Friday Offcuts – 1 August 2025
Click to Subscribe - It's FREE! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Offcuts.This week, the realities of a changing climate are front and centre. Recent storms in the Nelson-Tasman region have now affected 7,500 hectares, with damage likely to exceed NZ$100 million. The event underscores the need for smarter regulation - particularly a shift toward risk-based slash management and forward planning. Related developments include the upcoming launch of a revised NZ Forestry Code of Practice (ACOP), and a new global study revealing that lightning strikes kill around 320 million trees annually. Wood processors and manufacturers have welcomed the NZ Government’s review of worker exposure standards for wood dust and machine guarding. Meanwhile, in Victoria, concerns are growing over potential job losses at a Benalla mill. On a brighter note, a major finance breakthrough for modular construction in Australia could offer new hope in tackling the housing crisis. Elsewhere across the industry, Victoria has unveiled a new program to boost tree planting on farms, Forestry Corporation marked National Tree Day, Scion is making bold moves in the bioeconomy space, and there’s still time to help shape Australia’s national schools food and fibre education. Finally, we’ve had a strong response to Residues2Revenues 2025. With the program now released, 25% of seats for the October event have already been sold. Read on for these stories and more in another packed edition of Friday Offcuts.
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This week we have for you:
A new era of risk - climate, forestry & smart regulation
The recent storm events in the Nelson-Tasman region have shown
us we are now living in a climate-changed
world. Climate adaptation is no longer optional – it
is essential. So too is the need for robust environmental regulation
that enables us to evolve our practises in response to increasingly
complex and severe weather.The initial estimate of 4,000 hectares of wind-thrown affected forests in the Nelson-Tasman region has crept up to 7,500 hectares now, with the economic impact for forestry likely exceeding $100 million. Many of these forests were in their third rotation, meaning over 50 years of productive forestry occurred without an event – or damage – of this scale. While tree age alone does not determine vulnerability to windthrow or storm damage, factors such as tree height, stem slenderness, wind intensity and topography are all dynamics that must be given extra consideration as the landscape we operate in continues to shift and morph. These forests will need months, if not years, of recovery and restoration efforts, plus intensive planning to mitigate an increased likelihood of subsequent events causing damage to our forest assets. As I write this, more bad weather has met the top of the South. Our thoughts are with the communities that have taken a battering over the last few weeks. Continued investment in science and research will be key for understanding, learning from and adapting to this new ‘norm’. The New Zealand Forest Owners Association (NZFOA) is working with central government, councils and local foresters to collect data from the Nelson-Tasman storm to inform how we can best respond to and plan for future adverse events to improve our overall resilience. As we confront the realities of climate change, it’s not only science and on-the-ground planning that will shape our response – regulation has a crucial role to play. Well-designed, adaptive policy is one of the most powerful tools we must ensure that forest management practices evolve in line with the growing environmental risks we face. Just as we must base our response to storm impacts on evidence and research, so too must our regulatory systems reflect the complexity and variability of the landscapes we manage. The scale of regulatory reform proposed in the national direction package for the Resource Management Act has been a lot for everyone to wade through but of particular interest has been the changes to the slash management regulations the National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry (NES-CF). The NZFOA supports the changes that are being proposed to move to a risk management system that will be incorporated in the harvest management plans by looking more closely at slash mobilisation risk rather than a single number for what's left on the slope. This more nuanced system would allow us to better account for site-specific variables and respond more effectively to the escalating intensity of storm events, particularly in high-risk forestry environments. More >> Source & image credit: Dr Elizabeth Heeg, NZ Forest Owners Association Victoria announces new tree program for farmersVictorian Minister for Agriculture, Ros Spence, is encouraging the state’s farmers and landowners to take advantage of a new program to plant more trees on their farms – helping to boost timber supply, increase biodiversity and prevent soil erosion.Minister Spence announced the Victorian Trees on Farms Program at Parliament House, alongside industry members at the Victorian Forest Products Association’s Timber Plantations showcase. “Victoria’s tree plantations are an essential resource – not only for our state’s biodiversity, but to support our housing pipeline, create regional jobs, and produce paper and packaging products to replace single use plastics,” said Ms Spence. “We’re supporting Victorian farmers and landholders to reap the benefits of planting trees on their farms, including improving grazing outcomes and offsetting carbon emissions.” More >> Source: Inside State Government Wood processors & manufacturers welcome regulatory relief
The announcement this week, by the Workplace Relations and Safety
Minister Brooke van Velden, on reviewing the risks associated
with Worker Exposure Standards for wood dust and machine
guarding, is welcomed by the Wood Products and Manufacturing
Association (WPMA)."The current approach to workplace safety regulations in these areas has been described by WPMA members as inconsistent and therefore unclear, said Mark Ross, WPMA Chief Executive. “Some businesses have invested tens of thousands of dollars in equipment and controls but still struggle to comply with standards that don't align with international benchmarks or practical realities, with one participant saying the standards are ‘an overreaction to risk which will cripple the industry’.” “Wood processing businesses have expressed frustration that the soft wood dust standard is impractical and not based on realistic risk assessments. They are wanting a system that is both protective and practical, and the changes announced by the Minister aim to provide that”, said Ross. "When our wood processing businesses can focus on managing genuine risks rather than navigating complex and sometimes contradictory regulations, they can operate more efficiently, continue to keep their people safe, and contribute more effectively to our regional economy." The Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association will be actively engaging with the consultation process and encourages members to participate and share their experiences. As the Minister states, simplifying machine guarding rules and reviewing the Workplace Exposure Standards will make it easier for people to do the right thing, without compromising safety. More >> Source: Wood Products and Manufacturing Association (WPMA)  Benalla mill workers worried about job losses
A north-east Victorian community has raised concerns about the
partial closure of a wood supplier's local manufacturing site with
"significant" job losses flagged. ForestOne, a major
employer in the area, announced on Friday it would close its dry sawmill
and particleboard manufacturing operations in Benalla. Local media reported an employee had said there would be 140 job losses, but the company told the ABC there would be "much, much less than that". The company would not say how many jobs were expected to be lost because it was confidential information and they were still "working through that". The company has not said when the closure would occur at the site, which has 150 employees. More >> Source: ABC News Image credit: ForestOne Launch of the new NZ forestry ACOP
After months of collaboration and input from forest owners, contractors and forest industry leaders, the revised Forestry Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) will be formally launched on Tuesday 26 August in Palmerston North. The new ACOP has been significantly updated from the 2012 version to align with the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA), shifting from a prescriptive rule-based format to a risk-based approach. It also clarifies how safety responsibilities are shared across the sector using familiar Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) concepts. The launch event, a Spotlight on Safety, can be attended by anyone in the forest growing industry; especially contractors, forest owners and managers and industry stakeholders involved in safety, training and operational leadership. Forest owners are also encouraged to invite their harvesting and silviculture crews. The ACOP launch marks an important milestone in forestry’s health and safety journey. Input from those working on the ground and dealing with these challenges every day will be vital for its success. What to expect:
Time: 3.00 – 4.00pm (launch event), followed by networking event, 4.00 – 6.00pm Where: Orlando Country Club, 748 Rangitikei Line, Newbury, Palmerston North. Please register via the FICA website to assist with planning and catering. The event is a collaborative effort delivered by the Forest Industry Safety Council, Forest Industry Contractors Association, the NZFOA, the New Zealand Farm Forestry Association and WorkSafe. Source: NZ Forest Owners Association (FOA)
Potential breakthrough for Australia’s housing crisisModscape were pleased to be featured on Channel 9 News this week, in a segment spotlighting how offsite and modular construction is fast gaining traction across Australia – with access to finance now catching up to the pace of innovation.This highlighted the Commonwealth Bank’s move to support lending for assessed offsite builders – a shift that removes one of the biggest barriers for customers and paves way for wider adoption of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). Filmed inside our Essendon Fields facility, the segment showcased how Modscape + Modbotics is already delivering faster, smarter, and more sustainable outcomes through advanced manufacturing – with buildings assembled offsite and installed in a day. It’s this time-saving advantage that’s helped drive rapid growth in our business, and why we’re seeing increasing interest from governments, developers and homeowners alike. As demand for housing intensifies, and construction faces urgent calls for productivity reform, MMC is no longer a fringe idea – it’s a scalable, future-ready solution whose time has come. More >> Source: Modscape / 9 News  Scion to ignite New Zealand's bioeconomy
Two visionary business cases—the Te Papa Tipu
BioInnovation Park and the BioFactory—have been submitted by Scion
for consideration to the Government's Regional Infrastructure
Fund (RIF).Developed in partnership with RotoruaNZ, the proposals offer a transformational opportunity to invest in infrastructure that will power regional development and ignite New Zealand's bioeconomy. With bold investment, these projects could unlock $30 billion in new high-value bio-based products, generating high-value jobs, strengthening local economies, and driving sustainable growth. The proposed developments are situated at Scion’s Rotorua campus, Te Papa Tipu BioInnovation Park, which hosts a dynamic innovation ecosystem of scientists and more than 43 tenants. The area where Scion Group’s Rotorua campus is located is known as Te Mingi, home to the tangata whenua – Ngāti Hurungaterangi, Ngāti Taeotu, and Ngāti Te Kahu – collectively known as Ngā Hapū e Toru. Recognising the deep ancestral connection of these hapū to the land, Scion was gifted the name Te Papa Tipu, meaning Growth from the Land. Scion and Ngā Hapū e Toru have nurtured a partnership to oversee the land’s use and development. Scion is a major partner in the upcoming Bioeconomy Innovations Conference 2025, being held in Rotorua on 21-22 October 2025. The aim is to unlock the future of sustainable bio-products, a key goal of Scion and the newly created New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science. More >> Source & image credit: Scion .jpg) The secret stories of trees are written in the floorboards
Have you ever examined timber floorboards and pondered why they
look the way they do? Perhaps you admired the super-fine grain,
a stunning red hue or a swirling knot, and wondered how it came to be?
Or perhaps you don’t know what tree species your floorboards are made from, and how to best look after them? Finely polished floorboards reveal detail about the timber that can be much harder to detect in unpolished boards or other sawn timbers. “Reading” the knots, stubs and other characteristics of floorboards can reveal what type of tree produced it and how it grew. It can also reveal fascinating details about the lives of the trees they once were. A variety of tree species are used to make timber floors. Hardwood species include the pale cream of Tasmanian oak, the honeyed hues of spotted gum and the deep red of jarrah. Other times, softwood such as pine or spruce is used. Such species are often fast-growing, and prized for their availability and affordability. More >> Source: The Conversation / Author: Gregory Moore, University of Melbourne Have your say: Australian School's food & fibre education
Earlier this year, AgriFutures released the National
Schools Food and Fibre Education Strategy Discussion Paper.
Now, after more than 100 responses and strong engagement from
across the country including from ForestLearning, a final draft has been
produced – and we would value your input!This national Strategy aims to unlock food and fibre education opportunities for every student, in every system: urban and rural, primary and secondary. Earlier feedback highlighted the need for Government involvement, inclusion of Vocational Education and Training and to portray contemporary food and fibre industries. A further summary is provided in the draft Strategy. With the feedback deadline looming, we’re calling for your help in shaping the final version via an online feedback survey that closes on Wednesday 20 August. View the Strategy, then have your say via the survey. Or for more information, register for the public webinar to be held on Monday, 4 August 2025 for a live overview, review of key priorities, and Q&A session. This is the last opportunity to provide input before the Strategy is finalised, and your insights will help create an approach that will support your students now and into the future. More >> Source & image credit: ForestLearning  SnapSTAT - Which countries have contributed the most CO2 emissions to date? This graph shows each country’s share of global cumulative CO2 emissions since 1750. Includes fossil fuel and industry emissions, but not land use. The United States has emitted nearly a quarter of all CO2 since 1750, the most of any country! .png) More: https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-metrics? How lightning is quietly reshaping forests
According to a new global study published in Global
Change Biology, lightning directly kills approximately 320 million
trees each year — a number that rivals other major causes
of forest disturbance but has gone largely unrecognised. These deaths
release an estimated 0.21–0.30 gigatons of carbon annually,
underscoring lightning’s surprising role in shaping forest
structure and the global carbon cycle.Modelling a Hidden Killer While lightning has long been associated with wildfires, its direct impact on tree mortality has rarely been quantified. To address this gap, researchers led by Andreas Krause at the Technical University of Munich integrated lightning mortality into a dynamic global vegetation model known as LPJ-GUESS. Their approach used detailed field data from Barro Colorado Island in Panama, where each lightning strike was found to kill about 3.2 trees, often through lethal flashovers that affect neighbouring trees up to 45 meters away. By scaling these observations with global lightning density maps from satellite and ground-based sensors, the model simulated lightning’s effects across tropical and temperate forests worldwide. Not Just a Tropical Problem Simulations revealed that:
More >> Source: ScienceBlog  Celebrating National Tree Day
Forestry Corporation celebrated National Tree Day, and
reenforcing the environmental role that State forests play in carbon
capture, biodiversity and providing the state with sustainable timber
products.NSW’s two million hectares of State Forests are important in climate resilience and sustainable resource management, producing enough timber annually to build around 40,000 new homes and essential everyday paper, cardboard and wood products. Forest management developed over the past 100 years also sees every harvested tree regrown or replanted in state forests, reinforcing the commitment as a land manager to forest regeneration and conservation. As part of Planet Ark’s National Tree Day initiative, a Schools Tree Day was held on Friday, July 25, followed by National Tree Day on Sunday, July 27. These nationwide events bring together communities with the goal of planting one million trees. Forestry Corporation’s production nurseries and staff are playing key roles in raising NSW’s trees of the future from seed. The Grafton and Tumut nurseries produce around 11 million seedlings each year. This planting season, the Grafton Nursery has dispatched 300,080 hardwood seedlings, 385,515 softwood seedlings and 4,222 hoop pine seedlings. A further 80,083 eucalypt seedlings have been grown for private customers and 29,000 koala feed trees have been donated to community organisations, which coordinate tree planting programs. Even Christmas trees are grown from seed at the nursery with a crop of 15,000 dispatched recently. “Every seedling we raise at the nursery represents a future tree contributing to cleaner air, better habitat, timber products and more sustainable forests,” Grafton Nursery Manager Karen Morrow said. Blowering Nursery, near Tumut, is on track to dispatch nearly 5.5 million seedlings this winter across Southern NSW. “Our nursery staff started grading and preparing seedlings in early April and have worked hard once again to produce this seedling crop in time for the winter planting season,” Blowering Nursery Manager, Antoinette Roberts said. Most of the trees in state forests are still planted by hand however mechanical planting trials are also under way to assist with this massive tree planting effort. More >> Source & image credit: Forestry Corporation  Vale Alan Cameron
PNG has lost one of its leading plantation silviculturists with
the passing of Alan Cameron. Allan was the co-author with
Kevin White of the silviculture “bible” titled
“Silvicultural techniques in Papua New Guinea forest
plantations”, Bulletin No. 1, Division of Silviculture, Department
of Forests, Port Moresby, 2nd Printing, Pp. 1-99 (1966). This
publication is still used today in the management of PNG’s tree
plantations.Alan commenced his tertiary studies in forestry after he was interviewed by Jim McAdam MM Director of Forests TPNG and awarded a TPNG Forestry cadetship in 1956. He graduated B.Sc. For. (Hons) University of Queensland (1962) and Diploma of Forestry (with distinction) Australian Forestry School (1960). He was dux of his final year at the Australian Forestry School Canberra being awarded the Sir William Schlich Memorial Gold Medal (1960). As part of his cadetship, after two years at the University of Queensland, at the end of 1957, Alan spent 13 months of field work in Bulolo, Wau and Kerevat plantations in PNG. Alan then went to Canberra (Australian Forestry School) to do the last 2 years of the 5-year course. In January 1961, Alan returned to PNG and was based at the Brown River Forest Station. In 1962 Alan commenced investigations into the characteristics of both Teak and Kamarere and the tree breeding program for both species was commenced. This was extended to Hoop and Klinkii pine later with Bulolo as the area of focus. Several teak plantations were inspected, including the original Teak area near Madang, where the Germans had introduced the species to PNG in the 1880’s. The purpose was to assess the more desirable trees that could be used to establish “Seed Orchards.” This program commenced in 1963 at the Brown River and Kerevat with a couple of Forest Officers and a few local staff involved. In February 1964 Alan received training in computer use and program writing. He wrote the program for treatment of tree measurement data and started processing plantation growth data with the computer that year and extended it to written reports soon after. Alan’s scientific writings included “Genetic improvement of teak in New Guinea.” Australian Forester, 30: 76-87 (1966), and “Forest tree improvement in New Guinea. 1 Teak.” Paper prepared for 9th Commonwealth Forestry Conference, New Delhi 1968). In 1965 Alan was awarded the W.N. Hedges Prize, also known as the W.N. Hedges Prize Essay, - an award associated with the journal Australian Forestry. It recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of forestry, specifically through a written essay. The prize is named after W.N. Hedges, and the award is given in conjunction with the journal's publication. In 1966 Alan was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the Teak improvement programs in Malaya, Thailand, Burma, India, and Ceylon in 1966. Because of the military takeover of Burma in 1962 Alan was unable to visit any of their Teak forests. The most progressive operations were in India. He fortunately found some remarkable trees in the southwest and collected some cuttings and sent them to PNG for grafting. They were the best shaped Teak I have ever seen. More >> Jobs
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and one to end the week on... linguistics lesson
A linguistics professor was lecturing his class.
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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