SHAW’S WIRE ROPES IRON TEST
Northland used to be known for its really big wood, but not anymore. As piece sizes have shrunk in recent years, so has the need for equally large machinery to harvest it. This was evident in our latest Iron Test, where Rosewarne Cable Loggers downsized its requirements when purchasing a pair of new generation John Deere 3156G tracked swing machines, fitted with upgraded SouthStar QS630 heads for processing.
SIX SCIENTISTS AND RESEARCHERS WHO have played a major role in advancing the cause of forestry in New Zealand have received recognition for their efforts in the 2017 Forest Growers Research Awards.
Chris Phillips, from Landcare Research at Lincoln, has been presented with the Communication and Sector Engagement Award.
A hydrology scientist, Chris has been active in the Future Forest Research environment projects investigating stability mapping and developing ways to map stability more efficiently. He’s also been involved in a programme focussing on how to minimise productivity losses from steep land and alternative forest management systems on erosion prone sites
Chris is an extremely effective communicator, equally at home engaging with fellow scientists or foresters on the ground and he’s currently working on a project to better understand how riparian buffer zones can play a role in mitigating sediment loss into waterways.
Richard Yao, an economist at Scion in Rotorua, has been presented with the Innovation That Enhances Sector Value Award.
Richard specialises in work to identify and quantify the economic value provided by forest ecosystems. This includes quantifying the value of recreational use at Whaka Forest in Rotorua, which has since evolved into ways to value avoided erosion, biodiversity, carbon and water quality and to incorporate these values into an overall economic modelling tool.
Richard’s work and the resulting discussions with a wider group of stakeholders is described as “extremely important strategically for the industry”.
Shaf Van Ballekom, Manager of commercial seed producer at Amberley-based Proseed, has won the Research Participation and Implementation Award.
Shaf has supported research in forestry for many years, including involvement with the Radiata Pine Breeding Company, the Dryland Forests Initiative and the Specialty Wood Products partnership programme.
Under Shaf’s leadership, Proseed has also undertaken its own research, including development of Radiata Attenuata hybrids for cold areas of the South Island and the joint Dryland Eucalypt programme with the University of Canterbury, which he chairs.
Scion researcher, Carolyne Anderson, has taken out the Contribution to a Science Team Award for her role with the Data from Permanent Sample Plots programme across forest estates around the country. This database has been described as a “national treasure” that supports numerous projects, models and scientific analyses.
Hunter Harrell, from the University of Canterbury’s School of Forestry, has picked up the Young Scientist Award.
As part of his PhD studies, Hunter has been involved with FGR’s Steepland Harvesting Programme, which included writing a thesis on Ímproving Cable Logging Operations for NZ’s Steep Terrain Forest Plantations’. Since completing his studies, Hunter continues to make a contribution on several FGR programmes.
Finally, Auckland-based Plant and Food Research’s Graeme Clare has won the Science of International Quality Award for helping the STIMBR project find alternatives to Methyl Bromide fumigation.
Graeme and his team developed a unique process to breed bark beetles in the laboratory on a large scale for testing alternatives, supplying more than 120,000 beetles for this purpose to date – something that has never been done before.
NZL