Friday Offcuts – 24 April 2025
Click to Subscribe - It's FREE! Welcome to this week's edition of Friday Offcuts.We are coming to you, once again, a day early this week, with ANZAC Day tomorrow - a time for reflection across NZ and Australia, as we remember those who served. In this issue, we start with a critical five-year review of the NSW Alps following the 2019/20 bushfires. John O’Donnell’s in-depth analysis challenges current prescribed burning practices and outlines practical steps toward creating more fire-resilient landscapes. In New Zealand, in response to recent changes in industry training, FOA and FICA have established a joint committee to ensure vocational systems better reflect the real needs of forest owners, contractors, and the wider workforce. On the technology front, ESA’s soon-to-launch Biomass satellite is set to revolutionise forest carbon monitoring from space. Meanwhile, drone innovation in Canada could redefine aerial fire suppression, and cutting-edge aerial tree mapping is evolving in the UK. We also highlight advances in data-driven tools, including the upgraded Radiata and Redwood Dashboard and promising research on early detection of water stress in Kauri. In wood processing, Wesbeam’s role in Australia’s Future Framing Initiative strengthens efforts to keep timber construction competitive. The NZTIF also shares timely safety lessons following a serious sawmill incident. Finally, as part of an upcoming international timber bridge conference in Rotorua, a model bridge competition will showcase innovation in timber design. Read these and more in another packed edition of Friday Offcuts.
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This week we have for you:
The NSW Alps 5 years after the 2019/2020 bushfires
Opinion and opportunities review John O’Donnell on 4 April 2025The author undertook this 5-year review of the alpine area post the 2019/20 Dunns Road bushfire, in particular the Kosciuszko National Park (KNP) section and areas to the west and south of this. One of the reasons for this review was to provide a detailed photographic record 5 years after the Dunns Road bushfire and also consider opportunities to better manage the land and vegetation. The full review link is available. The review involved an assessment of 100 kilometres of forest, woodland and grassland areas of the NSW alps next to sealed roads affected by the 2019/ 2020 Dunns Road bushfire. The author believes in the importance of providing alternative opinions in order to optimise fire management in this important area. The 2019/ 20 bushfires had a disastrous impact across the KNP landscape, as evidenced by the information in this review The same disastrous impact applied with the 2003 KNP bushfires and earlier intense bushfires. The author considers that current fire management approaches across this landscape are not working. The current small scale prescribed burn approach is not going to work in the KNP, the areas to the west nor elsewhere. Across NSW, prescribed burning of forested areas has an average of 0.6 % of forests per year over the last seven years. Section 4.1 outlines current prescribed burning rates in KNP, in reality they are very low, although slightly higher than the very low recent NSW prescribed burning of forests % average. Over the landscape, fuels now contain a high proportion of woody material and for many years subsequent bushfires will have long burnout periods and be more damaging to the regenerating trees and vegetation. The author and others consider that it should be the aim of management of all forests that the scale and degree of impact of high intensity bushfires should be limited in extent as far as possible. And this can only be done by professionally targeted and applied prescribed burning and cooperation between all key parties. The same applies to setting up fire resilient landscapes. Fire fighter and community safety are also very important. The author considers that repeat bushfires at 6 to 10 years post 2019/ 2020 may be a whole different proposition and likely result in large scale vegetation changes. With the large fuel loads within KNP from the 2003, 2019/ 20, earlier bushfires and other areas of high fuel loads outside these areas, repeat bushfires and megafires are possible in any bad fire season, or maybe not even a bad fire season. Thirteen opportunities have been identified in Section 5 that represent real opportunities to start turning current fire management around. The author has made the effort to document these opportunities in good faith and like most, wants to see a fire resilient, health and fire safe alps. Read full report Source & image credit: John O'Donnell New committee to shape the future of NZ forestry training
The Forest Owners Association (FOA) and the Forest Industry
Contractors Association (FICA) have come together to establish a new
joint Training Committee to strengthen how the sector approaches
vocational training.The new committee is comprised of eight individuals, with four representatives from key industry organisations, who will provide coordinated leadership and ensure training systems reflect the real needs of forest owners, contractors and the wider workforce. This includes one representative from Ngā Pou a Tāne, bringing a Te Ao Māori perspective to the table, and another from the Farm Forestry Association, ensuring the voice of small-scale forest owners is represented. Kevin Ihaka, a respected forestry contractor and board member of both FICA and Muka Tangata, has been elected as the new Committee chair. He brings extensive experience and insight into forestry training. The committee’s work will focus on the following priorities over the next one to two years:
Bringing industry voices together The new committee reflects a shared commitment by FOA and FICA to work more closely on long-standing challenges in training, such as fragmented feedback loops, duplicated effort and misalignment between funding and industry needs. By bringing together forest owners and contractors in a structured way, the committee is well-placed to advocate for training solutions that are practical, coordinated and future-focused. It also provides a mechanism to respond more effectively to government consultations and policy developments, helping ensure the industry’s voice is clearly heard in decisions that impact its workforce. Supporting a more skilled, adaptable workforce The ultimate aim of the committee is to help the sector build a more skilled and adaptable workforce—one that is well-equipped to respond to ongoing change, whether that’s through new technology, environmental requirements or evolving job roles. By improving how training is planned, delivered and evaluated, FOA and FICA hope to better support both new entrants to forestry and those already working in the sector who are looking to upskill. A step forward for industry collaboration The formation of the Joint Training Committee marks a step forward in collaboration between two key parts of the forestry sector. It reflects a desire to move beyond business as usual and take a more strategic approach to workforce development. As the work of the committee progresses, FOA and FICA are confident that this partnership will help create a more responsive, sustainable and effective training system for the future of New Zealand forestry. Media release Source: Forest Owners Association (FOA) Model bridge competition at international conference
The International Conference on Timber Bridges, to be held in
Rotorua, New Zealand, in June, will include a competition for design and
building of model timber bridges.Several groups of young engineers, including both professional engineers and students, will be given only one day to construct a model bridge of their own design, for display at the conference. Each team will have young professional engineers supported by engineering students. Each model bridge will be a 1:20 scale model of a 32-metre span timber highway bridge. The participants will be given a limited amount of material, including small sticks of pine, some wire and screws, and plywood decking. The bridge competition is being sponsored by Red Stag TimberLab, who will provide materials, supervision, and the venue for construction of the model bridges. Red Stag TimberLab sponsoring director, Jason Cordes says “Red Stag is excited to be part of the International Timber Bridge Conference and bridge building competition. It is great to see engineers embracing timber in innovative new designs to create lighter, more sustainable bridge solutions”. The bridges will be tested to destruction on the last day of the conference. Prizes will be awarded, based on structural performance, innovation and creativity. For more information on the conference, or the competition, visit the ICTB event website. For media follow up, contact Amy Abel, Conferences & Events, 0275-260-337, amy@confer.co.nz. Image description: Arad Bay Bridge, Kingdom of Bahrain (credit: Redstag TimberLab)  Radiata & Redwood financial modelling - dashboard upgrade
A few months ago, Scion and Carbon Critical released the
Multispecies Dashboard - a free, interactive web tool for exploring and
comparing carbon sequestration and growth rates across 11
exotic tree species commonly planted in Aotearoa New Zealand.In a recent upgrade, the Dashboard now includes financial modelling capabilities for radiata pine and coast redwood. This enhancement builds on research led by Dr Michael Watt and colleagues at Scion, enabling users to assess the financial viability of redwood relative to radiata under different management regimes. The revised Dashboard features the same intuitive user interface as before: users can mark one or more locations of interest on the map, select species and silvicultural regimes, and generate graphs to visualise outcomes. The major new feature is the addition of financial performance metrics for radiata and redwood. Users can now view projected cash flows over time and the estimated internal rate of return (IRR), and net present value (NPV) as a function of carbon price. These insights can help landowners evaluate the profitability of planting these two species at a given site - whether their objective is timber or carbon - and exploring key variables such as rotation length and cartage distance. Scion and Carbon Critical plan to continue development to extend financial modelling to all 11 species included in the Dashboard. They are currently seeking input from growers of eucalyptus, cypress, Douglas fir, and blackwood to better understand the costs and revenues associated with these species. Explore the latest version of the Multispecies Dashboard. Source & image credit: Carbon Critical  Safety first: Lessons from a saw accident in the workplace
On 20 December 2021, Ashley Industrial Services Ltd – a
family-owned sawmill/manufacturing plant in Oxford - experienced a
tragic accident. While operating a trim saw to trim wane from
the ends of timber, one of our employees accidentally had his hand
strike the saw's blade. The result was devastating, the worker lost
parts of two fingers and sustained a degloving injury to another.Key Learnings The crushing incident has led us to further evaluate what we considered were already robust health and safety procedures and to further invest in improved safety measures. Some of our key learnings include: 1) The value of investing in safer machinery. In response to the incident, we have heavily invested in new safer machinery, machinery housing and guarding upgrades that total up to $1 million. Those upgrades included, re-fitting our jump saw, installing a new emergency rope system on the conveyor, installing a pack saw and new optimizer and specialised machine housing. These investments not only replace our outdated equipment but also enhanced our overall health and safety measures, ensuring our operations meet the highest standards. 2) Standards and Risk Assessment. We learned that relying solely on international safety benchmarks for machinery and guarding isn’t enough. New Zealand’s requirements differ, and it is vital to conduct our own risk assessments against New Zealand's standard. We employed an ongoing external health and safety consultant to assist us in reviewing all our existing and new machinery risk matrixes. They also helped us to review and improve all written systems including our auditing systems and standard operating procedures (SOPs). They have been a valuable voice for us. 3) Training, Discipline, and Culture. Our approach to safety now includes further training opportunities, a more thorough assessment regime, regular licence checks and stricter disciplinary around employee personal protective equipment (PPE) breaches. More than anything, this experience has reinforced that it may not be reasonable to eliminate all risks entirely, we can aim to and work together to minimise risk. As long as our systems are in place and our peers and management strive to catch us when we fall, then the risks lower for all our entire team. The lessons we’ve learned extend beyond our own sawmill. For everyone involved in the sawmilling sector—or any business using heavy machinery—the following points are crucial:
Source: New Zealand Timber Industry Federation (NZTIF) The Earth Explorer Biomass satellite to launch this monthESA’s state-of-the-art Biomass mission has been designed to shed new light on the health and dynamics of the world’s forests, revealing how they are changing over time and, critically, enhancing our understanding of their role in the global carbon cycle.It is the first satellite to carry a fully polarimetric P-band synthetic aperture radar for interferometric imaging. Thanks to the long wavelength of P-band, around 70 cm, the radar signal can slice through the forest canopy and whole forest layer to measure the ‘biomass’, meaning the woody trunks, branches and stems, which is where trees store most of their carbon. Forests play a crucial role in Earth’s carbon cycle by absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon from atmosphere – therefore helping to keep our planet cool. However, as swathes of forest continue to be cleared, carbon is being released back into the atmosphere and exacerbating climate change. From 666 km above, the Biomass instrument will be able to ‘see’ through the leafy forest canopy and measure the height of the trees. This information will be used to work out how much biomass – a proxy for carbon – is being stored in forests. This will reduce the major uncertainties in calculations of carbon stocks and fluxes on land, including carbon fluxes associated with land-use change, forest degradation and forest regrowth. The ESA Earth Explorer Biomass satellite will launch on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 29 April 2025. More >> Source: ESA Wesbeam joins lightweight timber framed construction initiative
Wesbeam is proud to be part of the groundbreaking Future Framing
Initiative (FFI), a collaborative program designed to
revolutionise the lightweight timber framed construction industry in
Australia.Leading companies in Australia’s timber construction sector, including Wesbeam, have united under the governance of Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) to modernise timber design standards and strengthen the industry’s competitive position. Key objectives of the Future Framing Initiative include:
Wesbeam is committed to ensuring the future of timber construction remains strong, efficient, and sustainable. Source & image credit: Architecture & Design, Wesbeam  Research highlight: detecting water stress in KauriIn an exciting advancement towards proactive water management for forests, new research shows that early signs of water stress in Kauri can be detected as early as two weeks from the start of drought conditions, and two weeks before signs of stress are usually detected using a conventional approach. These results were published in the Remote Sensing Journal in January.This is the first time that hyperspectral remote sensing has been used to detect water stress in kauri. Lead author, Jayson Felix, and the team used hyperspectral spectroscopy combined with machine learning to measure water content and compared this with conventional, plant physiological measurements. Different plant traits (chlorophyll, water content, carotenoids) were included in the modelling to further improve detection. Why this research is important As climate models project more frequent and severe drought events in different places around the world, including New Zealand, this study showed that early detection of water stress in Kauri is possible, which will allow us to carry out mitigation actions before trees are heavily impacted. The next step following from leaf-level research is to scale it up to the canopy level, in mature stands of Kauri with hyperspectral cameras on UAVs or aircraft. The team has already made great progress at scaling this up and the preliminary results are very promising. This research is ongoing and will be published soon. Canopy level detection of water stress will enable faster, large-scale monitoring and early detection of water stress in Kauri and potentially other indigenous and exotic species in NZ. More >> Source: Scion Revolutionary drone technology for battling wildfiresIn a partnership aimed at revolutionising wildfire response, Strategic Natural Resource Group (Strategic) and FireSwarm Solutions Inc. (FireSwarm) have joined forces to make automated aerial fire suppression a reality in Canada. With wildfires escalating in frequency and severity, innovative solutions are urgently needed to support firefighters and protect communities.This collaboration combines Strategic’s expertise in emergency response management with FireSwarm’s first-of-its kind wildfire defence platform, which integrates surveillance, ultra heavy-lift drones, and AI-driven swarm technology. The partnership will focus on Canadian distribution, deployment and operator training. Strategic, the largest Indigenous-owned natural resource consulting group in BC, has supplied wildfire crews to support provincial government firefighting efforts for more than a decade. “We see this unique opportunity to combine our expertise with firefighting and remote aircraft operation in resource management to make a monumental improvement in early attack opportunities,” said Domenico Iannidinardo, CEO, Strategic Natural Resource Group. “Extending our operations to nighttime is an intuitively efficient and generational leap in safety for communities and infrastructure threatened by wildfire.” FireSwarm is a BC wildfire technology startup pioneering autonomous aerial fire suppression solutions using ultra heavy-lift Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS). Designed to operate in conditions when traditional aircraft cannot, it fills critical gaps in wildfire response. “First Nations, wildfire crews, communities and ultimately, families will be safer when our services are approved and ready for deployment in Canada.” said Alex Deslauriers, CEO of FireSwarm. “This BC-based collaboration represents a true step change in wildland firefighting. Together, we’re advancing technology that has the potential to become a standard tool in the field—especially in the currently underserved areas of night and remote wildfire attack.” The swarm technology is being tested in multiple locations across Canada this summer, with the goal of FireSwarm and Strategic delivering this solution in 2026. More >> Source: FireSwarm  SnapSTAT - Exports to India: We're sadly lacking Forestry interests were well represented in the recent New Zealand Government and industry trade mission to India. Coincidentally, the eagle-eyed journos at BusinessDesk produced this chart comparing our exports to India with those from Australia. No need to guess which line is which!
Leicester Uni and Bluesky to revolutionise tree mapping
The University of Leicester has joined forces with one of the
UK’s leading providers of aerial survey and geospatial data,
Bluesky International Ltd, to transform the way we understand
trees. This Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) will
enhance Bluesky’s National Tree MapTM (NTMTM) product,
providing unprecedented insights into the UK’s forests and green
spaces.A KTP is a three-way partnership between an academic institution, a business and a suitably qualified graduate which helps companies innovate for growth. Supported by Innovate UK, the 26-month project will introduce a novel capability to classify tree species using remotely sensed data. This breakthrough will provide vital information on tree growth, disease vulnerability and carbon storage, benefitting sectors ranging from environmental conservation to urban planning. A cloud-based architecture will be developed to integrate this advanced classification system into Bluesky’s workflows, ensuring cost-effective and energy-efficient service delivery. University of Leicester academics Professors Kevin Tansey and Huiyu Zhou are the project leads alongside KTP Associate, Dr M. Amin Khalili, a PhD graduate from the University of Naples Federico II. Professor of Remote Sensing, Kevin Tansey, from the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment at the University of Leicester, commented: “Tree species mapping and labelling with Earth Observation data remains elusive. Current approaches work well for certain species but when scaled up to large areas or complex regions such as the urban environment, accuracy decreases and uncertainty increases. “By combining our specialist knowledge in deep learning, optical and LiDAR image processing and management of big data with Bluesky’s geospatial and data capture expertise, this KTP will create a first-of-its kind solution that will set new industry standards.” Professor of Machine Learning, Huiyu Zhou, from the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, added: “This project gives us an opportunity to explore the fusion of multimodal data, such as point of cloud from Lidar and colour information from a standard CCTV camera, in order to identify tree species in a large-scale image. This is a challenging task due to the size of the targets, but we believe that this research exploration will be rewarding to both the University and Bluesky due to the complementary skills each party brings to the project.” More >> Source: University of Leicester Image credit: Bluesky --(2022)2.jpg) NZ logs are popular with Chinese furniture manufacturers
Picking up on last week’s log market update from the Forest360
team, it’s promising to see New Zealand radiata pine is
being used by Chinese furniture products, which have a strong
export focus. Even better is the news they export to 200 countries and
(given the tariff games) less than a third of those exports are to the
USA.In the latest Tropical Timber Market Report, China Customs has reported wooden furniture exports in 2024 rose 2% to US$24.57 billion year-on-year. The value of China's furniture exports to the top 5 countries, the US, the UK, Australia, Japan and South Korea, earned more than US$12 Billion and accounted for just 52% of the national total. More >> Source: ITTO FWPA welcomes Ian Blanden as new Head of RD&E
Take a moment to get to know our new Head of Research, Development
& Extension (RD&E), Ian Blanden, as he
starts with FWPA this week.With a career spanning over 30 years in executive roles within the forest & wood products industry in both Australia and abroad, Ian offers in-depth commercial expertise across the supply chain—from R&D and operations to sales, logistics, stakeholder engagement, downstream processing and value adding. His leadership in plantation forestry, and natural forest management, has been shaped by a deep desire to connect technical knowledge with commercial business outcomes. He sees FWPA as a great fit, expressing his excitement to join an experienced team with a true care for the future of Australia’s forest & wood products industry. “Ensuring our natural resources contribute to the global bio-economy is complex, and it’s this complexity that excites me. In fact, supplying society’s needs through the sustainable commercial management of our forests is what originally drew me to work in this industry,” he said. A Focus on Continuous Improvement & Giving Back to the Industry “I am keen to use the knowledge I have gained leading large commercial forestry businesses to help FWPA achieve its goal of significantly increasing the importance of the sector in Australia, and to give back to the industry which has served me so well over the last 35 years.” Ian is driven by his passion for continuous improvement and fostering a systematic approach to work and he aims to bring this perspective to his role at FWPA. “In the short term I hope to build upon FWPA’s work to date with additional tools to embed a culture of continuous improvement within the function, and to demonstrate how RD&E supports FWPA in achieving its strategic goals and delivering value to its members,” he said. Ian’s first weeks in the role allow him to coincide with outgoing Head of RD&E, Chris Lafferty, and conduct a thorough handover to benefit from Chris’s extensive knowledge and experience in the organisation. Chris will formally retire from this role at the end of June 2025, but will remain as FWPA’s company secretary. More >> Source: FWPA .jpg) Jobs
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... and one to end the week on... the recruit
The Marine Drill Sergeant noticed a new recruit and barked at him, 'Get your ass over here! What's your name?" "Paul" the new recruit replied. "Look, I don't know what kind of bleeding-heart pansy bullshit they're teaching in boot camp today, but I don't call anyone by his first name," the sergeant scowled. "It breeds familiarity, and that leads to a breakdown in authority. I refer to my recruits by their last names only --- Smith, Jones, Baker. I am to be referred to only as 'Sergeant.' Do I make myself clear?" "Yes, sir, Sergeant!" "Now that we've got that straight, what's your last name?" The recruit sighed "Darling, My name is Paul Darling." "Okay, Paul, here's what I want you to do ....."  And on that note, enjoy your weekend. Cheers.  Brand PartnersOur Partners & Sponsors Friday Offcuts is made possible through the generous support of the following companies.
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