18 Feb 2010
Matariki Forests is pleased to announce that it has completed the investment by Phaunos Timber Fund Limited in the Matariki Forestry Group today. The aggregate investment is NZD 167 million.
Forestry News
Tree ring anomaly challenges scientists
23 Feb 2010
Scientists are trying to explain why tree-rings that successfully track northern hemisphere temperature changes for about a century, fail to do so from the 1960s.
Otago forest goes up in smoke
25 Feb 2010
A blaze northwest of Dunedin has engulfed more than 700 ha of a cut-over Wenita forestry block just above the Taieri River at Mt Allen, according to a report in the Southland Times.
Taskforce calls for CRI accountability and funding reform
4 Mar 2010
The taskforce set up by the government to determine how New Zealand can get the greatest benefit from its Crown Research Institutes has presented its report to shareholding ministers. It has recommended that the CRI system be reformed so that CRIs are more accountable for undertaking research that is relevant to New Zealand and less accountable for making a return on investment.
Export pellet factory built in Taupo
5 Mar 2010
Prime Minister John Key last week opened New Zealand’s largest wood pellet fuel plant. Built in Aratiatia industrial park near Taupo by Nature’s Flame, a Solid Energy business, the $34 million plant will initially have an output of up to 40,000 tonnes a year, most of which will be exported.
Read more ...
Wood-rich researcher wins national award
8 Mar 2010
An engineer working on the development of multi-storey buildings made from laminated veneer lumber held together by high-strength steel cables is the winner of the Young Engineer of the Year Award.
Maori advised to manage settlement forests themselves
8 Mar 2010
One of the country's most experienced Maori foresters says Maori have to stop handing over profits to others and get into the forestry business themselves.
Read more ...
Public support for forests vital, UK forest chief warns
12 Mar 2010
The Earth needs its forests more than ever as climate change bites, but foresters must heed the needs of society if we are to realise their benefits, Britain's top forester has warned.
$1 million-plus bill for Dunedin fire
16 Mar 2010
A fire in Wenita's Mt Allan forestry block, northwest of Dunedin, is expected to be the most expensive of its kind in the country, says national rural fire officer Murray Dudfield in the Otago Daily Times.