PNG ‘Eco-Timber’ A ‘First’ For Australia

3 March 2008
The first-ever ‘eco timber’ shipment from Lake Murray, Papua New Guinea, has arrived in Australia.
A Greenpeace-managed eco-forestry project, the shipment consists of rosewood, red cedar and tuan, suitable material for joinery, panelling and furniture.
The use of ‘eco timber’ or ‘good wood’ is an integral part of the fast evolving trend of responsible and environmentally sustainable design.
For the last three years, Greenpeace has been working with forest communities in the Lake Murray area in PNG to help them set up small-scale eco-forestry ventures.
Eco-forestry allows the clans to preserve their forests while gaining some financial returns and retaining their traditional values, says Greenpeace. This enables the people to resist offers from the highly destructive industrial timber companies.
This first batch of ‘eco-timber’ was purchased by The Woodage, based in Mittagong, NSW.
Together with other PNG-based NGOs, Greenpeace helped to train the Lake Murray custodial landowners in stringent eco-forestry standards, following strict guidelines from the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) and including best legal, business and marketing practices.
In order to help Australian timber consumers find wood that comes from environmentally responsible and sustainably-managed timber producers, Greenpeace is also launching a more comprehensive version of its online Good Wood Guide.

FEA Commissions $72m Sawmill In Tasmania

Resource manager Forest Enterprises Australia Ltd has commissioned a new $72 million state-of-the-art, environmentally compliant, plantation-based sawmill at Bell Bay in northern Tasmania
The mill was officially opened on February 26 by the Premier of Tasmania Paul Lennon.
The sawmill on a 85-hectare former Carter, Holt Harvey fibreboard plant site at Bell Bay will produce FEA’s new BassPine range of softwood timber products, with multiple uses for building, construction and joinery.
The plant is expected to produce 140,000 cub m of finished timber in its first year, rising to 250,000 cub m by the third year. Up to 70% of BassPine products will be sold to interstate and overseas customers, with a focus on the Asian market.
The new product line comes on top of FEA’s $9 million investment in its EcoAsh product range, which came on line in June, 2005. The developments were assisted with more than $5 million through the Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement funding programs.
FEA, formed in 1985, has established eucalyptus plantations in Tasmania, and on the mainland. FEA Plantations Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of FEA, commenced its first managed investment scheme in 1993 and has issued a new woodlot project every year since then.

If you would like to submit a news item to be considered for inclusion on Inwood Today, please email the text to: Australia, Jim Bowden, and all other countries to info@inwoodmag.com

All news on this site is compiled by Inwood Today and may be subject to international copyright.
News Archives