The Victorian government is investing in a new plantation estate in Gippsland to plant millions of trees to maintain the state’s timber supply and reduce emissions. An AU$120 million investment will fund the plantation of 16 million trees in regional Victoria in collaboration with Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP), who are expected to match the state government’s investment. The trees will …
Four workshops set up for ForestTECH 2022
The ForestTECH series has firmly established itself on the Australasian calendar. Since 2007, aside from a recent hiccup or two with Covid enforced travel and meeting restrictions, it’s been run annually for the forestry industry on both sides of the Tasman. In more recent years, it’s also truly become an international event with well over 100 delegates from 20 different …
Digital Data is the key to sustainable forestry
Forestry and climate change challenges require a far more efficient, data-intensive approach than the current status quo. Forests are critical to fighting climate change, based in part on their ability to absorb carbon dioxide – the primary greenhouse gas threatening our planet. However, trees aren’t just for reducing carbon emissions; they are renewable resources and sustain biodiversity. That’s why understanding …
Another unique opportunity for young foresters
This new opportunity comes with a free conference registration – up to about eight of them in fact for – for this year’s ForestTECH 2022 event running in Rotorua, New Zealand on 15-16 November 2022. The Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA) has teamed up with the WIDE Trust, a charitable Trust formed in 2018 that supports the development and education …
NZ UAV pilots, have you heard of this new tool?
RNZAF Flight Advisor Service (flightadvisornz.io) is a new tool developed by Aeropath for the NZDF. The primary function of this tool is two-fold: Register and communicate low level hazards in uncontrolled airspace; Notify other airspace users of your operation to enhance safety. Activities such as NZDF low level operations, RPAS, temporary hazards through NOTAM, permanent hazards (i.e., high wires, verified …
First AI-enabled carbon offsets for native NZ forests
New Zealand’s first voluntary carbon credit marketplace, Carbonz (pronounced carbon zee), is here to restore native biodiversity and help Aotearoa reach its carbon zero goals by selling the first carbon credits exclusively from native forest. Climate change PhD candidate Finn Ross is the founder of Carbonz. He says the foundation of the business is rooted in allowing Kiwi businesses and …
ArcGIS software-based forest monitoring system developed
The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) is developing a dashboard created with ArcGIS Dashboards that will generate reports about deforestation in the South American nation, which is renowned for its lush rain forests and exotic wildlife such as jaguars, capuchin monkeys, and giant armadillos. Esri mobile apps such as ArcGIS Field Maps and ArcGIS Survey123 also will be used by staff …
Swedish mechanised planting system planned for NZ
Plantma Forestry have developed a mechanised planting system that’s being used in Sweden and being trialled in both the US and Canada. During 2020 the machine was tested by 3 major forest companies in Sweden in a variety of conditions, types of ground, different seedlings etc. The Plantma-X proved to be a reliable machine and in the autumn of 2020 …
FARO acquires mobile mapping pioneer GeoSLAM
FARO has announced the acquisition of one the world’s mobile scanning market leaders: GeoSLAM. With proprietary high-productivity simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) software to create 3D models for use in digital twin applications, the addition of GeoSLAM will put FARO in an excellent position to significantly expand and accelerate market growth opportunity in the mobile scanning space. With the purchase …
STA Logger – Tracking weed management
The STA logger is an automated GPS and data logging attachment designed to integrate with your existing weed control tools.
Seed-dropping drone being trialed
A New Zealand team hopes a drone dropping thousands of seeds over the Hūnua ranges could provide a boost to native reforestation efforts. RNZ reporter Louise Ternouth and cameraman Nick Monro were there for its launch. If the trial works, the drone-testing team say New Zealand could be progressing on the government’s ambitious goal of 1 billion trees planted by …