IFA plantation productivity symposium: proving R&D pays
Venue: Main Corner, 1 Bay Road, Mt Gambier
DAY 1 - MONDAY 12 MAY
9.30am MORNING TEA AND REGISTRATION
10.00am
Welcome and expected workshop outcomes
The improvement imperative
Chair: Rob de Fégely
Session 1
10.10am
Session 2
Rob de Fégely, IFA President
Increasing and sustaining productivity of plantation
forests: an imperative but not so easy
Sadanandan Nambiar, CSIRO,
Ecosystem Sciences
International perspectives – what have others done to increase production
Chair: Evan Rolley
10.40am
More wood or more value? What are investors looking
for?
Jack Lutz, Forest Research Group,
USA
11.15am
The keys to plantation productivity improvement in Latin
America
Jefferson Mendes, Poyry
Silviconsult, Brazil
11.50pm
Do we value research & development?
Rudolf van Rensburg, Poyry
Management Consulting
12.20pm LUNCH
1.30pm
Session 3
2.00pm
Panel session/Q & A: Drivers for and impediments to
plantation productivity research and implementation
Jack Lutz, Jefferson Mendes,
Sadanandan Nambiar and others
What we have already learned
Chair: Jim O’Hehir
Site specific silviculture in South Australia: Selecting
Bob Boardman
benchmarks to underpin intensive practices
2.30pm
Inter-rotational productivity and productive capacity of a
Radiata pine plantation
John Turner, ForSci
3.00pm
R&D impacts on silvicultural regimes in E. globulus
Ben Bradshaw, Australian Bluegum
Plantations
3.30pm AFTERNOON TEA
3.45pm
Initiatives for improving productivity in Southern pine
plantations of HQPlantations
Kevin Cooney, HQPlantations
4.15pm
E. nitens: into the home straight
Steve Elms, Hancocks Plantations
Victoria
4.45pm
The implementation problem: what can we learn from
agriculture and our experience about process-based
models as aids to decision making
Mike Battaglia, CSIRO
DAY 2 – TUESDAY 13 MAY
FIELD TRIP
8.30am
New technology needs new ways of
thinking in order to soar
Cris Brack, ANU
Main Corner
MORNING TEA
BUS 1 – Lew Parsons
9.30am
BUS 2 – Mike Bleby
Travel to Springs Cave
10.00am
Cris Brack UAV demo at airstrip
Christine Stone, DPI NSW, presentation at PSP
10.30am
Christine Stone presentation at PSP
Jan Rombouts, ForestrySA presentation at PSP
11.00am
Jan Rombouts, ForestrySA presentation at
PSP
Cris Brack UAV demo at airstrip
11.45am
Travel to Mount Gambier Lakes Area
LUNCH
13.00am
Economics of genetics in tree breeding
and deployment
Richard Kerr, PlantPlan
Genetics
National Genetic
Resource Centre
AFTERNOON TEA
3.30pm
What can be done now to increase productivity?
4.00pm
Panel Discussion – Integrated resource
& processing value proposition
Keith Lamb, New Forests
Phil Lloyd, Timberlink &
Peter Thode
Main Corner
Presentations will be followed by a briefing on IFA/Forestworks resource development project
FREE EVENING
WEDNESDAY 14 MAY
Business case, and priorities, for productivity improvement
Chair: Keith Lamb
Session 4
8.30am
Keeping pests at bay: is it worth it?
Tim Wardlaw, Forestry Tasmania
9.00am
Forest weed management: costs, benefits and priorities
for improvement
Paul Adams, Forestry Tasmania
9.30am
Genetic improvement and plantation productivity
Greg Dutkowski, PlantPlan Genetics
Pty Ltd.
10.00am
Silvicultural tools: maximising asset value & cash flow mid rotation thinning & fertiliser
Jim O’Hehir, ForestrySA
10.30am MORNING TEA
Integrating productivity estimates into estate planning and valuation
Chair: Cris Brack
Session 5
11.00am
Valuing changes to silviculture
Jerry Leech, Forestry Systems
11.30am
Rewards and risks in precision forestry
Ian Ferguson, University of
Melbourne
12.00 noon LUNCH
Working business models
Chair: Jack Lutz
Session 6
12.45pm
Australian tree improvement cooperative
Tony McRae, Southern Tree
Breeding Association
1.15pm
2 + 2 = 5: Collaborative herbicide research adds up
Gavin Matthew, AFPA
1.45pm
Improving productivity with R&D – more lessons from
agriculture
Mike Stephens, MSA
2.15pm
Close
Rob de Fégely, IFA
President/Evan Rolley
Program as at 8 May 14 and may be subject to change
IFA plantation productivity symposium: proving R&D pays
Speakers
Rob de Fégely
Rob is IFA President and Director or
VicForests. He has over 28 years of
experience in the Australian forest
industry and he has a strong
interest in natural resource
management particularly the integration of forestry
and agriculture.
His consulting experience Australia as well as Asia and
North America extends from forest resource
assessment to processing and end product market
reviews.
Back to Monday
Back to Wednesday
Dr Sadanandan Nambiar AO
Hon. Fellow, CSIRO Ecosystem
Sciences, Canberra
Sadanandan has a long record of
leading research and application for
advancing sustainable forestry, especially plantation
forestry in Australia. He also has worked extensively
on tropical forestry and is actively engaged in linking
forestry for poverty alleviation in the tropics. He
retired as a Chief Research Scientist and Science
Director of the former CSIRO Forestry and Forest
Products. He has authored numerous journal papers,
Edited books, Proceedings and major reports on
national and international forestry. He has
received several international awards including from
IUFRO; the more recent ones include, Medal from
Vietnam, IFA's most prestigious and the highest
awards - N W Jolly Medal and the invitation to deliver
the Max Jacob Oration, and the Australian honour Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).
Back to Monday
Title
Increasing and sustaining productivity of plantation
forests: an imperative but not so easy
Abstract
Productivity with environmental care is the foundation
of sustainable plantation forestry. This is so, even
when forest systems are designed to provide
environmental services, because productivity and
ecological processes including carbon sequestration,
mineral cycling, hydrology and biodiversity are
inseparably interconnected. Sustained productivity is,
arguably, the best measure that integrates the
functioning of planted forests, and changes in
productivity signal the direction of changes in
response to management practices and ecological
events including climate change.
Australian forestry has several outstanding success
stories to tell about increasing and sustaining
production, achieved through strong partnerships
between research groups, managers and CEOs. Such
dynamic relationships have wilted and withered.
However, there is a pool of knowledge that can still be
applied for productivity gains in the short term.
Beyond that how does the future look?
Longer abstract available.
Dr Jack Lutz
Principal and Forest Economist of
Forest Research Group, Editor of
Forest Research Notes
Dr. Jack Lutz has over 30 years of
experience in timberland investments in academic,
industry, research and consulting positions. He is
editor of Forest Research Notes, a quarterly
newsletter on timberland investments and market
dynamics and is adjunct faculty at the Warnell School
of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of
Georgia and the School of Forest Resources at the
University of Maine.
Title:
More wood or more value? What are investors looking
for?
Abstract:
Dr. Lutz worked as Director, Global Research and
Valuations for FourWinds Capital Management (20072010), as a Resource Economist for James W. Sewall
Company (1998-2004), and as Senior Forest
Economist at Hancock Timber Resource Group (19941998). He was a natural resources consultant (19901994) and a research forester at the University of New
Hampshire (1985-1990). Before that he worked with
Container Corporation of America as a timber
planning analyst, with Tennessee River Pulp & Paper
Company as a financial analyst, and with USDA Forest
Service as an inventory forester.
Dr. Lutz received his PhD in Natural Resources and his
BS in Forestry from the University of New Hampshire.
He has an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of
Management at Northwestern University.
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Jefferson Bueno Mendes
Director and Head of Pöyry
Management Consulting, Brazil
Acting as a senior consultant,
Jefferson Mendes has a wealth of
experience within the forest management sector,
advising national and international companies on
strategy, market positioning, business planning and
implementation, management, M&A, timberland
appraisals and operational excellence.
Mr Mendes started his carrier in 1982, working for
Brazilian forest-based companies. In 1989, he founded
Silviconsult, which he managed until 2010, when
Pöyry acquired a 60% share in the company. From
Title:
The keys to plantation productivity improvement in
Latin America
Abstract:
2010 until 2013, when it was fully acquired by Pöyry,
Jefferson was a partner and director of Pöyry
Silviconsult. He also worked as a lecturer at PCU
(Pontificial Catholic University of Paraná) and PU
(University Positivo).
Mr Mendes holds a BSc. in forestry, an MSc. in forest
management, a post-graduate degree in economics
and agricultural politics, and an MBA in corporate
management.
Back to program
Evan Rolley
Evan Rolley has served on a range of State, National
and International bodies in a professional career
spanning 35 years. He is currently an Executive
Director for the Tasmanian hardwood veneer
producer Ta Ann, a Director of Tasports and Forest
and Wood Products Australia and Executive Advisor to
The Van Diemen’s Land Company, Australia’s largest
dairy producer. Evan’s academic background is in
forest science B.Sc (For) ANU and economics B.A.
UniTas.
Evan is a Fellow of the IFA, Gottstein Fellow and
recipient of the N.W. Jolly Award.
Back to Monday
Back to Wednesday
Keith Lamb, Director Operations,
New Forests Asset Management
Pty Limited
Keith Lamb has overseen growth in
New Forests’ assets under
management in Australia and the
Pacific region since joining the
company at its foundation in 2005. Keith has 25 years
experience in forest management and investment in
the private sector and government. Prior to joining
New Forests, he was the Carbon Pool Manager with
Hancock Natural Resource Group Australia, following
various operational, management, policy and planning
roles with government forest agencies in New South
Wales, Victoria and the Australian Federal
government. Keith has a Master Degree of Forestry
and a Graduate Diploma of Resource and
Environmental Management from the Australian
National University, and a Bachelor of Forest Science
from the University of Melbourne. He is a graduand of
the Sydney Business School with an Executive MBA,
and a member of the Australian Institute of Company
Directors and Institute of Foresters of Australia. Keith
is based in Sydney.
Title:
What can be done now to increase productivity?
Back to Monday
Rudolf van Rensburg
Title:
Director, Pöyry Management
Consulting
Do we value research and development?
Rudolf has 18 years of international
forestry experience, including 11 years
in Asia and senior management roles with two of
Asia’s largest pulp and paper companies.
Rudolf heads Pöyry Management Consulting’s Land
and Forest practise area in Asia Pacific and specialises
in strategic fibre planning with a special interest in the
regional fibre demand and supply balance across the
pulp, wood products and bioenergy sectors.
Rudolf’s broader experience and oversight role
include a range of projects such as business strategy,
operations improvement, forest due diligence studies,
feasibility studies, asset valuations, and market
outlooks, as well as a number of Pöyry
ViewPoint/multi-client studies.
Rudolf led the recent forward sale of ForestrySA, and
is a member of the NZIF Forestry Valuation Working
Party.
Abstract:
The presentation reviews the global trends in
Research and Development (R&D) investment. It
considers Australia’s position relative to the United
States and European countries but also to the Asian
region; China, Japan and South Korea.
R&D investment in the forest industry is compared
against other industries. Specific R&D investment
trends by a number of prominent international
forestry companies are discussed. The R&D
investment trend in the Australian forest industry is
highlighted and questions are raised about the longterm strategic implications for the development of the
domestic industry. Three case studies are presented to
underscore how important R&D capabilities and
expertise are to the forestry industry, to resolve
unexpected problems and to develop new
opportunities.
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Bob Boardman
Employed in Woods & Forests
Department of South Australia;
ForestrySA, from 1959 to 2002 in
forestry resources branch and, from
1966, in the forest research branch: holding the
positions of Assistant Investigation & Research
Officer, Senior Research Officer and Principal Forest
Scientist. Fellow of the Institute of Foresters of
Australia, 1979.
Organising Chair of the national Herbicide Research
Management Group (AHMG) for Atrazine, 1993- 2001.
Forestry-trial designer and direction of the SA interdepartmental Hardwood Irrigated Afforestation Trial
(HIAT) at Bolivar Sewage Treatment Works Farm,
Adelaide, 1989-1996. Forestry representative the
National Weed Strategy Executive Committee, 19972001. Guide and Member of the Management
Committee of Friends of the Waite Arboretum,
University of Adelaide, 2002 to date.
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Title:
Site Specific silviculture in South Australia: Selecting
benchmarks to underpin intensive practices and
sustainable consolidation of plantation productivity.
Abstract:
South Australian forestry has shown that forest
ecosystems, even the most focussed and simplified
man-made ones can be capable of recycling resources
sustainably. This review covers a review that took the
account up to the mid-1980s and it traces the progress
since. It also addresses how progress was achieved by
emphasizing the scientific background that inspired
the direction of investigations and underpinned the
benchmarking process that showed cumulative
progress in combining physiology, nutrition and
heritable traits. These have informed a range of
operational decisions now across three rotations of
radiata pine evaluated on the same site.
Dr John Turner
Title:
Director, Forsci Pty Ltd
Inner-rotational productivity and productive capacity
of radiate pine plantation
Dr John Turner was employed by
the Forestry Commission of NSW
for 32 years (now Forestry
Corporation) as a Research Scientist and then as
Director of Research. He is now a research and
Director of Forsci Pty Ltd, a forest science research
company. Over this period his research has been in
the areas of forest soils, nutrition, nutrient cycling and
productivity with the focus on site specific
management. He has over 190 scientific publications
in these areas.
Back to Monday
Abstract:
Comparisons of productive capacity and productivity
were undertaken for first and second rotations of P.
radiata plantation on clay soils in NSW. There were
small declines in productivity from 1R to 2R where
there were not significant additions of nutrients, while
3R may improve usually due to changes in
management. On sites treated with significant
quantities of phosphate fertilizer in the second
rotation, there were increases in the second rotation
productivity with a residual effect into the third
rotation. Early growth in the second rotation may be
higher than the first rotation, or the difference not
great, however, with age this declines. Nutrients such
as calcium, potassium and boron appear to be
affecting long term growth even though the foliage
levels are much higher than normally considered
limiting for growth. For site specific management to
be effective, sites need to be defined in terms of their
susceptibility to change.
Paper prepared by John Turner and Marcia Lambert of
Forsci Pty Ltd.
Dr Ben Bradshaw, Research and
Development Manager at
Australian Bluegum Plantations
Ben is responsible for review and
implementation of the companies Continual
Improvement Strategy, management of resource
inventory, tree improvement, seed and seedling
production programs. Ten years’ experience in and
around plantation hardwood.
Back to Monday
Title:
R&D impacts on silvicultural regimes in E. globulus
Abstract:
Productivity improvements in the existing E. globulus
estate are required to ensure the long term
sustainability of the hardwood estate. Expansion of
the hardwood estate occurred rapidly and so with it
investment in research to support operational,
compliance and policy aspects of this new resource.
This research remains a legacy and a basis for
improving the productivity of the estate so long as a
concerted effort to implement the outputs continues.
Silvicultural regimes reached a reasonable degree of
refinement during the first rotation with innovation in
both an operational and research context contributing
to improvements in plantation growth and operational
costs. R&D investment in weed & pest management
has provided a sound basis for optimum management
of weed loads and pests that will be relevant across
rotations. Fertiliser inputs were undertaken in the
absence of robust empirical data for financial
modelling with rotation length responses quantified
only recently. Best rotation length responses to
fertiliser were observed at mid rotation relative to
application at establishment. Our ability to predict
responsive sites and magnitude of response to
fertiliser has improved albeit that these patterns of
response are likely to be different in subsequent
rotations.
Investment in genetic improvement of E. globulus over
the last two decades has been substantial with
significant yield gains achieved. This is traded against
low cost coppice regimes that are yet to be proven
reliable in sustaining site productivity and woodflow
expectations. The experience of coppice thus far
implies management regimes have been sub-optimal.
Impediments to re-establishment are not limited to
timely and effective coppice control and management
of slash to effect adequate cultivation. Research into
coppice control at the point of harvest provides a
significant advance toward lower cost replant regimes
and an ability to capitalise on past investments in
genetics and silviculture. A maturity in the silvicultural
regimes applied in subsequent rotations of E. globulus
is yet to be realised. Without adequate investment in
continued innovation and the implementation of
existing research the rationalisation of the E. globulus
estate may continue beyond a viable critical mass.
Kevin Cooney
Title:
General Manager of the Resource
Information and Planning team,
HQPlantations
Initiatives for improving productivity in Southern pine
plantations of HQPlantations
Kevin has 34 years of experience in
the forest industry, mainly in
resource planning and management and forest
valuation type roles with the previous 6 years as
Senior Planner at Hancock Forest Management in
Rotorua New Zealand, and various roles with Fletcher
Challenge Forests prior to that.
He holds a Bachelor of Forestry Science from
Canterbury University (NZ) and a Graduate Diploma in
Management Studies from Waikato University (NZ).
Back to Monday
Stephen Elms
Title
Research Manager, HVP
Plantations
Eucalytpus nitens: into the home straight
Stephen has been involved in
hardwood and softwood
plantation research for over 15
years, with particular interests in tree improvement,
silviculture and forest health. He previously held
operational roles in plantation harvesting and
silviculture.
Abstract
Eucalyptus nitens has been developed as a significant
plantation species in Australia over the past 30 years.
The talk will reflect on how research has assisted in
overcoming a number of key barriers to its
domestication, and outline some key challenges for
the future.
Back to Monday
Dr Cris Brack
Title:
Associate Professor, Australian
National University
New technology needs new ways of thinking in order
to soar
Cris has 20 years’ experience in
teaching and research in forest
measurement, modelling and
management, gained after 10
years working for the state-based forest agencies. He
has developed inventory and decision-support
systems at national through to local scales, including a
Eureka Award winning carbon accounting systems. As
may become apparent during the conference, my
nickname used to be “Lecturer in charge of toys”. See
https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/brack-cl
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Abstract: Technology is advancing at an amazingly fast
rate. Forest managers no sooner acquire access to
new sensors or other advanced tools before they
become outdated and new systems arrive on the
market. The new technology can potentially improve
forest productivity by (1) acting as a marketing tool;
(2) improving the efficiency of what is already being
done; or (3) allowing a change from what is currently
being done to something more effective. Rarely
however is option (3) being exploited as the
technological changes are outpacing the changes in
theory, yet alone theoretical application. This
presentation will focus on opportunities to rethink
measurement, modelling and management provided
by relatively cheap and available robotic and drone
technology.
Dr Jan Rombouts
Title:
Resource Planning Manager, ForestrySA
Plantation productivity and resource mapping using
airborne LiDAR.
Dr Jan Rombouts completed a PhD in Forest Science
at the University of Melbourne on site quality
assessment using airborn LiDAR. His main area of
interest is in remote sensing based resource
assessment. He has worked in Belgium, Sri Lanka,
Indonesia and Australia.
Back to Tuesday
Abstract:
Results arising from current FWPA Project,
“Operational deployment of LiDAR derived
information into softwood resource systems”.
Dr Christine Stone
Title:
Principal Research Scientist and
Lead er of Forests Research in
NSW Department of Primary
Industries
Plantation productivity and resource mapping using
LiDAR
Dr Christine Stone has been
involved in forest-related research for more than 25
years, in the areas of forest health, surveillance and
biosecurity and more recently in remote sending of
forest resources, in particular Lidar.
Abstract:
Results arising from current FWPA Project,
“Operational deployment of LiDAR derived
information into softwood resource systems”.
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Dr Richard Kerr
Title:
Quantitative Geneticist,
PlantPlan Genetics Pty Ltd
Economics of genetics in tree breeding and
deployment
Dr Richard Kerr is a Quantitative
Geneticist with PlantPlan Genetics
Pty Ltd. Richard specialises in
product development and was a principal researcher
for several R&D projects that have underpinned the
development of the SEEDPLAN tool set and the
TREEPLAN genetic evaluation system. Dr Kerr also
assists his colleagues in manual development,
teaching and training in quantitative genetics. Dr Kerr
has extensive experience in the analysis and
application of molecular data for use in operational
breeding programs.
Back to Tuesday
Phil Lloyd
Abstract:
Tree breeding is driven by commercially relevant
economic objectives, and plantation productivity and
profitability are substantially improved through the
deployment of advanced genetics developed from the
tree breeding programs. STBA and associates
breeding programs for the main plantation species are
continually evolving as we learn more about the
genetics of each species and understand better what
determines profitability. Large quantities of data and
genetic material have accumulated from decades of
breeding and associated research. Using all this data
and information effectively to maximise genetic gain
and manage relatedness has proven to be a challenge
for tree breeders in the past. A suite of advanced web
based SEEDPLAN software tools have been developed
by the STBA group to improve the performance of the
breeding programs and facilitate the delivery of
research results as outcomes to the plantation sector.
Demonstrations of these tools and other operational
aspects of pine and eucalypt tree improvement will be
discussed during a field visit to the national breeding
arboreta at Mount Gambier.
Title:
Back to Tuesday
Abstract:
Peter Thode
Title:
Back to Tuesday
Abstract:
Dr Tim Wardlaw
Title:
Principal Scientist, Ecosystem
Services Group of Forestry Tasmania
Research and Development Branch
Keeping pests at bay: is it worth it?
Dr Tim Wardlaw has over thirty years
experience in the management of pests and diseases
in plantations and was responsible for establishing
forest heath surveillance in Tasmania more than 15
years ago. He has operated at the interface between
research and management for most of his career and
has a particular interest in the use of information
from health surveillance and other operational health
management programs in decision-making and in
evaluating the effectiveness of health management
programs.
Back to Wednesday
Abstract:
Draw on Forestry Tasmania’s experience from 15 years
of health surveillance and more than 40 years of pests
and diseases research to understand where and how
we should direct our efforts to reduce the adverse
effects of pests and diseases in plantations. The talk
will demonstrate this through several case studies
including:



Profiling a plantation estate to understand
what the key threats are.
The leaf beetle integrated pest management
program 25 years on: has it been worth it?
What are the management options available
and what gains are we likely to expect?
Dr Paul Adams
Title:
Principal Scientist (Productivity),
Forestry Tasmania
Forest weed management: costs, benefits and
priorities for improvement
Dr Paul Adams has been a
plantation silviculturalist for more
than 25 years and has expertise in establishment,
management and research in both pines and
eucalypts across Australia, New Zealand, and more
recently, southern China. He is currently Principal
Scientist (Productivity) at Forestry Tasmania where
E.globulus and E. nitens plantations are managed for
the production of high-value pruned logs, over 25
year rotations. His work is focused on increasing the
productivity, quality and value of the estate through
improved genetics and the application of appropriate
and timely silviculture. Other interests include site
evaluation, resource assessment/characterisation and
sustainability.
Back to Wednesday
Abstract:
The presentation is about weed management in
Australian pine and eucalypt plantations: what we’ve
learned and where we are at, i n terms of science,
costs and benefits and operational effectiveness.
Priorities for innovation and productivity improvement
will be discussed.
Dr Greg Dutkowski
Title:
Quantitative Geneticist, PlantPlan
Genetics Pty Ltd
Genetic improvement and plantation productivity
Dr Greg Dutkowski is a Quantitative
Geneticist with PlantPlan Genetics Pty
Ltd. Greg has extensive experience in data analysis
and breeding value prediction for plantation species
grown in Australia (radiata pine, blue gum, shining
gum and southern pines) and others internationally.
He is also responsible for software and manual
development to support users in specialised
analytical and decision support tools, teaching and
training in quantitative genetics and software
systems, and gives STBA breeding programs strategic
and technical support.
Back to Wednesday
Tree improvement programs for pine and eucalypts
have undergone substantial change in the past decade
with the (i) development and adoption of
economically defined breeding objectives, (ii)
increased measurement of wood properties and
screening for new pest and disease traits, (iii)
development and consolidation of data nationally in
the DATAPLAN database, (iv) development of the
TREEPLAN system for comprehensive industry wide
genetic evaluation with regionalised genetic and
economic values produced, (v) adoption of efficient
rolling front breeding, testing and selection programs,
(vi) development of the SEEDPLAN software tools for
selection, breeding and deployment, (vii) gene
conservation coordinated nationally, (viii) improved
security of the national genetic resource (breeding
populations), and (ix) a more focused research
portfolio with the rapid adoption of results and
findings. Genetic progress is also being monitored
over time and material from different sources is
benchmarked in field trials for objective comparisons.
Increased international collaboration with other tree
breeding organisations fosters innovation and is
resulting in cost efficiencies for the Australian
plantation sector. The importance of using an
integrated national framework to maximise the use of
field data and information is described in an economic
context.
Dr Jim O’Hehir
Title:
General Manager – Ranges &
Research, ForestrySA
Silvicultural tools: maximising asset value & cash flow
– mid rotation thinning & fertiliser
Dr Jim O’Hehir is the General
Manager, Ranges and Research
Abstract:
for ForestrySA.
Dr O’Hehir is based in Mt Gambier and is responsible
for executive management of ForestrySA’s estate in
the Mount Lofty Ranges and the plantation research
program.
Back to Wednesday
Abstract:
Commercial plantation management strives to
maximise value, expressed as cash flow and asset
value. Forest managers use the silvicultural tools of
thinning and fertiliser to modify the growth of stands
to achieve desired value outcomes, but how these
tools are applied causes significantly different
outcomes. Credible research and development
methods underlie the understanding the relationship
between the setting of the tools and the outcomes.
The use of the silvicultural tools of thinning and
fertiliser in combination are modelled to show the
benefit of reliable research and development
outcomes. The availability of such models provides
flexibility to the forest manager in tailoring forest
management prescriptions to value objectives. The
timeframes for achieving these objectives can be
relatively short and lower risk, when compared with
other investment decisions in longer rotation crops.
Dr Jerry Leech
Title:
Principal Scientist, Forestry Systems
Valuing changes in silviculture
Dr Jerry Leech has many years
practical experience in forest
mensuration and management. As
Principal Scientist Forestry Systems in the old Woods
and Forests Department, now morphed into
ForestrySA, he developed and implemented the
system that forest management planning is based
upon, including developing much of the embedded
biometrics.
Abstract:
This talk reports some of the lessons that Dr Leech has
learnt about how silvicultural alternatives can best be
built into forest management planning and decision
making. The objective is to comment on how changes
in silviculture can be built into forest management
planning, and thus valuation, after all a manager
needs to know what economic gains are likely to be
achieved before adopting any silvicultural change.
Back to Wednesday
Professor Ian Ferguson
Title:
University of Melbourne
Rewards and risks in precision forestry
Emeritus Professor of Forest
Science, University of Melbourne.
Abstract:
Ian has enjoyed a long-standing
professional partnership with Jerry
Leech in which they have published articles,
guidelines on forest valuation and the Australian
Forest Valuation Standard, for use by forestry
consultants. Ian has also published widely on forest
economics and management and has had wide
experience consulting in Australia and internationally.
He is currently a Director of HVP Plantations Pty Ltd in
Victoria and Taumata Plantations Ltd in New Zealand.
Back to Wednesday
Dr Tony McRae
Title:
Southern Tree Breeding
Association Inc.
Case study: Australian tree improvement cooperative
Dr Tony McRae is General
Manager of the Southern Tree
Breeding Association Inc. Dr McRae trained in rural
Abstract:
The Southern Tree Breeding Association Inc. is an
industry consortium which has for 30 years
science and animal genetics at UNE. He has 25 years
of experience in managing commercial breeding
programs for sugarcane (as a senior breeder with
BSES in the 1990s) and in plantation forestry since
1998 (as principal geneticist before becoming general
manager of the STBA group in 2001). Dr McRae
encourages tree breeders, geneticists and researchers
of different organisations to work collectively on a
national basis to achieve common goals.
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Gavin Matthew, Manager Processing,
Australian Forests Products
Association (AFPA)
Gavin Matthew joined AFPA in June
2011. Gavin has over 16 years of
diverse experience in forestry policy
development (industry advocacy), forest
management, timber processing and forestry
consulting. Gavin worked for the Australian Plantation
Products and Paper Industry Council (A3P) prior to it
being merged to form AFPA. Gavin previously worked
for the Forestry Corporation of NSW (when it was
called Forests NSW) in their commercial services
branch as the Softwood Sales Manager and in
operational forestry roles in infrastructure,
establishment, protection, merchandising and
planning. Gavin has also worked for a timber
processing firm in Victoria. Gavin holds a Bachelor of
Science (Forestry) degree, a Bachelor of Economics
degree both from the Australian National University,
and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and
Investment from the Financial Services Institute of
Australia.
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successfully managed cooperative tree improvement
programs for pine and eucalypts in Australia. The
operational breeding programs have economically
defined objectives which are aligned with the drivers
of plantation productivity and industry profitability.
The STBA business model has facilitated increased
collaboration among companies and research agencies
to generate efficiencies and improve the effectiveness
of tree breeding on a regional and national basis. The
STBA group has developed an integrated framework of
software tools that ensure the results and findings of
research projects are quickly adopted in operational
forestry. The collaboration has allowed increased
genetic gain through access to highly specialised
technical expertise that is shared by domestic and
international programs.
Title:
2 + 2 = 5: Collaborative herbicide research adds up
Abstract:
Dr Michael Battaglia
Title:
Deputy Director, CSIRO’s
Sustainable Flagship
The implementation problem: What can we learn from
agriculture and our experience about process-based
models as aids to decision making.
Dr Michael Battaglia’s areas of
expertise include: climate change
adaptation of forestry, carbon
sequestration in forests; whole tree physiology; gas
exchange measurement; field ecology; process-based
modelling of forest function; and decision support
systems. He has published over 60 publications, 10
books and book chapters, 70 reports and published
conference proceedings in the areas of greenhouse
gas mitigation and forest physiology and functioning.
He has produced the CABALA and ProMod processbased models forest growth models and
demonstrated their utility in many areas of forestry.
In 2010 he was awarded the IUFRO science
achievement medal for contributions to forestry
science in the areas of forest modelling and
ecophysiology.
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Abstract:
Australian forestry R&DE is well recognised highly
awarded and has a significant track record. However,
there are emerging cracks in the system.
It is noted that there is:
• declining funding support: $96M in 1980/81,
$70M 2001/02, >$40M now?
• a heavy reliance on public sector funding remains:
>80% spend
• a decline in capacity: last 3 decades has seen at
R&D capacity reduced from 794 to 252
• a loss of public sector extension: States moving
out of forestry (reduced from 432 to 82 and falling)
• a loss of in-house industry adoption capacity:
down-sizing R&D branches (peaked at 129 in 2008
now down to 14), turnover and loss of corporate
knowledge,
• and that R&D costs are rising faster than industry
income.
Systemic issues that are emerging are discussed and
include:
The “leveraging to death” problem
The “tragedy of the commons” problem with respect
to underpinning scientific / knowledge infrastructure
The “short term, fragmented small project” problem
The “if in doubt, create a new institution” problem
The “private interests distorting the national interests”
problem
In addition, and worryingly’ there is perception in
some quarters that that for a lot of R&D input there is
little evident practice change and impact.
Drawing on the experience of adoption of processbased modelling in agriculture and particular in the
area of climate change adaptation this presentation
explores knowledge uptake by practitioners.
Mike Stephens
Title:
Mike Stephens & Associates
Improving productivity with R&D – What are the
lessons from Agriculture?
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Abstract: