, May 2004 issue)
- download 0.3Mb file
Southern Wood Council Launch
(13-December-2004)
- download 0.2Mb file
Southern Training Scheme Launch
(13 December 2004)
- download 0.1Mb file
