Building a stronger Queensland forest and timber industry |
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Stay up to date with Hub news and take advantage of the latest round of research reports released by Queensland's Forestry Hubs. How will your business utilise this knowledge? |
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The South & Central Queensland Regional Forestry Hub in collaboration with Maryborough Aboriginal Corporation hosted a National Forestry Day event on 30 August with a tree planting ceremony and morning tea at the newly established Moonaboola Gardens in Maryborough. The inaugural theme for National Forestry Day was “Planting for the Future” in celebration of the great work Australia’s forest industries do fighting climate change, supporting jobs and creating sustainable products. Marking the occasion was the planting of Hoop Pines (also know as Araucaria Cunninghamii) - a symmetrical, cone-shaped tree that grows up to 60 metres in height and gets its common name from the outer layer of bard which forms scale-like horizontal hoops.
The event was hosted by Manager, Martine Britton from MACorp and South & Central Queensland Regional Forestry Hub Manager, Kerry Fullarton who were joined by other regionally based forest and timber industry representatives including the Hubs Chair, James Hyne from Hyne Timber, Lead Forester, Stephen Mahon from HQPlantations and OH&S Manager and Special Projects, Jana Costello from Sunchip Group.
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NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSES IN TIMBER AND WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY |
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An evaluation of the feasibility of new technologies and processes in timber and wood products industry to deliver a range of cost-competitive products has delivered key recommendations structured in four overlapping areas at the intersection of the resource, processing, and markets/use domains. These four domains are areas for existing or potential incremental and/or advanced innovation as follows: (i) Opportunity Realisation (ii) Value Chain Enhancement (iii) Fabrication Innovation (iv) Resource Optimisation & Development. | | |
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NQ HUB SILVOPASTORAL PROJECT UPDATE |
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The Silvopastoral trials for commercial pine systems in North Queensland project is assessing the economic merits of combined grazing and commercial tree farming systems compared to traditional forestry and grazing only practices, measuring and modelling the returns from field trials with cattle grazed in widely spaced commercial pine forests and comparing the returns from carbon sequestration and combined timber and beef production returns with traditional grazing only activities on cleared farmland. The NQ Regional Forestry Hub is working with a number of research and funding partners to deliver this three year project. QDAF team photo (from L to R): Tony Burridge, Troy Stephenson, Luke Danaher and Nahuel Pachas | | |
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ASSESSMENT OF THE VOLUMES OF WOOD BIOMASS RESIDUES AND THEIR POTENTIAL USES AND MARKETS |
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ADHESIVE RESEARCH FOR SOFTWOOD AND HARDWOOD ENGINEERED WOOD PRODUCTS |
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| | This recently completed study investigated the quantities, locations and current or potential uses for woody waste from forest and plantation harvesting, primary and secondary processing, and commercial, industrial, construction and demolition activities in southern and central Queensland. This study describes that woody waste resources available in the study area form a hierarchy in terms of their usability and their attractiveness to potential users. At the bottom of the hierarchy are native hardwood forest logging residues, municipal and demolition waste and CCA treated timber. At the top of the hierarchy is sawmill waste from softwood sawmills. In between are woody waste from commercial and industrial activities, (excluding softwood sawmill waste), construction waste and softwood plantation logging residue. The report notes that before waste wood can be used as a resource, the Queensland Department of Environment and Science must first develop an End of Waste (EOW) code for that specific waste material. | | |
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| | The engineered wood projects covered in this report consist of structural and non-structural, indoor and fully exposed/ outdoor applicable products manufactured from sawn timber, timber veneers, timber strands, fibres and particles. The report also presents challenges specific to both hardwood and softwood species in the region covered by the South & Central Regional Forestry Hub. An extensive list of adhesives and their technical details, uses, applicable standards as well as market demand, OH&S and skills issues were identified and discussed. | | |
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EVALUATING THE FEASIBILITY OF USING NEW HARVESTING TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSESS IN QUEENSLAND’S FOREST OPERATIONS |
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Researchers have identified a range of bottlenecks and challenges within the South & Central Regional Forestry Hub's forestry sector – both in industrial plantations and private native forests. Issues range across resource and environment, planning and operations management and human resources. The main new harvesting technologies potentially offering solutions to these identified bottlenecks include suitable remote sensing technologies, harvest/haulage planning tool at tactical level, harvester-head data planning tool, cable-assisted machines for steep terrain logging and integrated biomass harvesting. | | |
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