the forester - Institute of Foresters of Australia

THE FORESTER
A publication of The Institute of Foresters of Australia
Registered by Print Post, Publication No. PP299436/00103
Volume 54, Number 2
June 2011
ISSN 1444-8920
Tales from the dark side
How nature complicates ecohydrological research
Page 6
Forestry research in Papua New Guinea
Page 18
15th Max Jacobs Oration
The tragedy of the forests
Page 10
Contents
NATIONAL NEWS
From the President .......................................................... 3
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tales from the dark side.................................................. 6-7
Harvesting Forest Renewables sustainably ..................... 8-9
Forestry for people: can we do better? by
Sadanandan Nambiar ...................................................... 11
ANZIF Conference Recommendations ........................... 12
MAX JACOBS ORATION
The tragedy of the forests, by Graham Wilkinson ........... 10
DIVISION NEWS
Northern NSW Branch field trip ..................................... 24
ACT Forester of the Year ............................................... 26
Victorian Sticks and Spechts .......................................... 27
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FORESTS
ACIAR forestry research in
Papua New Guinea ......................................................... 19-20
Forests, Creeks and Wetlands kids Conference .............. 21
Festival of the Forests ..................................................... 22
RPF SCHEME
Branislav Zoric ............................................................... 4
Barry Vaughan................................................................ 4
Zoe Ryan ........................................................................ 5
Hilary Smith ................................................................... 5
IFA REMEMBERS
Vale - Ross Penny........................................................... 13
National President
Dr Peter Volker
Board of Directors
Keith Jennings, QLD
Nick Cameron, NSW
Phil Pritchard, ACT
Mike Ryan, VIC
Zoe Ryan, VIC
Lew Parsons, SA
David Wettenhall, WA
Richard Shoobridge, TAS
Adrian Goodwin, ACFA
Chief Executive Officer
Cassandra Spencer
Member Services
Anne Katalinic
National Office
PO Box 7002
YARRALUMLA ACT 2600
Building 6, Wilf Crane Cres
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Phone (02) 6281 3992
Fax (02) 6281 4693
Email: ifa@forestry.org.au
Web Site
www.forestry.org.au
UNIVERSITIES
ANU ............................................................................... 14
University of Melbourne................................................. 23
Southern Cross University .............................................. 28
REGULAR FEATURES
Next date for copy:
10 August 2011
(Vol 54, No. 3)
Welcome to new members .............................................. 9
Lessons Not Learned at University ................................. 29
Summary of Email Bulletins........................................... 30
Membership with the IFA ............................................... 32
Submissions:
The Editor
IFA
PO Box 7002
Yarralumla ACT 2600
ADVERTS
Phone (02) 6281 3992
Fax (02) 6281 4693
Email: ifa@forestry.org.au
Forestry Tools ................................................................. 25
Call for fire stories .......................................................... 29
ACFA ............................................................................. 30
Australian Forestry
Journal
Available on-line at the IFA website:
www.forestry.org.au
The Forester is a quarterly
newsletter published by the
Institute of Foresters of
Australia.
Advertising and sales enquiries
should be directed to:
ifa@forestry.org.au
The views expressed in this publication and any inserts are not necessarily those of the Editor or the Institute of Foresters of Australia.
2
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
From the President
Reading the heartfelt pleas from NZIF President, Andrew
McEwen, on why a forester such as you or I should attend the
ANZIF Conference didn‘t do anything to further convince me of
what I already knew.
I knew I was going to witness an opportunity that doesn‘t
come along too often. The ANZIF 2011 conference gave an
incredible platform for professional foresters from countries
other than Australia and New Zealand, to voice their very real
everyday challenges. In fact, many ANZIF members described
these challenges as jaw dropping.
In the UN International Year of Forests, the ANZIF Conference
focussed specifically on our Pacific neighbours. Authoritative
presentations were made from Tonga, Vanuatu, Samoa, New
Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Marshall
Islands and Fiji addressed a 300 strong audience that included
people from FAO, UNFF, CFA, and Australian politicians. They
had a captive audience in the room and we listened with rapt
attention.
Many of these countries rely on forestry and tourism to keep
their communities fed, housed, educated and healthy. They
spoke of challenges in achieving sustainability in the face of
need to generate foreign income and foreign timber buyers
offering hard to resist prices. The challenges of competing in a
market when their country is poor put everything into
perspective for me.
The foresters that spoke to us at the Conference are educated
just like you and I, some from Australian institutions, and they
want to be able to practice what they have been taught. Yet
they compete with increasing international demands that far
outstrip what their country can provide, laced with political
influence and questionable governance. I was humbled at
times when realising that the ANZIF Conference provided a
platform for views to be expressed free of political influence
and recrimination. I thank my Pacific colleagues for having the
courage to speak out. Perhaps there is a lesson in that for all
IFA members, ―Speak up to advocate professional forest
management without fear or favour.‖
You may wonder why these incredible people became foresters
and more importantly why they stick with it. It‘s simple really.
They are foresters like you and me. And just like you and me
they are extremely passionate about the potential that forestry
can bring to their respective countries and they face the
tragedy of uncontrolled exploitation and lack of will by their
governments to provide the means to stop it.
A recurring theme from each country is that the Pacific region
needs to work closer together on such matters as promotion
and advocacy for the production and use of timber and other
forest products, the sustainable management of forests and
the need for greater professional forestry input into forest
policies and governance, including in Australia and New
Zealand. There is also a need to recognise the land
management knowledge and traditions that indigenous people
can contribute. The Pacific Island nations also look to Australia
and New Zealand to provide funding and guidance. But they
don‘t want hand outs or patronising attitudes, they want to do
it for themselves in their own way, recognising their own
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
cultural requirements.
When I first suggested the theme of ANZIF be on Pacific
Forestry, the NZIF organisers were quite nervous. Thanks to
the encouragement of their President Andrew McEwen and the
embracing of the theme by the organising committee led by
Peter Berg, the Conference was a huge success and all
delegates were grateful for the opportunity to learn about the
issues facing our Pacific colleagues. In fact one person said to
me, ―I thought I knew a lot about Pacific forestry, but the
conference presentations taught me just how much I didn‘t
know. I have learnt more at this ANZIF than all the other
conferences I have been to.‖
Many Conference debates surrounded both forestry practices in
Australia and overseas. Participants were entertained by
Graham Wilkinson‘s presentation of the 15th Max Jacobs
Oration – ‗The tragedy of forests‘ and a heartfelt personal
opinion piece from Sadanandan Nambiar – ‗Forestry for people:
can we do better?‘ both of which have been reproduced in this
issue of The Forester.
A set of recommendations has been released from the
Conference and this has been circulated to the Pacific Islands
Forum Secretariat and to New Zealand and Australian
Governments and office of Foreign Affairs. They are published
on page 12 of this issue. I have also been working with NZIF
and Commonwealth Forestry Association to make a network of
forestry professionals in the Pacific region become a reality.
I was pleased to see many IFA members as participants and
presenters. Presenting a paper at an ANZIF or IFA Conference
offers a great professional development experience and will
contribute to lifting your professional profile and the
opportunity to learn new things, meet people and reinvigorate
the passion for your profession. The Conference presentations
included cutting edge science economics, cultural values,
disaster recovery plans, travel experiences and all things
relevant to practising foresters. These opportunities do not
come along every day, actually every two years to be accurate
and the next IFA Conference will be in Canberra in 2013. I
look forward to seeing you there!
Dr Peter Volker RPF FIFA
THE FORESTER
3
Branislav Zoric, Melbourne, Victoria
Approved RPF - General Practicing Forester
Branislav’s forestry career spans over 25 years and it started when he
obtained his Bachelor of Forestry Science (Hons) from the University of
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina in 1984. Until 1996 Branislav worked in
various positions including a Senior Forester, Head of the Forestry
Department, Forestry Supervisor (Inspector), Head of the Forestry Estate
and Technical Manager throughout Bosnia & Herzegovina and Srbija. At
the time he was also a Forestry Teacher in Forestry High School and a
Forestry Expert Witness appointed by the Government.
properties of Pinus radiate and some part of
this research was recently published as: Watt
M. and Zoric B. (2010) - Development of a
model describing modulus of elasticity across
environmental and stocking gradients in
plantation grown Pinus radiata – Canadian
Journal of Forest Research, Volume 40,
Number 8, August 2010
In 1996 Branislav moved to New Zealand where he completed a National
Diploma in Land Surveying from UNITEC, Auckland. At the same time he
commenced with Fletcher Challenge Forests as a Forest Planner in
Rotorua, there he developed a sustainability monitoring program that,
with time, and in conjunction with appropriate and complementary
research would indicate if the company is managing its forest estate in a
biologically sustainable manner, and if not, how the situation can be
rectified. This led to Branislav joining Carter Holt Harvey as a Harvest
Scheduler and Technical Forester in Tokoroa and Forestry Operations
Manager in Whangarei. There he enjoyed responsibility for compliance of
standards and procedures, contractor performance, community
relationship and sales and lese activities. As a Forestry Consultant for
Queenstown Lake District Council (New Zealand) he contributed to
environmental sustainability by converting unmanaged forest into
managed forest, developing and implementing a Continue Canopy Cover
Management Strategy, which was incorporated into District Plans and
accepted by the public.
Branislav is currently a Senior Project Officer
for Ground Based Inventory at Victorian Department of Sustainability and
Environment in Melbourne. At DSE he was also part of the team
responsible for developing a decision support system for forest
management; particularly he was in charge for growth modelling and
yield prediction. Before joining DSE, he was a Market Development
Engineer with Caterpillar - Forest Product Australia in Melbourne. During
this time he focused on introducing plans for new product and markets,
providing technical support for harvesting machines and providing pricing
strategy and competitive intelligence across the Asia-Pacific region.
Branislav has a broad sustainable forestry management expertise,
including, silviculture, genetics, establishment, tending, and research in
both native forests and plantations. He is an expert in growth modelling,
estate modelling for estate optimisation, and financial modelling for
profitability calculations. Additionally he is highly skilled in identification of
the wood quality attributes and how they are relate to site, silviculture,
genetics and age as this is important in order to market the logs properly,
value the estate correctly and plan the future estate.
Branislav received a Master degree (M.For.Sc) from the University of
Canterbury, New Zealand in 2009, by modelling, radial and vertical wood
Barry Vaughan , Point Cook, Victoria
Approved RPF - General Practicing Forester
Barry has successfully applied for recognition in the Category of General
Practicing Forester.
Barry has obtained tertiary qualifications in both forestry (Bachelor
Science . Forestry from ANU) and business (MBA from Waikato University,
NZ).
His forestry career spans 10 years of operational plantation forestry with
Fletcher Challenge in New Zealand and Argentina, followed by 5 years of
Senior Management in Native Forestry with VicForests. In between these
periods he ran an importing business in Sydney, NSW and worked in the
Environmental Health arena for Auckland City Council.
Having grown up in the South East of NSW, it was the local forestry
company, SEFE which Barry credits as having encouraged him to study
forestry. From there he was recruited by New Zealand based Tasman
Forestry, performing a range of rolls across the softwood supply chain,
including establishment, silviculture, logistics and even a stint in a sawmill.
Barry’s next step was as big geographically as it was professionally.
Fletcher Challenge had recently entered into a joint venture in Northern
Argentina. It is here Barry spent 3 years, based in a remote Flooded Gum
plantation, supplying an integrated sawmill and plywood manufacturing
facility. Included in the list of achievements was implementing an estatewide inventory and woodflow modelling system. His role also covered
selecting elite trees for inclusion in an expanding clonal production and
establishment program.
It was clonal forestry which brought Barry back to New Zealand, to work
with Fletcher Challenge’s biotechnology and nursery business (now
4
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
ArborGen Australia), where he performed a
sales and marketing roll for the seed and
treestock business.
Taking a break from forestry in 2003, Barry
spent a year with the Auckland City Council
before he joined a South American
colleague from New Zealand to set up an
entirely new business. Based in both
Auckland and Sydney, they imported health
promoting fruits from the Amazon (see www.nufruits.com) selling them into
the juice bar and health shop industries.
In 2006 Barry commenced with VicForests as Regional Manager for East
Gippsland. During this period, he was able to implement a number of
fundamental business changes including, forest certification, mill door
sales, tendering all harvest and haulage contracts and implementing a
value chain based organisational restructure.
Last year Barry added business strategy to his forestry skills toolkit, taking
on the role of Business Development Manager with VicForests. This role
involves preparing the companies annual plan, sustainability report and
corporate 3 year business plan. He is also the first point of contact for new
customers and developing new products and markets.
Into the future, Barry hopes to contribute to the integration of bioenergy
with forestry and with it new wood products such as biofuels and
bioplastics. “The world needs forests and forest products”. “I can’t see a
sustainable future without a lot more of both”.
THE FORESTER
Zoe Ryan , Melbourne, Victoria
Approved RPF - General Practicing Forester with
recognized skills in
forest carbon accounting and REDD
Zoe Ryan is a forest scientist with more than ten years experience in
researching, design and implementation of forest carbon projects. As the
Forest Carbon Specialist for the FFI/Macquarie Carbon Forests
Taskforce, Zoe’s work currently includes technical oversight of the design
and implementation of forest carbon inventory and accounting for a series
of projects that aim to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation (REDD), including projects located in Asia-Pacific and South
America. Her role also includes technical oversight of the verification
process, as well as participation in international policy and
methodological workshops.
Forest Investment Program
(FIP), a special initiative
established under the bank’s
Climate Investment Fund. In
2010, Zoe was invited to the
expert review panel for
assessment of the Voluntary
Carbon Standard (VCS)
Guidelines for Peat Rewetting and Conservation and the VCS Risk
Assessment Tool.
In her previous role as a Senior Forestry Consultant at URS Forestry,
Zoe’s work included quantification; modelling and auditing of forest
carbon offset projects; and she was a registered auditor for the
Department of Climate Change (DCC) Greenhouse Friendly program,
and the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (GGAS).
Zoe is an Honorary Fellow at the School of Forestry and Ecosystem
Science at the University of Melbourne, where she lectures on REDD as
part of the Forestry Masters program. She has also lectured on REDD at
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University. She
obtained her Bachelor of Forest Science (Hons) from the University of
Melbourne, Australia in 1999 and her Master Science (Forestry) from the
University of British Columbia, Canada in 2001.
In 2007 Zoe was appointed as an REDD adviser to the Government of
Indonesia as part of the Indonesia Forest Climate Alliance (IFCA). In
2009, Zoe was nominated as a working group member of the World Bank
Hilary Smith , Malua Bay, New South Wales
Approved RPF – Specialist with expertise in
Agroforestry and Carbon Accounting (IFM/REDD)
Dr Hilary Smith has successfully applied for recognition through the
Registered Professional Forestry Scheme (RPF) in the Category of
Specialist with expertise in the fields of Agroforestry and Carbon
Accounting for the activities of Improved Forest Management (IFM) and
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).
Hilary obtained her Ph.D from the University of Adelaide (1996) in the field
of Development Geography specialising in Complex Agroforestry in
Indonesia. In her undergraduate studies she achieved First Class Honours
in Biogeography, with research examining the application of a USDA
Forest Service method for landscape assessment to Australian
landscapes.
Hilary has almost 15 years of experience working in Public Sector Forestry
Departments in Queensland and New South Wales. She has been
involved in several Comprehensive Regional Assessments and Regional
Forest Agreements in both technical and managerial capacities.
During 1997 – 2010, Hilary was employed by Forests NSW where she
demonstrated and expanded her knowledge of Australian and International
Forestry across a number of areas and in both Corporate and Regional
roles including managing a CRA project to map and document the forest
management history (silviculture, fire, grazing) of the forests of the Upper
North East, Lower North East, Southern and Western RFA regions. During
this time she was Sustainability Analyst for Forests NSW and was
responsible for developing systems for accounting and reporting against
Criteria and Indicators for sustainable forest management.,
From 2005, Hilary was charged with developing and implementing policies
on strategic issues to achieve sustainable forest management goals in
NSW native forests as Manager of the Sustainability Unit. This included
non-timber forest management issues such as recreation and tourism,
forest products and services.
Following her appointment as the Manager of Enterprise Development in
2006 she was given the opportunity to manage strategic projects relating
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
to timber and non-timber products and
services from forests and to research
and develop strategy, policy and
procedures for commercialising new
forest based enterprises and
opportunities relating to non-timber
products and services including from
residual biomass, seed, extractive
resources, carbon and biodiversity.
More recently, Hilary has worked on the administration of carbon project
activities for Forests NSW, the development of carbon accounting
methodologies in Australia (for native forests) and overseas in Papua New
Guinea, Malaysia and Brazil. The methodological focus of this work has
been Improved Forest Management (IFM) and Reduced Emissions from
Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) activities, including with respect to
small-holder agroforestry.
Having recently established her own business Latitude Forest Services
Hilary aims to apply her specialist skills in sustainable forest management
and assessment in helping land owners and managers to understand the
opportunities for, and optimize the possible benefits from, forest and
vegetation management using market based instruments.
At present she is engaged in providing professional services to Indigenous
landowners in Northern Australia, who are seeking to understand the
potential market-based opportunities that may exist for forest products
(timber), biodiversity and from greenhouse gas abatement activities
through the management of forests, fire and the control of feral pigs and
wild cattle.
Hilary has had over 17 works published in various journals including
Australian Forestry and she is currently studying Governance and
Development Law with an emphasis on forestry, climate change and
property rights, at the Australian National University.
THE FORESTER
5
Tales from the dark side
- how nature complicates ecohydrological research
By Joseph Henry, Sebastian Pfautsch and Mark Adams
Examining the effects of stand age (regrowth or pole stage) and
type (pure or mixed species) on water use, and relating these
measurements to water yield at catchment scale is important
work and it is fun. We have carried out intensive research in
different types of catchments throughout the continent, including
the high country (Eucalyptus pauciflora, E. delegatensis) forests
in the ACT and Victoria, as well as Coolibah (E. victrix) woodlands
in remote Western Australia. Although we are quite experienced
at what we do, things do not always go according to plan!
Fieldwork often includes management of obstacles and issues
that occur more often than you would like – every field
researcher would agree that loss of data is frustrating, and that
repair or replacement of instruments can be tedious and
expensive. Some issues can be quite obscure and may be
interesting for others to learn about or just have a smile. Here,
we report some of the hurdles nature has thrown in our path and
offer our strategies to avoid them.
Electrical cables are fascinating to all sorts of animals. In the
southeastern parts of Australia, small marsupials with sharp
teeth, like bush rats, brown antechinus and the long nosed
potoroo, cannot resist the taste of copper and plastic (Figure 1).
Whilst in the northwest, cows proved a major problem for our
installations (Figure 2). Our electrical cables joined batteries and/
or solar panels to a data logger and extended from there to
multiple sensors. In the past we ran unprotected cables on the
ground. We now protect our cables by ways of encasing them in
convoluted tubing, burying them in the ground or covering them
with cages. Where cows fancy food with a bit of zing, we tend to
fence off entire research plots.
Spiders like to shelter in dry, weather protected spaces. We
regularly provide such enticing habitat inside tipping bucket rain
gauges, in logger housings and under insulation foil that protects
our sap flow sensors from direct sunshine. Unfortunately, spiders
are not good tenants and maintenance to their homes is not
welcome. How many times have we jumped back a metre or
more, yelling out in surprise (especially if a fat huntsman is
raising hundreds of babies next to our sensor, Figure 3)? We
advise to gently force the 8-legged friend to abandon home and
use fly spray on trees and equipment to prevent reoccupation –
especially from rain gauges where their web can block magnetic
contacts.
Besides spiders, we found frogs (Figure 4), ants (Figure 5) and
lizards in our logger housings. While lizards only caused an
elevated heartbeat for a moment, frogs and ants should be taken
more seriously. Frogs have the tendency to crap everywhere,
which really stinks and can cause problems to electrical plugs,
and, of more serious concern, they increase moisture levels
around electrical instruments and the risk of electric shorts. We
found that ants stripped wires and built their nest at the warmest
spot: next to internal battery contacts. Using fly or insect spray
6
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
prior to field installation can minimise the risk of occupation, but
the most effective method is bunging all entry points to the
housing/logger using water resistant and removable putty (Blu
Tack works well).
Have you ever revisited a site and found all your flagging tape
has gone missing? It happened to us only once – in a wet gully
deep inside the Otway Ranges. We were puzzled and wondered if
our site had been violated by humans. Or were we perhaps at the
wrong spot? The mystery was solved after crawling through the
bush for some time. We had established our plot in the territory
of a male bowerbird and improvidently used blue flagging tape.
Our unawareness made this bird king of the Otways with a mount
glowing fluorescent blue from tiny shredded pieces of tape
(Figure 6). So, never use blue flagging tape in bowerbird country!
There is no immediate cure for the last animal encounter we want
to report. While establishing a plot in the Pilbara, native bees
(Austroplebeia australis or ‗sweat bee‘) engulfed us (Figure 7).
Luckily these insects do not sting. But they go nuts if they can get
some drops of sweat. Installation of sensors in very hard wood of
Coolibah trees in 43 °C heat and 90 % humidity is guaranteed to
produce litres of it. Hundreds of insects crawled into our shirts
and pants and shying the bees off only encouraged them to
return in greater number. It felt like the tickling feeling you get
when your foot is asleep and you have to walk – except that this
was all over your body. The only cure was stoic continuation with
the task and an occasional burst of uncontrolled weaving,
jumping and yelling.
Besides animals, nature also throws a spanner in the works in the
form of lightning and floods. We have lost equipment worth many
tens of thousands of dollars to these unpredictable forces. While
recording tree water use in Alpine Ash (E. delegatenis) forests
near Falls Creek, Victoria, lightning struck one of our
measurement trees. A massive electric current travelled down the
trunk directly to our sensors and then through the cables to the
logger (Figure 8 and Figure 9) and from there to all other sensors
and solar panels – a total wipeout costing in excess of $40K.
Monsoonal flash floods in the Pilbara transported sap flow gear
down the Fortescue River and possibly into the Indian Ocean
(Figure 10). We now avoid selecting field sites at exposed
locations and use lightning rods. When working close to
ephemeral creeks and streams we install gear at the downstream
side of trees and use cramps to tightly fix cables to trees. Loggers
or weather stations are located outside the waterway; we rather
run a few meters more of cable – which hopefully will not be dug
up and chewed by some madly bored animal.
Ecohydrological research is satisfying but it can be complicated in
some obscure ways by nature. However, it is acts of deterrence
and the encounter with the dark side of the unexpected as
described above that make our forests so alluring and fun to work
in – well… mostly.
THE FORESTER
Figure 4: These frogs look cute but they can
cause us problems
Figure 8: Going...
Figure 1: The work of a bush rat serving its
electrician apprenticeship
Figure 5: Hopefully these ants have not
wiped our data
Figure 2:3 core cable is a culinary delight for
Western Australian cattle
Figure 9: Gone! The aftermath of a lightning
strike to a monitored tree
Figure 6: Blue flagging tape is highly valued
by male bowerbirds
Figure 3: Ecophysiological research extends
beyond tree water use to spider habitat
provision
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
Figure 7: Bees are just what you need when
trying not to break a drill bit that is 1.2 mm in
diameter
Figure 10: Floods and data loggers are not
compatible
THE FORESTER
7
Harvesting Forest Renewables Sustainably
Harvesting woody biomass is „preventive medicine‟ for America‟s forests and
just what the doctor ordered for timber-dependent communities.
By Mike Schmidt
The solution to some of America‘s most pressing
environmental, energy and economic challenges can quite
literally be found at our feet. Sustainable harvesting of
forest renewables (woody biomass) is ―preventive
medicine‖ for our forests, helping limit the number and
severity of forest fires, reducing the habitat of destructive
insects to help ensure that the healthiest trees thrive, and
promoting the growth of healthier, stronger trees. In
addition, it offers struggling communities a much-needed,
new revenue stream and other social benefits.
As an energy source, forest renewables may still be
relatively new, but they have unlimited potential.
Forest renewables come from several sources, including:
• Residues and byproducts from wood processing mills and
pulp and paper mills.
• Residues from logging and site-clearing operations.
• Biomass from fuel treatment operations to reduce forest
fires.
The USDA and the U.S. DOE estimate 368 million dry tons
of sustainably removable biomass can be produced from
U.S. forestlands per year. Harvesting it represents
substantial environmental, social and economic
opportunities, particularly for rural forestry communities.
Fewer and Less Catastrophic Forest Fires
―The impact of forest fires is greatest in the Western
states,‖ he points out. ―If we could take that biomass off
the forest floor, the understory and small-diameter trees
that really have no market value as timber, we could reduce
the fuel that feeds those fires. And I‘m convinced we could
reduce the number and the severity of the catastrophic
wildfires that we‘re seeing.‖
Reduced Insect Infestation
In addition to decreasing fuel for potential fires, harvesting
forest renewables also reduces habitat and food for
destructive insects such as the mountain pine beetle, which
thrives in overstocked areas and kills healthy trees.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, 2.5 million acres of
pine trees in Colorado and Wyoming were affected by the
mountain pine beetle epidemic between 1996 and 2008.
The Natural Resources Defense Council also released a
report in July on the dead and dying high-elevation forests
in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Within these regions,
aerial photographs have documented 1 million acres of
whitebark pine forest dead or dying from the mountain pine
beetle and, to a lesser extent, an invasive fungus. One of
the report‘s authors, Wally Macfarlane, has stated that
another million acres of whitebark pine forest are at risk.
Harvesting forest renewables can not only reduce insect
food and habitat, but it can also thin forests to promote the
growth of healthier trees, which are better able to resist
infestation, grow to their full potential and contribute to a
healthier environment.
Excessive dead, dry material that has accumulated in our
forests poses significant wild land fire risks. Over the past
10 years, these fires have consumed more than 49 million
acres of forest in the United States alone, and federal
Compatible With Forest Service
agencies have spent more than $8.2 billion fighting them.
Recognizing the value of sustainable harvesting of forest
Removing forest renewables could help save millions of
acres of forest and billions of taxpayer dollars spent battling renewables, the U.S. Forest Service began implementing its
Woody Biomass Utilization Strategy in 2008. The program
forest fires.
includes harvesting dead trees in 19,000 acres of forests to
According to Danny Dructor, Executive Director of the
help reduce the threat and impact of wildfires and prevent
10,000-member American Loggers Council, harvesting
further spread of beetle infestation.
forest renewables can go a long way toward reducing that
Cody Neff, owner of West Range Reclamation of Crawford,
destruction and expense.
Colorado, is happy to be part of that strategy. Neff has
been involved in ecosystem management for more than 10
years, working with a wide variety of federal, state and
environmental agencies such as the National Park Service,
the Bureau of Land Management, Colorado‘s Division of
Wildlife and State Forest Service and the Nature
Conservancy. In 2009, the Forest Service awarded his
company a 10-year forest stewardship contract that
includes reducing hazardous biofuels in Colorado‘s Arapaho,
Roosevelt and Pike-San Isabel National Forests.
―Most of our forests are dangerously loaded with hazardous
fuels, including understory and beetle-infested trees,‖ Neff
says. ―Wildfire has historically played an essential role in
the natural development of our Western ecosystems, but
today‘s wildfires are not those of the past. They are much
8
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
available every year without impacting other markets, and
it only makes sense to capitalize on this opportunity. Is
woody biomass really something we can use to produce
energy in a sustainable way? Absolutely. Further research is
needed to make biomass harvesting and processing more
efficient. But I have all the confidence in the world that with
collaborative efforts by all the stakeholders—government,
landowners, loggers and markets—we can make worldchanging use of this sustainable material.‖
more dangerous and devastating. Unhealthy forests are
also much more susceptible to disease and insect
epidemics, which in turn create even more fuel for wildfires.
Sound forest management, including sustainable harvesting
of renewables, can help conserve the Western landscape
that we all value so much.
Neff has personally witnessed the positive effect this
harvesting can have in limiting a forest fire. ―A fire broke
out near Boulder, Colorado, just two weeks after we had
removed diseased trees and understory from what had
been a particularly dangerous area,‖ he says. ―The fire had
escalated into the canopy, but when it reached our
treatment area, the limited understory enabled firefighters
to put it out. It was more than gratifying to see the good
that had resulted from our work—the forest that was saved
because of it.‖
Economic and Social Benefits
Harvesting and converting forest renewables to energy can
provide a solution to some of the country‘s most pressing
economic and energy challenges. These benefits start by
making use of logging slash, which is typically left to waste
on the forest floor or simply collected and burned. An
associate professor of forest operations at Auburn
University‘s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Tom
Gallagher has studied the issue and understands its shortand long-term potential.
―The ‗low-hanging fruit‘ right now is logging slash,‖
Gallagher explains. ―Millions of tons of this material are
The ALC‘s Dructor sums up the problem and the
opportunity this way: ―Most timber-dependent small
communities are facing upwards of 20 percent
unemployment. By developing energy from woody biomass,
we can create new markets, new opportunities and new
jobs. We can revitalize rural economies and help kids who
are growing up in small communities remain in those
communities by providing high-paying jobs.‖
Healthy forests rely on sustainable forest management,
which includes the removal of excess biomass. Sustainable
harvesting of forest renewables represents an important
new step in the overall strategy of sustainable forest
management.
To learn more about the importance of harvesting woody
biomass, visit the John Deere-sponsored website
www.woodybiomass.com.
1 Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts
Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual
Supply, U.S. DOE and USDA, 2005.
2 4U.S. Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization website,
www.fs.fed.us/woodybiomass
3 Macfarlane/Logan/Kern. Using the Landscape Assessment
System (LAS) to Assess Mountain Pine Beetle-Caused
Mortality of Whitebark Pine, Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem, 2009: Project Report, 2010.
Author: Mike Schmidt
Manager of Forestry Renewables, John Deere Construction
& Forestry Division
schmidtmike@johndeere.com
Article first published in Biomass Power & Thermal and reprinted
here with permission of the Author and John Deere. All photos
courtesy of John Deere.
Welcome to the following new members
of the IFA
NSW
Hillier, Scott
Voting Member
TAS
Ringk, Christopher
Voting Member
VIC
McCarthy, Ciara
Potter, Ross
Waller, Ewan
Associate Member
Voting Member
Voting Member
QLD
McWhirter, Luke
Mai, Thanh
Pattiselanno, Freddy
Associate Member
Student Member
Student Member
Members upgraded from Student Member to Associate Member (Young Professional): Dianne Pollack; Nick Firth,
Melinda Mylek.
Membership Application - page 32
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
9
Max Jacobs Oration
The Committee to the Maxwell Ralph Jacobs Fund invited Graham Wilkinson to present the 15 th Maxwell Ralph Jacobs
Oration at the ANZIF 2011 Conference held in Auckland New Zealand on 2-5 May 2011.
Graham has worked as a professional forester for 35 years in the areas of forest management and operations, silvicultural
research and forest regulation, most recently as the head of Tasmania’s Forest Practices Authority. He has also worked
extensively as a forestry consultant in 11 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Graham is a Fellow of the Institute
of Foresters of Australia and is the Chair of the IFA’s Registered Professional Foresters Scheme. Below is an abstract of
his oration.
The tragedy of the forests
This oration commemorates Dr Max Jacobs, an eminent pioneer
of forestry research, policy and education in Australia.
conflict within the community. The political response has been to
move away from ‗sustainable multiple-use‘ towards a progressive
polarisation of forest management into the more simplified
In 1957 Jacobs condemned the overcutting and clearing of
categories of either ‗reserves‘ or ‗wood production forests‘. This
forests for agriculture and settlement as an ‗abuse‘ of wooded
polarisation entrenches the myth that natural and cultural values
lands. He cautioned that the sound use of forests would only be
can only be protected if forests are reserved and that the values
realised when people fully appreciated the importance of wood as
will be lost if harvesting occurs. It falsely assumes that society
a commodity and recognised what he termed the ‗secondary
has the capacity to forgo the economic values of some forests
benefits‘ of the forest.
whilst potentially forgoing the natural and cultural values of
Public appreciation about the benefits of forests has considerably others.
broadened and diversified over the last 50 years. The rise of
Far from resolving conflict, the ongoing polarisation of forest
environmental awareness in the 1970s saw the primacy of wood
management has created greater tension between wood and non
production give way to a philosophy of multiple-use, which
-wood values where reservation levels have been increased
sought to achieve a balance between wood and non-wood values.
without commensurate decreases in the demand for timber,
By the 1990s the pendulum had swung so far in favour of nonleading to an intensification of wood production within remaining
wood values that wood production was increasingly seen by some
forests. Successive cycles of reservation have created more, not
as incompatible with the maintenance of other forest values. At
less, uncertainty about the longer term future of the native
the same time, the traditional concepts of public and private
ownership were being challenged as people increasingly asserted forestry sector. In Tasmania, this uncertainty has led to an
that values such as biodiversity, visual aesthetics and rivers were increase in the conversion of native forests to other forms of land
use such as intensively-managed tree plantations and agricultural
public ‗common-pool resources‘ that should not be degraded
crops. Jacobs‘s ‗abuse of wooded lands‘ is being revisited after
through the exercise of private rights over land or timber
more than 50 years! At the same time, it is ironic that whilst the
resources. This has created a conflict of ownership;
public may generally support the notion of more reserves this
governments have privatised the ownership of land and timber
does not necessarily translate into support for paying increased
but they have not privatised the associated common-pool
taxes or entry fees to cover the cost of managing the reserves.
resources such as biodiversity. Instead, governments have
As a result, the expansion of the reserve system in Australia has
sought, to varying degrees, to use regulation as means of
managing these other values for the general benefit of the public. not been accompanied by a commensurate increase in the
funding of reserve management, leading to concerns about the
However, in most cases, the cost of managing common-pool
capacity of managers to control wildfire, weeds and illegal
resources has been borne by the landholder, not by the public
that receives the benefit.
activities and to maintain roads, tracks and other assets.
Jacobs‘s concern about the abuse of forests was a classic ‗tragedy
of the commons‘ in which Australia‘s forest
assets were degraded through over-exploitation
and clearing as a result of individuals pursuing
their own self interest. In the modern era we
have what can only be described as a ‗tragedy
of the forests‘ in which rivalry over the allocation
and management of private goods and commonCaricature of
pool resources has led to much unresolved
Max Jacobs
10
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
It is axiomatic that protagonists will reduce otherwise complex
debates into a simplistic and misleading slogan - ‗forests or jobs‘,
which implies that these are mutually exclusive and that by
protecting one you destroy the other. Foresters have tried to
encourage more informed debate, but we have often responded
with either passive acceptance (‗the public knows best‘) or
professional arrogance (‗we know best‘). We have been
frustrated that the public has failed to appreciate our science and
economics, yet at the same time we have been guilty of failing to
THE FORESTER
appreciate that some of our management greater than a reliance on the
practices have passed their social use-by intensification of management within a
smaller land base.
date.
Sustainable forest management is based
on the principle that forest values need to
be managed within the landscape mosaic
across all tenures at multiple temporal
and spatial scales. Reserves and wood
production zones are part of the mix but
forest managers need some flexibility if
they are to optimise the delivery of goods
and services from across the forest estate
and adapt to changes in new information
and societal values over time. Reserves
cannot capture all conservation values
and remaining native forests and
plantations cannot be used for intensive
wood production without constraints to
cater for other values. It‘s time to rethink the ongoing polarisation of our
forest estate into either reserves or
intensive wood production zones. The
discussion should be more about how we
manage our forests; less intensive forms
of forest harvesting across a more
extensive estate bring economic
challenges but the social and
environmental benefits may be much
Forest goods and services are global
common-pool resources. If we are to
avoid the degradation of these values we
need to adopt a global perspective that
recognises Jacobs‘s maxim that people
need to appreciate all of the benefits of
the forests. What we do to resolve the
rivalry between the management of
forest values in Australia has broader
implications for the region, particularly if
by design or default we simply transfer
the burden of wood production to
countries that have less capacity to
sustainably manage their forest assets.
-end-
The full version of this oration will be
published in Australian Forestry - Ed.
Graham Wilkinson
Chief Forest Practices Officer, Forest
Practices Authority, Tasmania
Forestry for people: can we do better?
By Sadanandan Nambiar*
The International Year of Forests 2011 is dedicated to the cause:
‗Forests for People‘, for celebrating people‘s actions towards
sustainable forest management around the world. Is this an
enlightenment and a path to a new future or another slogan? Let
us remember that the purpose of forestry, Jack Westoby had
told us, eloquently, more than two decades ago: ―Forestry is not
about trees, it is about people. And it is about trees only in so far
as trees can serve the needs of the people‖.
Did we treat large parts of the world‘s forests simply as a source
of a commodity (timber) to be cut down and sold? Should we
now take a ―U-turn‖ and protect and plant forests as the savior
of climate change, creating sinks for carbon dioxide and habitat
for biodiversity? What has happened in recent years to the much
discussed (and hoped for) sustainable management of forests for
multiple benefits? If it is still valid, why was forestry and forestry
business left out of the many global agendas for economic
development during the last decades, until the dawn of REDD+?
Sadanandan Nambiar
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
as Green parties, and NGOs such as the Wilderness Society and
the Word Rainforest Movement, have portrayed themselves as
noble warriors fighting to save our forests. The public (voters),
politicians, ―donors‖, and the delegates to the many international
forest policy forums seem to have missed sight of some seminal
issues. Forestry, the science, art and the complex package of
practices of managing the forests, is essential for delivering any
or all values from forests to people, poor or rich; every action
towards those goals requires investments and returns, innovation,
technology and robust economic base for progress; and use of
the forests by people for sustainable wood production and
environmental care are not opposing values, they are and can be
complimentary.
Riding on the vague idea, ―carbon constrained world ‖, many
new ―green‖ and ―bio‖ products and markets have emerged,
including a forest type called ―carbon forests‖. Yet, it remains
difficult to get wood accepted as green and bio, despite our
ability to source wood from sustainably managed forests, and
Words such as despite wood products having low or even positive carbon
environment, footprints, and suitable for substituting for alternatives which
climate
cause higher carbon emissions. So we hear views that forests are
change and
more valuable for ―ecosystem services‖, promoted by inflating
biodiversity
these potential values to billions or trillions of dollars. Implicit
are evocative here is the assumption, never justified, that forests managed for
and
multiple values, including wood production, cannot provide
passionately
ecosystem services. Some political forces assert and demand that
associated
investment initiatives for wood producing and processing
with forests
business be subject to a one-eyed and abused version of the
by some
―social license to operate‖. Such assertions are gaining supremacy
people.
and retarding the opportunities for growing a forestry future in
Political
Australia and elsewhere. Neither rural communities, nor
groups such
environment, benefit.
Continued on next page
THE FORESTER
11
Continued from previous page
The need for restoring a balance in this is urgent, if the Year of
the Forests is dedicated to forests for people.
What then are our ideas for reflections today, while enjoying the
beauty of New Zealand where forestry and forest products
industries have served the nation well for a long time?
―Corporate Social Responsibility‖ which some companies have
sponsored in the past, but symbiotic and enduring partnerships
between the members of the all inclusive forestry sector.
Forests are fundamental for life on earth. Forestry can contribute
to efforts to mitigate climate change. Unquestionably, forests
deliver ―ecosystem services‖, some of which can not be measured
I argue that the combined voices of the forestry sector need to
in economic terms. But these values need not and should not
articulate a new and eloquent narrative on forestry. For that
deter us from addressing the challenges pointed out here. This
narrative, the purpose of forestry, I propose following interrelated
narrative will not be effective if it remains ―global‖; it has to be
topics (among others) for your consideration.
focused on specific countries and regions where the challenges
and opportunities are located. They are tough challenges. They
 Renewed efforts, building on forestry and forest-based
can not be faced positively, if foresters and the forest industry
industries, for poverty alleviation in developing countries.
speak with subdued, uncertain and divided voices, guided by
These efforts should be disentangled from the failed ―poordubious feed back from ill-informed ―focus groups‖, as is sadly
poor forest strategy‖ of recent decades.
the case in Australia.

Ways to deliver the rising demands for wood and wood
products for meeting peoples‘ needs, particularly in the
developing world. Food security will always remain a
supreme need for a growing population but trees and forests
can enhance both food and wood (fibre) security from a
landscape. A new generation of engineered wood products
can contribute greatly to constructions which can house
millions of families in rapidly urbanizing societies.
Building effective linkages between wood based business,
livelihood and activities aimed at sustainable development in
regional rural communities, who are left out of the economic
boom in many countries. This is more than the traditional passive
It is time for a new awakening and leadership to build and
communicate a bright narrative, backed by actions, which will
advance the forestry sector and its business in the agenda for
economic development with environmental care.
We can do more and better with forestry for people.
-end* The author is a Honorary Fellow at CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences,
Canberra. The views presented here are personal, and not
those of CSIRO.
7th ANZIF CONFERENCE
Auckland, New Zealand, 2-4 May 2011
CONFERENCE RECOMMENDATION
The delegates to the 7th ANZIF Conference recommend that the New Zealand Institute of Forestry (NZIF) Te Pūtahi Ngāherehere o
Aotearoa Incorporated (“NZIF”), the Institute of Foresters of Australia (“IFA”) and the Commonwealth Forestry Association
(“CFA”), in collaboration with representatives from other Pacific countries:
12
1.
Promote the recognition of timber as a forest product
essential for society;
2.
Promote an understanding that forests and society are
intimately linked;
3.
Advocate that forests be managed for the full range of
goods and services that they can provide, and that this
management be undertaken within a broader context of
landscape management;
4.
Promote recognition that forest conservation is a form of
forest management and that protected areas need to be
managed, monitored and reported on under the
principles of sustainable forest management;
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
5.
Promote the environmental benefits that arise from the
use of wood from sustainably managed forests relative
to many non-forest materials;
6.
Recognising the vulnerability of some small island
states to climate change, promote global policies that
enable forests and wood products to make their full
potential contribution to climate change mitigation and
adaptation;
7.
Express the concern of the conference that in some
countries (such as the Solomon Islands), governance and
market failures leading to unsustainable logging are
depleting a vital forest resource and that this could lead
to adverse effects on the economies of those countries;
THE FORESTER
8.
Facilitate and support the establishment of
forestry associations where there is a desire
for these to be formed;
9.
Establish a network of forestry professionals
in the Pacific region that will work towards
furthering the interests of professional
forestry and forestry professionals, including
those working for environmental and other
government and non-government
organisations and entities;
10.
Facilitate exchanges of personnel and
experience between Pacific countries,
including the development of mentoring
networks and opportunities for practical onthe-job training;
11.
Promote the development and use of
professional standards including codes of
ethics;
12.
Promote greater cooperation between
forestry sector training and education bodies
at all levels (vocational, technical and
university) in the Pacific region;
13.
Advocate for greater professional forestry
input into all levels of government decision
making that might affect forests or forestry,
including at the international level;
14.
Advocate for the participation of all affected
people, especially minorities, in forest
development and management;
15.
Advocate for the promotion of the social,
cultural and economic interests of
indigenous peoples and landowners;
16.
Promote the need for greater awareness of
the finance available for forestry and
advocate for greater financial assistance for
forestry projects in the Pacific region;
17.
Advocate for enhanced investment and
collaboration in forestry research and
development undertaken by Australian, New
Zealand and other institutions in the Pacific
region;
18.
Promote the need for timely, reliable and
transparent forestry and tenure data and
information throughout the Pacific region;
19.
Approach the Australian and New Zealand
governments, the Commonwealth of Nations
and others for financial support for forestry
professionals through existing programmes;
20.
Ensure that the Presidents of the NZIF and
IFA and the Chairman of the CFA report
back within twelve months to the delegates
at this conference on progress with the
matters included in this recommendation.
Auckland, New Zealand
4th May 2011
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
IFA remembers
Vale - Ross Penny
1/09/1950 - 22/03/2011
Ross Penny, a long serving Victorian forester, passed away on 22
March having had cancer for two years.
Ross joined the forestry profession in 1968 as a student at the
Victorian School of Forestry. He began work with the Forests
Commission in 1971 and stayed in the public service until he retired
from the Department of Sustainability and Environment in 2005.
From 2002 to 2005 he was Victorian division chair of the Institute of
Foresters of Australia.
He worked in several field locations and in 1983 after the Ash
Wednesday fires he transferred to Melbourne as the first fire
protection planning officer, occupying this position during a period of
great change and development.
In 1993 Ross was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal in
recognition of his outstanding contribution to fire service in Victoria,
and the National Medal in recognition of 25 years of service.
From 1994 to 2004 Ross led the Statewide Forest Resource
Inventory project that used innovative techniques to create a
standardised information system thus bringing Victoria to the
forefront of forest management information in Australia. His
influence on sustainable forest management extended internationally
through the Montreal forest indicators program. Ross represented
Australia at meetings in China, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Finland
and Switzerland.
Ross was Chair of the Victorian Division and a member of the IFA
Board of Directors from 200-2005.
Ross is remembered for his sense of vision, dynamic character,
strong negotiating skills and particularly his wry chuckle and sense
of humour, which often broke the ice in difficult situations. His
workmates remember him as a great people manager and highly
respected mentor.
After retirement Ross cherished his family ties and travelled widely
with wife Bev. He pursued landscape and portrait photography and
was president of the
Melbourne Camera Club
in 2007 and 2008. He is
commemorated in the
Ross Penny Memorial
slide trophy.
Ross inspired many with
the dignified manner
with which he managed
his terminal illness. His
wife Bev, children Simon
and Natasha, from a
previous marriage, and
grandchildren Jack and
Jade, survive him.
Prepared by
Shane Dwyer
- JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
13
ANU Forestry
Alumni & Friends News
June 2011
phone: 02 6125 2579 fax 02 6125 0746
email: forestry@anu.edu.au www: http://fennerschool.anu.edu.au/
ANU forestry students’ exchange with Oregon State
ANU Forestry‟s exchange agreement with
Oregon State University‟s College of
Forestry has enabled students from each
university to learn at the other for the
past decade. The most recent ANU
forestry undergraduates to study at OSU
are Olivia Edgar and Alex Slattery. Olivia
Edgar graduated with a BSc(Forestry) in
2010; Alex is in her final year the BA
(Visual Arts)/ Science (Forestry).
Alex and Olivia write of their experiences:
“We were allowed to take courses from
any of the OSU majors; this gave us a
great opportunity to experience the wide
variety of classes that the College offered
that we may not have been able to do
back home.
During our time on exchange we learnt a
lot about forests and forestry, including a
lot about cable logging, which is very
much the norm in the Pacific Northwest.
The College of Forestry has its own
research forest, from which they operate
a student based logging crew. We were
able to visit the student logging crew
during class, and having watched our fair
share of Ax men since our return, the
show simply cannot compare to setting
your own choker in a Wednesday
afternoon practical! We also learnt skills
such as identifying trees from the
Northern Hemisphere that we can now
apply in our future careers in other
forests.
The final big forestry message we learnt
is universal; add water and trees grow!
We found exchange and overseas
forestry education to be a great
opportunity to learn from forests
practices in a different country. We
experienced much of the fun-loving
American culture. One crazy trip to
Vegas, a road trip around California and
a few football games later, and let‟s just
say we were well adjusted.”
ANU forestry students’ Alex Slattery and Olivia
Edgar on site at Sequoia National Park, California
ANU forestry graduate awarded European Masters scholarship
Darren Brown, a 2009 ANU Forestry
Honours graduate and Schlich Medallist,
has been awarded a scholarship to
participate in the two-year European
Masters program in Sustainable Tropical
Forestry (SUTROFOR). Darren was
among the top 10-ranked of nearly 400
applicants for the degree, which is part of
the European Commission‟s elite
Erasmus Mundus program.
SUTROFOR is offered by a consortium of
5 universities, and Darren intends to
complete his first year of study in
Copenhagen, focusing on the socioeconomics of tropical forestry, before
studying his second year in Padova,
drawing on its specialisation of ethics in
forestry and responsible trade in tropical
forest products and services.
During his time at ANU, Darren was
actively involved in the International
Forestry Students' Association (IFSA),
and in IFA and other student society
activities. Since graduating, Darren has
completed an internship at the
International Union of Forest Research
Organisations (IUFRO) headquarters in
Vienna, and spent time living and
travelling in Europe, primarily with local
friends he met and worked with in IFSA.
He decided to apply for the SUTROFOR
program due to his interest in the global
importance of tropical forests and the
significance of the challenges they face,
to learn how
improved
tropical forest
management
can contribute
to sustainable
development,
and for the
opportunity to
study
overseas.
Darren Brown
2011 International Forestry Student Association activities
Students from ANU, Creswick and SCU
are preparing for a trip to Finland for
IFSA‟s annual symposium in August
14
2011. Before that, they are planning a
preparatory hike in northern NSW, for all
forestry students. Alex Slattery (above &
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
pictured) is IFSA Regional Representative
- alex.ifsa@gmail.com.
THE FORESTER
ACIAR's Forestry Research In
Papua New Guinea
In Papua New Guinea, forests cover nearly 29 million hectares or
sixty-three percent of the country and ninety-seven percent of
these forests are held in customary land ownership. Most of the
forests are tropical forests, with over 400 species that are
utilised for commercial or domestic use. There is currently about
86,000 hectares of plantations of mostly exotic species but many
of the plantations are of poor quality. About eighty percent of
the population live in rural areas and they depend heavily on
their forests for fuelwood, housing timbers and a variety of non
wood forest products. Most rural landowners practice
subsistence farming, although there are markets for vegetables
and cash crops such as coffee and cocoa. Most of the
subsistence farming occurs on land that has been cleared of
forest for more than twenty years.
The Papua New Guinea forestry sector has been characterised
by a large-scale log export industry for many years. In 2007,
PNG was the second largest exporter of tropical hardwood logs
in the world, so the forestry sector is very important part of the
PNG economy, contributing nearly forty percent of GDP. Due to
the customary land tenure system, extensive consultations must
take place between the landowners and the PNG Forest
Authority before logging , reforestation and plantation
development or even research trials can take place on their land.
PNG has five major sawmills, but there is very little value adding
processing, beyond the production of sawn timber other than
with the balsa industry in East New Britain. The harvesting of
primary forests, while within the legislated sustainable yield, is
considered by most people to have been conducted in an
unsustainable manner.
But forestry in PNG includes many other issues other than export
logging. A number of NGOs are working with local communities
to implement smaller scale sustainable harvesting and
processing with mobile sawmills. The PNG Government is a key
player among developing countries in the climate change
negotiations related to reducing deforestation and forest
degradation (REDD+). Large areas exist of community owned
secondary native forests (recovering from previous logging),
PNG's plantation-based balsa industry produces about eight
percent of the world's supply of balsa and there is widespread
use of agroforestry systems by landowners in rural areas. Fire is
an emerging issue in parts of PNG and in the 1997-98 drought
uncontrolled wildfires burnt into highland areas causing
considerable damage to forest ecosystems.
The PNG Government has development planning policies that
aim to build a forestry sector that this sustainable and highly
profitable and by 2025 aims to have half of the logs produced in
the country processed in domestic sawmills and the plantation
area increased to 150,000 hectares.
ACIAR's forestry projects
Papua New Guinea is one of the most important countries within
the ACIAR forestry program with the current projects accounting
for about twenty percent of the program. ACIAR's forestry
projects promote the development of landholder and communitybased plantations and agroforestry systems using high-value
and fuelwood species, as well as improved timber processing
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
and the
development of
processing
industries
associated with the
indigenous galip
nut. Recent work
has included the
assessment and
management of
secondary tropical
forests. New work
will focus on
enhancing
smallholder
incomes from balsa
plantations.
Developing community based forest
assessment and management planning
capabilities in PNG
Improved Management of Tropical Forests
ACIAR's project on assessment, management and marketing of
secondary forests in Papua New Guinea (FST/2004/061), a
partnership between the University of Melbourne and the PNG
Forest Research Institute, aimed to improve the contribution that
secondary forests make to national and local economies by
developing appropriate strategies for their management and
marketing.
The project undertook a variety of research activities and has
achieved some very significant research outcomes. The research
included enhancing PNG's forest inventory permanent sample
plots and analytical capacity, developing community based forest
assessment and management planning capabilities with four
communities and analysing the possible financial outcomes from
a range of forest management alternatives. Yield modelling is
inherently complex in species rich tropical forests, but this
project developed innovative individual-tree growth models that
can be used in combination for forests with virtually any species
mixture or size structure. These models have been used to
calculate changes in merchantable volume and carbon stocks
over time using data from the remeasured permanent sample
plots.
The research has shown that basal area in most secondary
forests is recovering, that above ground woody biomass is
recovering at an average sequestration of 1.12 tonne C ha-1yr-1
and it will therefore take about 75 years to return to the preharvest carbon stock. PNG forest scientists can now calculate
the impacts of different forest management scenarios on carbon
sequestration using actual PNG forest inventory data, rather than
having to use default values from the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change's reports.
The research also has found that community based small scale
portable sawmill operations could be profitable if they process
about 1000 m3 yr-1 of logs into sawn
Continued on next page
THE FORESTER
19
Providing communities with the ability to decide
how to manage their forests sustainably.
Increasing smallholder livelihoods through
agroforestry
The germplasm project focuses
on improving the quality and
Technology and the University of Natural
timber which can be sold within 170 km of the
availability of teak seedlings
mill provided they don't need to construct
Resources and Environment as well as a number
roads. The work undertaken to develop forest management plans of private sector companies involved in the balsa industry in East
for four community forests, together with the available
New Britain.
information on carbon sequestration rates and profitability of
The growing and processing of balsa (Ochroma pyramidale)is an
small sawmill operations provides communities with the ability to
established industry in the East New Britain and the communities
decide how to manage their forests sustainably.
in this region are vibrant and lack the social problems that exist in
Increasing smallholder livelihoods through
many other parts of the country. PNG is the world‘s second
largest balsa supplier after Ecuador and exports in 2008 were
agroforestry
worth approximately A$4.3 million. There is about 3500 hectares
ACIAR's suite of projects FST/2004/050 "Value adding to PNG's
of balsa plantation, grown on a 5-7 year rotation, and quite a lot
agroforestry systems" , FST/2006/088 "Promoting diverse
of this is grown by small landholders. The processing industries
fuelwood production systems in PNG" and FST/2007/078 "
are quite sophisticated, with the largest company employing
Germplasm development and delivery to underpin a PNG timber
about 2500 people. Processed balsa is used in a number of
industry based on planted forests" are all conducting research
specialised engineered products such as wind turbine blades and
that will assist landowners to grow high value timbers and
boats, where lightness and strength are required.
fuelwood on their land, to provide a future resource for the PNG
wood processing sector and sustainable supplies of fuelwood for
The project will begin shortly and will focus on activities along the
domestic use and sale. These projects have a range of partners in value chain for smallholder balsa production including:
Australia and PNG, including universities, NGOs and local private

Analysing smallholder livelihoods, decision processes and
sector organisations such as the Ok Tedi Development
farming systems
Foundation and Ramu Agricultural Industries.
The agroforestry project aims to foster the adoption of
commercial-scale high-value tree growing by landowners of PNG
in a small number of pilot regions. The project has defined
commercial tree production systems for priority species, assessed
landowner decision-making in the context of the candidate tree
species and production systems and developed business models
and strategies to facilitate adoption. The project has made good
progress working with landowners in the Ramu and Markham
valleys in Morobe province implementing agroforestry systems
utilising teak and Eucalyptus pellita.
The germplasm project is focussing on improving the quality and
availability of teak seedlings, through seed collections (local and
overseas), vegetative propagation and the development of teak
seed stands and hub nurseries. It has also conducted
Participatory Rural Appraisals in a number of regions to assist
local communities to identify the most highly valued local tree
species for inclusion in the project along with teak.
The fuelwood project has conducted a very extensive survey of
the use and marketing of fuelwood throughout PNG. About 85
percent of surveyed people used firewood and a significant
proportion of the users had to travel between 1-3 km to collect
their firewood. Trials of potential fuelwood species with coppicing
characteristics have been established in different regions and the
production of charcoal from different species will be explored.

Identifying and facilitating smallholder organisation and
communication strategies

Optimising value recovery in balsa processing, including
wood delivery logistics and primary and secondary
processing

Optimising supply of improved germplasm and crop
management for smallholders

Developing enabling systems for the certification of PNG
smallholder balsa

Providing advice on the outlook and options for
strengthening the medium to long term global market
position of the Papua New Guinea balsa industry.
The research under this project should assist with the expansion
of the balsa industry, improved mechanisms for smallholder
growers to manage and market their balsa trees and more
efficient harvesting and processing of balsa logs, thereby
enhancing returns to growers and processors.
- Tony Bartlett, ACT Division
Enhancing the Balsa industry in East New
Britain
ACIAR's new project FST/2009/016 "Enhancing the PNG balsa
value chain to enhance smallholder livelihoods" is a partnership
between the Australian National University, the PNG University of
20
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
Enhancing the PNG balsa value chain
THE FORESTER
The Kids Teaching Kids Conference held at Neville Public
School, New South Wales was a great success!
Schools were mentored in the creation of their presentations by a
variety of people ranging from scientists to Landcare volunteers.
Eleven small Heritage schools attended with students presenting
on a broad range of topics under the theme 'Forests, Creeks and
Wetlands'. Neville year six students MC'd the day and students
from all participating schools ran sessions under the theme of
"Our Forests, Creeks and Wetlands", ranging from a forest
animals puppet show, to a scary tale on salinity to a field trip to
Neville Forest.
Neville Public School is an active environmental school,
participating in many environmental activities in the classroom
and in the community and hosting its own environmental
educational resources website - the EARTH website:
www.earthatneville.com
The students then had an opportunity to explore the forest and
have a hunt for tracks, scats and other forest features.
The Conference was supported by major sponsor Lachlan
Catchment Management Authority, Firestarter Pty Ltd and
Australia Post.
The Conference provided students with a powerful platform to
share environmental messages and think about local action.
Neville Public School students
Sara Paton and Madison Bullock
Neville Public School providing a strong
message to the Kids Teaching Kids
Conference about how important it is to look
after Neville State Forest.
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
21
Festival a Fantastic Success
More than 7,000 people made the fabulous Festival of the
Forests ACT which was held at the wonderful new National
Arboretum Canberra on 20 March 2011 a real success. The
Festival was a participant in the International Year of the
Forest. The Festival was hosted by the Friends of the National
Arboretum Canberra with 40 volunteers contributing to the work
by the ACT Government. Volunteers were guides, collected
donations, and made the day special for the visitors.
The ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, opened the day with
comments about the efforts of all in developing the Arboretum
and the Board Chair, John Mackay, spoke about the next
exciting projects including the commencement of building the
Visitors Centre ready for the Centenary in 2013. The Chair of
the Friends, Jocelyn Plovits, thanked all participants and
visitors.
twelve guided walks through various feature forests selected
from the 75 forests planted to date and over 4,000 people went
on the guided bus tours around the 250 hectare site.
There will be over 100 forests planted ready for the grand
opening as part of the Centenary of Canberra celebrations in
2013.
This year’s Festival also marked the start of the next stage of
planting for the Southern Tablelands Ecosystem Project Park,
a small regional botanic garden being developed on one site
within the Arboretum. The Park will be home to 15 species of
trees, representing the grassy woodlands of the New South
Wales southern tablelands. The Chief Minister, the President of
the Park, Cathy Robertson, and about 70 people attended a
ceremony to celebrate the grant awarded for the planting of the
understorey. with a mass planting of kangaroo grasses
(Themeda australis), Flax lily (Dianella revoluta) and a poa
grass ( P. sieberiana).
The event attracted 20 exhibitors including the
Australian National University (Forestry) which featured
the IYoF in its display. There were many activities for families,
including the Creative Spirits indigenous program presented by For more information go to the Friends website:
Duncan Smith and his team in the existing forest of Himalayan www.canberraarboretum.org.au
cedars, the huge Earth dinosaur puppets lurking in the Camden
white gums, kites on the Event Terrace, the 'passport' activity,
Photo: Linda Muldoon
A forest walk group led by the curator, Adam
Burgess, winds it way from the Event Terrace to
the Silver birch forest of Betula pendula ssp
pendula and Betula pendula ssp fontqueri
22
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science
Melbourne School of Land and Environment
The University of Melbourne
Water Street Creswick Victoria 3363
Phone: +61 3 5321 4300
Email: reception-creswick@unimelb.edu.au
Web: http://www.forestscience.unimelb.edu.au
Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma in Bushfire Management
Semester 1, 2011 saw the commencement of the
Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma in Bushfire
Management. Applications for Semester 2 are now
being taken. These awards meet an urgent need to
equip existing natural resource management
professionals with world's best practice skills in
managing and responding to fire risk in forest
ecosystems.
Our courses in Bushfire Management provide you
with the opportunity to study specialised subjects
that cover aspects of bushfire planning and
management including management of
biodiversity, ecosystem processes, the implications
of climate change for bushfire risk mitigation as well
as community natural resource management
including engagement and negotiation skills.
A postgraduate qualification in Bushfire
Management will qualify you for specialist fire
management positions within the forest and natural
resource management sectors and provide a
pathway to further study.
Most subjects are delivered in intensive residential
mode at the Creswick campus with all the benefits
of our expert teaching staff and the renowned
resources of the University of Melbourne being
available to you.
Further Information: http://
www.forests.unimelb.edu.au/bushfiremanagement/
Student Profile - Kang Min Moon
Kang Min Moon studied Forestry for his Bachelor
degree at Dongguk University. Kan Min moved to
Australia from Seoul, the capital city of South Korea.
Creswick provided quite a contrast to his lifestyle in
Seoul where there are more than 11 million people
living in a concentrated area.
choose.’ Kang Min commented, ‘ I also found that
Australia has a high reputation in the area, especially
University of Melbourne.’
Kang Min completed the Master of Forest Ecosystem
Science course requirements at the end of 2010, and
is now looking to the future. ‘Work experience is my
Kang Min found particular interest in studying the
next step to better understanding land management
bushfire related subjects. ‘Bushfire is not a well-known systems in Australia. After understanding the system, I
area in South Korea and a very limited number of
want to be involved in research for developing and
people study and work in this area. Therefore,
increasing the system efficiency in the future for a
studying overseas was the only option that I could
PhD degree.’
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
23
Northern NSW Branch field trip
On Saturday 5th March 2011 a keen group of 20 or so foresters
assembled in Gunnedah to examine forestry west of the Great
Divide. The occasion was a field trip for the Northern NSW
branch of the Institute of Foresters of Australia.
several hectares of land under a mix of native eucalypt species.
The afternoon was rounded off with a tour of several plantation
sites around Gunnedah. These sites were initially established to
plantations in this region on a trial basis to combat salinity with
the expectation of more widespread plantings in the future.
There were a few sore heads from the previous evenings
These plantations are now largely small isolated fragments that
fellowships where the differences between coastal and inland
forestry was fiercely debated. The group set out under blue sky are unlikely to support modern timber processors. Steve Dobson
to visit the Gunnedah Timbers sawmill. George Paul treated the explained the differing techniques used to establish these areas
with remarkably diverse results. The group was treated to a
group to a tour of the cypress sawmill and discussed the issues
koala sighting at the stop where Rod Kavanagh commenced
being faced by this small family sawmill in adapting to a
presenting his findings of the value of plantations in enhancing
changing resource brought about by (among other things) the
outcomes of the Brigalow and Nandewar forestry decision. The biodiversity. There were several mumblings of ―plant‖ and ―set
group was shown through the sawmill (although not operational) up‖. Rod showed us a variety of nesting boxes installed in some
of these plantations, from the humble box through to the
and was impressed by utilisation of nearly all of the sawmill
waste products. (Chip to garden landscape, sawdust to chicken apartment style nesting box. These boxes attracted an amazing
diversity of wildlife visitations in this largely cleared landscape.
farms). One has to be impressed by the properties of the
remarkable cypress timber and wonder how, in this day and age Obviously these forest islands will become more important as
of environmental consciousness, that an industry selling a totally they mature.
renewable and versatile product struggles to survive
The group then headed back to Gunnedah for a delicious 3
economically.
course meal.
By contrast the group then went to view coal mining activities in
On Sunday the group reconvened for the Branch meeting where
Laird State Forest. The scale of activities demonstrate the
the opportunities for enhancing forestry issues in the political
significant economic value attached to the resources sector.
arena were discussed. Then it was time to farewell colleagues
Coal mining activities in Laird State Forest will clearfall a large
for the journey back home. Many thanks to George Paul of
part of the forest with replanting of the forest to be undertaken
Gunnedah Timbers, Joe Rennick of Boggabri Coal, Steve
following the mining. This activity sparked further debate about
Dobson, Rod Kavanagh, Garry Miller and all those that helped in
many more forest and environmental issues. Biodiversity offsets
organising and running a great weekend.
are required by the coal mining proponents to ameliorate their
destruction of forests. The future management of these offsets Stephen Pickering
is an issue that is not yet fully resolved and the IFA and forestry Secretary, IFA Northern NSW Branch
organisations may have an opportunity to influence management
of biodiversity offsets. The coal mine has already re-established
Pictures
Opposite: Rehabilitated ex-coal mined land. Inset: Coal mine
in Laird State Forest.
Left:
Plantation nesting box ‘Apartment C’.
Below:
‘Squares’ at the Gunnedah Timbers yard ready for
the asian markets.
Bottom: Logstack at Gunnedah Timbers
24
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
25
WA Foresters Wood
The IFA relinquished the expired lease of the Foresters'
Wood last year seeking a Memorandum of Understanding
including the following terms:



The Munda Bidi Foundation and DEC have built an
overnight hut on the Foresters' Wood on the south east hill
top. The Minister for Environment and Conservation Hon.
Bill Marmion inspected the hut recently and a number of
That the Institute of Foresters of Australia will be
members took the opportunity to meet the Minister and
invited to participate in any community planning and
discuss the future development of the Wood with DEC
management efforts directly affecting the Foresters‘
staff.
Wood.
We hope soon to develop interpretive material for the
That future development of the site will be
signage and commentary about particular trees planted at
consistent with the objective to recognise the
the Wood.
contribution to civilisation by famous trees of
That the site will continue to be known as the
―Foresters‘ Wood‖.
commerce, culture, legend and literature.

signage acknowledging the role of the IFA and
foresters in development of the Foresters‘ Wood.
That permission will be given to the IFA to erect
David Wettenhall, RPF
Chair, IFA WA Division
Far left: Jack Bradshaw,
Minister for Environment
and Conservation Bill
Marmion and WA
Division Chairman David
Wettenhall
Left: Minister for
Environment and
Conservation Bill
Marmion and Peter
Beatty
ACT Forester of the Year
The ACT Division has announced Ian McArthur as the recipient of
the ACT Forester of the Year award.
The award recognises outstanding contribution by ACT IFA
members to Australian forestry. Nominees contribution can
include (but is not limited to) forestry management,
communication, research, education and policy development, in
recognition of the ACT‘s unique position as a national centre of
forestry and forestry - and the broad range of contributions to
forestry by ACT members.
Ian was introduced by ACT Division Chairman Phil Pritchard and
presented with his award by Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and
Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig at the International Year of Forests
Launch at Parliament House.
In his introduction, Phil noted ‗this award recognises the
achievements of Ian McArthur which are many and varied.
Importantly, it recognises the lead role Ian is playing in promoting
farm forestry and private forests, and his ongoing commitment to
the Institute.
Since 1971 Ian has contributed to forestry in Southern NSW and
the ACT. He has operated in a range of senior roles with the ACT
forest agency and in key ACT fire management roles as Deputy
Fire Controller and acting Fire Controller.
26
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
Most recently he has (and continues) promoted the development
of forestry as Executive Officer of the Southern Tablelands Farm
Forestry Network and across NSW training land managers in
private forest management.
He is an active member of both the Institute‘s ACT Division and
the Friends of the ACT Arboreta, and is on the respective
executives of both. He has also served as Deputy Chair of the
Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment Coordinating Committee, and a
member of the investment panel for the Lachlan Catchment
Management Authority.
In making the award
the IFA recognises
Ian‘s achievements
across a range of forest
activities.‘
Recipient Ian McArthur with Phil Pritchard, Chair of
IFA ACT Division (L ) and Senator Joe Ludwig,
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (R).
THE FORESTER
Sticks and Spechts
Not an ordinary Victorian trivia night...
Who said? "a tree is a wonderful living organism which gives
shelter, food, warmth and protection to all living things. It
even gives shade to those who wield an axe to cut down". was
it a) Barrack Obama, b) Muammar Gaddafi, c) Budda or d) Mel
Brookes.
That was one of the questions in the Victorian Division‘s World
Forestry Day 21st March Sticks and Spechts trivia evening held
in a pub in Melbourne.
This is the third year that this function has been run to
diversify the range of functions held each year. We have tried
to hold a range of different functions from seminars through
the field trips to the Sticks and Specs evening is a much more
light-hearted social gathering with some cleverly designed
questions by Gary Featherston. This is based on the popular
TV show ―Sticks and Specs‖ but with a special forestry flavour.
World Forestry Day is great opportunity to recognise the place
of forestry and forests in society and the natural environment.
It is the opportunity to recognise the place of forests and
forestry in society. The Victorian Division for the past three
years has held its celebrations at a pub in Melbourne with its
version of the popular "sticks and specs" TV show.
pictures with the facts that relate to each picture. What
happens next shows the start of the video clip and teams
must guess what happens at the end. The final part of the
night is The final countdown is the first to know the answer
to various forestry questions.
Ah yes the answer to the question at the top is Budda!
Mike Ryan
Chair, IFA Victorian Division
Three teams compete on a range of subjects generally with
some vague resemblance to trees and forestry. Sir mix and
match a lot - Where teams must match three different
Pictures Top right: From left Gerard
Moore, Ciara McCarthy, Daniel
Sedunary, Barry Vaughn and
Damien Walsh
Above: Tom Fairman is given a
subject to draw and the team
must guess what it is
Right: Two little words segment
where two people in the team
must say one word each in the
third person must guess what
it's referring to
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
27
Southern Cross University Professional Development
Often when companies think about
professional development they may not
always consider what Universities have to
offer.
Over the last year Southern Cross University
has had several companies identify particular
units that they would like their staff to
undertake to update their knowledge,
broaden their experience or to give them
promotional opportunities. Units such as
Wood Science, Forest Measurement,
Plantation Silviculture and Forest Operations
are all units where companies have enrolled
students in units for professional
development. In all these cases HECS fees
were paid and all assessment tasks were
undertaken. For each of these units 3 – 5
days were required for field work or visits in
either Lismore or Mount Gambier. To date
Mount Gambier has primarily been the site
where this has occurred.
In our first session in 2011 SCU offered the residential
component of Forest Health: Pest and Disease
Management as a stand alone professional
development opportunity to Green Triangle Forestry
companies. There were only very limited places left
once undergraduate students had enrolled but these
were snapped up by industry.
Dr Charlma Phillips, Principal Scientist Forest Health
from ForestrySA conducted the five day residential in
Mount Gambier. Professional Development students
undertook the same work as students, with
assessment tasks being discussed rather than
marked with participants. Feedback from both
undergraduate and professional development
placements was extremely positive.
In reviewing this approach to professional
development there are some units which lend
themselves to this approach well. Areas such as
Wood Science, Forest Operations and Soils are likely
areas where there could be benefit to industry to
provide professional development opportunities in
either the residential form or as a full unit.
Universities are ideally placed to offer professional
development in technical areas. Where this can be
either as part of an existing unit or a residential
approach it offers a ready made opportunity for
participants and their companies to cost effectively
provide this.
If you would like to consider the possibilities in this
area further contact: Diana Lloyd Mount Gambier
Diana.Lloyd@scu.edu.au or Doland Nichols
Doland.Nichols@scu.edu.au
Pictures:
Above: Catching and examining
insects in local blue gum plantation
Far left: Peter McKenzie
demonstrates the tools he uses to
aerial map insect infestations
Left: Dr Charlma Phillips discussing
course with Garry Duff from
ForestrySA
J. Doland Nichols Associate Professor in Sustainable Forestry
School of Environmental Science and Management
Southern Cross University Lismore, NSW 2480
Ph: (02) 6620 3492 Fax: (02) 6621 2669 E-mail: dnichols@scu.edu.au
28
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
THE FORESTER
Lessons Not Learned at University #3
Drawing the right statistical conclusion
This lesson was learnt at University when The Student was
back at University doing a post-graduate degree. He had a
reasonable understanding of statistics but the knowledge had
been picked up piecemeal over the years and he wanted a
sounder base on which to build. There wasn‘t time to do
some of the many statistics courses on offer in the
Department of Statistics, but there was a unit of basic
statistical analysis for post-graduate students. His fellow
students were either foresters or social scientists so nobody
was going to argue that all were numerical geniuses.
The Lecturer gave this course and he was one of those rare
birds, he was a practical statistician. At the end of the course
there was an examination. Students had a week to pick up
the paper and then a week to answer the questions. The
Lecturer knew that the students wanted to improve their
statistical understanding and skills, not just pass exams, and
so were unlikely to cheat. There was simply nothing to gain.
One question provided data on the brightness of clothing
after it had been washed. There were various levels and
types of dirt, various washing machines, and a wide range of
washing powders.
The Student took on this question and ran Analyses of
Variance, investigated the residuals, and battled the data. Of
the many alternatives tested only a few were statistical
significant and they were generally interaction terms. His
conclusion was that there was no difference between the
washing powders but that more data and more detailed
analyses might, just might, find something statistically
different.
The Lecturer marked the paper and called in The Student to
provide feedback. He started by commenting that The
Student had found an interaction that The Lecturer had not.
But, he said, there were basically no statistically significant
differences between treatments. ―After all if 100 analyses
have been carried out you should expect 1% or 5% aberrant
results1, but what is the conclusion? What should the
consumer do?‖ Before The Student could make a fool of
himself with an over-hasty reply The Lecturer simply said
―choose the cheapest‖. The analysis done The Student had
drawn a conclusion, and it was perfectly correct, but it hadn‘t
gone far enough. He had missed the practical implication.
Lesson: Analyse all you want, but think about the issues and
draw the right conclusion and try to envisage how the
outcome would apply in the real world.
Jerry Leech
jleech@ozemail.com.au
1
The Type I, Type II error issue in statistics.
Call for fire stories
As a general rule, Australian foresters are
under-appreciated by the general public.
This is true even in the area of bushfire
control, where foresters have led
Australia, and Australian foresters have
led the world, for many decades.
research and
prescribed burning
Our job as editors will be to try to help
as well as fire
writers produce lively stories with a wide
suppression, so long
appeal. The target audience is the
as they deal with
general public, but obviously will also
front-line work and
include other foresters.
contribute to the
In order to partially redress this, Roger
overall theme of the
The procedure we intend to adopt is to
Underwood and I are proposing to collect
ask authors to submit their story to either involvement of Australian foresters in
and edit a book of foresters‘ front line
of us. We would both then scrutinise the bushfire management .
fire fighting stories.
story, edit it if required and send it back
If possible, stories should be
to the author for their approval before
We believe that there is a store of this
accompanied by a photo that has
material lodged in foresters‘ experiences finally accepting it for publication. Some relevance to the story. Colour or black
over the years. In addition to promoting stories will require no editing; other
and white photos will be acceptable.
might involve a number of ―back and
foresters‘ image, these are stories that
forth‖ contacts between the author and
We would like to commence work on the
need to be recorded in their own right,
the editors.
book immediately, and advise
and will in future have historical
prospective story-tellers that there will be
importance.
The aim will be a good and consistent
a deadline...... so don‘t put this too far
standard,
but
without
removing
the
Thus we are calling on Australian
onto the backburner.
individuality that should be part of such
foresters to contribute stories of events
stories.
So: we urge all foresters who have had
from their bushfire experiences. Where
interesting experiences at fires to write
were you and what was your job at the
We would like to include stories from
time, and what was the bushfire event in across the years, hopefully going back to them up and email them to either Roger
at yorkgum@westnet.com.au or Oliver at
which you became involved? What
the pre-McArthur days, but including
happened? Stories might be only one
modern fire management operations. We oliverraymond@wideband.net.au
page in length or up to five A4 typed
are interested in stories about fire
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011
pages.
THE FORESTER
29
ACFA
Summary of IFA
Email Bulletins
Association of Consulting Foresters of Australia
Practical honest reliable
advice
www.forestry.org.au
Plantation Establishment
Forest Inventory /
Valuation
Find a
Consulting Forester
Harvest Planning
Forest Products Sales /
Marketing
IFA announces the 2011 recipients of
the N.W.Jolly medal
Catchment
Management /
Conservation
IFA Offers members discounted rate to
AUSTimber conference
Trees on Farms /
Agroforestry
+ many more specialist
services
Employers Notice Board - 20 job vacancies
circulated to IFA members
Only trust an ACFA registered
consultant with your business
Annual scientists remuneration
survey
Forests NSW photographic library
Silviculture Notes for NSW on CD
FSC Draft Evaluation Framework
IUCN Science Bulletin
Tempered by Fire
Plantation forestry and biodiversity
Ex-Library publications offered to IFA
members
A timeless compilation of field experiences collected by George Baur
from observations and research from the earliest times through the
1980’s.
Price: $35.00 (inc P&H & GST)
Contact ifa@forestry.org.au
IFA Caps
Tasmanian forests interim report
ARC review of Australian Forestry journal
Australia’s Forests at a Glance - 2011
If you are not receiving
your Email Bulletin
contact the IFA
Quality made official IFA caps. Black cotton with white trim.
Price: $25.00 (inc P&H & GST)
Contact ifa@forestry.org.au
30
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
National Office today.
ifa@forestry.org.au
THE FORESTER
INSTITUTE OF FORESTERS OF AUSTRALIA
We’re
growing
stronger
Membership Application
IFA Membership
About IFA
The Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA) is a professional
body engaged in all branches of forest management and
conservation in Australia.
The Institute is strongly committed to the principles of
sustainable forest management and the processes and
practices which translate these principles into outcomes.
Our membership represents all segments of the forestry
profession, including public and private practitioners
engaged in many aspects of forestry, nature conservation,
resource and land management, research, administration
and education.
Media
Policy
Scholarships & Grants
Communication
Awards
Membership with us is not restricted to professional
Foresters. Other persons associated with or interested in
the area of forestry are welcome to join IFA!
Membership Benefits
The many benefits of being a Member of the IFA include:
Institute of
Foresters of Australia
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2
- JUNE 2011

Employment vacancy notices

Regular email Bulletins

Contact with professionals like you from all over
Australia.

Australian Forestry - our own scientific journal

The Forester quarterly newsletter

Professional recognition, including our prestigious
N.W. Jolly Medal award

Access to scholarships, grants and professional
development awards

Young Professional (YP) rate for new graduates

Professional conferences and special member
rates

Student work placement notices

50% off for retired foresters.
THE FORESTER
31
Send Application Form and supporting documentation
to: IFA, PO Box 7002 Yarralumla ACT 2600
Date:
Signature:
I declare the above details to be correct and that I agree to be bound
by the Memorandum & Articles of Association and Regulations of the
Institute. (A copy of these documents is available on the IFA website at:
www.forestry.org.au). I authorise the Institute of Foresters of Australia to
debit my credit card as completed above.
Expiry:
Card number:
Name on card:
/
/
Declaration and credit card authorisation:
Amount $
/
/
Mastercard/Visa
Cheque (enclosed)
Payment by:
Note: No charge for first 12 months of Student membership
Being completed at:
Course:
Student member; Expected grad. Year:
A copy of my educational qualifications & a summary of
my forestry experience/interests
Documentation: I have attached:
Voting member
Membership Level:
Employer:
I would like to upgrade to:
DOB:
Mobile:
Email:
Associate member (Young Professional)
(See Membership Grades)
Associate member
(H)
Phone: (W)
P/code:
State:
Town:
Postal address:
Membership Application Form
Your full name:
IFA Membership Grades
Membership grades of the IFA are:
VOTING MEMBER
ASSOCIATE MEMBER
You are eligible for Voting membership if you:
You are eligible for Associate membership if
you:
1.
Hold a tertiary degree qualification in forestry recognised
by the Institute together with at least two years
appropriate forest management or forest science
experience and can demonstrate knowledge of and/or
skills in the core subjects of Australian forestry
1.
2.
Or
2.
Hold any other tertiary qualification or other relevant
experience acceptable to the Institute together with at
least four years appropriate forest management or forest
science experience and can demonstrate knowledge of
and/or skills in the core subjects of Australian forestry.
Persons holding forestry qualifications of Diploma, Associate
Diploma or Certificate IV will be eligible providing they meet the
following forest management or forest science experience:
Have an interest in forestry
Or
Have other relevant experience in
forestry
STUDENT MEMBER
You are eligible for Student membership if you
are attending as a full time student in your first
undergraduate formal course of forestry related
study at any University or Tertiary institution
recognised by the IFA.
Diploma = 6 years, Associate Diploma = 8 years and Certificate
IV = 10 years.
Membership Fees
Membership fees are payable at the time of application and renewable each financial year.
Current fee schedule for applications received during July 2011 - June 2012:
Grade
Voting
Fellow
32
$316
$316
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2 - JUNE 2011
Grade
Associate
Associate (YP rate)
$316
$79
Concessional rates
Student
Retired
Couple concession
$47
$158
$316
THE FORESTER