Southem Online 223

SOUTHEM ONLINE Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Online news briefs SOUTHEM Online - Issue 223 – 16 July 2009 SOUTHEM On Scribd With this edition, we have added Southem Online to Scribd, the fast-growing digital publishing service. Scribd is said to be the publishing equivalent of youtube. Also, note, that we are using tiny urls to assist with accessing news items. If you have any problems, please feel free to contact me. REGISTRATION FOR SOUTHEM ONLINE SOUTHEM Online is sent out to 14,000 recipients worldwide, including those involved in forestry and forest industries as well associated services and agencies. You can register for this free e-news headlines service. Send an email to [email protected] or Go to Subscribe. Forward to a Friend: Want to send this edition to a friend? Just click Forward to a Friend. If you would prefer not to receive further issues of this service, please reply to me at email [email protected] with the word ‘Remove’ in the subject. If you have any queries or suggestions, please feel free to contact me. Kind regards Mike Smith Editor and Director Email: [email protected] URL: www.southem.com SPONSORS’ MESSAGES Help keep this publication free – please visit our sponsors today! Contact [email protected] for sponsorship details. FORSIGHT RESOURCES, LLC FORSight Resources, LLC, is a private consulting firm that specializes in forest management planning and related services to the forestry and natural resources sectors. Our staff brings together decades of combined forestry and GIS/GPS experience to provide a full suite of decision support offerings for natural resource management. The company’s offerings include forest planning, inventory, acquisition due diligence, wood and fiber supply studies, growth and yield modeling, GIS analysis and custom programming, as well as other decision support services geared specifically towards natural resource management. FORSight Resources is an authorized Business Partner for Trimble and ESRI, offering sales and support for their respective products. With 3 offices located in South Carolina, Wisconsin and Washington, FORSight Resources is well-positioned to serve clients throughout North America and abroad. For more information, please contact Bruce Carroll (SC) +1-843.552.0717, Chuck Stiff (WI) +1-608.868.2799, or Karl Walters (WA) +1-360.882.9030, email us at [email protected] or visit our web site http://www.FORSightResources.com for more information. You can also learn more about FORSight at the PODCAST: http://www.southem.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=877&Itemid=2 FOREST BUSINESS MASTERS DEGREE ASSISTANTSHIP The University of Georgia Center for Forest Business announces the availability of a Master

of Forest Resources Graduate Assistantship in Forest Business beginning August 2009. For details please contact: Bob Izlar, + 1.706.542.6819, [email protected] For more information about MFR, MS or PhD degree programs in Forest Business see: http://www.forestry.uga.edu/h/centers/cfb For University of Georgia Graduate School admission requirements, please see: http://www.gradsch.uga.edu HELI HARVEST LTD PROVIDING AERIAL HEAVY LIFTING SERVICES Heli Harvest is New Zealand’s leading heavy helicopter operator. The company has vast experience in heavy lifting tasks, including timber harvesting, firefighting, disaster relief, construction, vineyard frost protection and cellphone tower installation. Heli Harvest operates two Mi-8 heliopters. For more information, go to: http://www.heliharvest.co.nz/index.cfm/ CONTINUING EDUCATION IN FOREST FINANCE AND ECONOMICS COURSE The Department of Forest and Wood Science, Stellenbosch University, will again present the “Continues Education in Forest Finance and Economics Course” in 2009. This two week block course will cover the theory of discounting and financial analysis procedures, financial decision tools, land valuation and relevant contemporary South African forestry economic topics. For more information see www.sun.ac.za/forestry or contact Cori Ham at [email protected] **************************************** COPYRIGHT NOTICE Items headlined in SOUTHEM Online are drawn from a number of sources. The source of the item is quoted, either by publication or organisations in line with the practice of fair reporting. Items originally published in Spanish are translated by TMS Ltd. Every effort is made to ensure use of paid wire service material is avoided at all times. Should users wish to utilise SOUTHEM Online on their own web sites, we request that this is done to accurately reflect the current layout to ensure attribution is appropriate. ************************************************ PODCAST PART I: INQUIRY AVOIDS WITCH HUNT INTO MIS COLLAPSES A Parliamentary Committee investigating Australia’s managed investment schemes appears to be avoiding the temptation to conduct a witch hunt into why several leading players have collapsed. The Australian Plantation Products and Paper Industry Council (A3P) and the National Association of Forest Industries have presented a joint submission to the committee. In part one of this podcast, Alan Cummine, from A3P, discusses the industry submissions to the inquiry and the committee’s focus on the corporate regulations governing the forest investment sector. http://tinyurl.com/southeminquiry PODCAST PART II: SAWLOG FOREST INVESTMENT SCHEMES WINNERS Forestry investment schemes involving longer rotation sawlog projects seem to be the big winners from the collapse of a number of companies involved pulpwood growing investment schemes in Australia. A Parliamentary committee is investigating Australia’s Managed Investment Schemes and in this podcast, Alan Cummine from A3P says investment in this sector has been chopped from around A$700 million to A$750 million dollars to about A$200A$260 million dollars. However, the winner has been long-rotation, sawlog projects. In the past, these projects have been something of a bridesmaid to shorter rotation pulpwood based projects.

http://tinyurl.com/southemsawlog ************************************************ SWINE FLU FORCES FOREST FAIR POSTPONEMENT The swine flu pandemic has led to the postponement of a major forest industry fair in Argentina. Fitecma 2009 was to be held on 7 and 11 July this year but organisers urgently advised the industry that concerns about the H1N1 flu virus, which has seen a clamp of public gatherings in Buenos Aires, had seen the fair postponed until March 2010.

http://tinyurl.com/southemswine ************************************************ CARBON ACCOUNTING TO HELP NZ MEET KYOTO TARGETS The New Zealand Ministry for the Environment is implementing geographic information system (GIS) software from ESRI to analyse, measure, and report greenhouse gas emissions and land-use change. GIS will be used to comply with the reporting requirements of the Kyoto Protocol in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to Earth's climate changes.

http://tinyurl.com/southemesri ************************************************ MONDI PLANS MEREBANK PAPER MACHINE MOTHBALLING The large South African paper and packaging group Mondi is holding talks with staff and unions at its Merebank mill with a planned mothballing of the No. 3 paper machine along with a reorganisation of its newsprint and paper production ops.

http://tinyurl.com/southemmondi ************************************************ GUNNS BUCKS BAD NEWS RECESSION Australia’s Gunns Ltd is on the verge of a major expansion – taking an interest in a timber industry counterpart, Forest Enterprises Australia, and boosting speculation a deal is near on its proposed pulp mill. Gunns has said it has identified a company to be a potential joint venture partner in the A$2.2 billion pulp mill it is planning for Tasmania.

http://tinyurl.com/southembadnews ************************************************ PAY INCREASE FOR ARGENTINE TIMBER WORKERS The government in Argentina has agreed to a pay rise for timber workers following agreement between the industry and unions. The Ministry of Work, Employment and Social Security has countersigned an agreement reached between the parties involved that will see a wage increase of 15% across the industry in three stages of 5% each, FAIMA reported.

http://tinyurl.com/southempay ************************************************ BRAZILIAN SQUEEZE ON ARGENTINE TRADE BARRIERS Brazil could restrict credit to Argentina in response to what it says are increasing trade barriers being erected by its Latin American neighbour. Mercopress has reported the Brazilian response came after Argentina began tightening import restrictions late last year after the Brazilian real fell sharply relative to the US dollar while the Argentine currency, the

peso, remained relatively stable. ************************************************ CHINA TRADE OFFICE ON CARDS FOR PARAGUAY Meanwhile, it is reported that Paraguay plans to open a trade office in Shanghai, the Chinese commercial capital. China has a trade office in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion and it is expected the Shanghai office could be opened following plans for a delegation to visit China later this year or early in 2010.

http://tinyurl.com/southemchina ************************************************ BOLIVIA LOOKS FROM CHILE TO URUGUAY FOR PORT ACCESS In other trade news, it is reported that Bolivia may send products through ports in Uruguay rather than Chile. Bolivia’s Foreign Affairs Minister David Choquehuanca is reported by Mercopress to have said the landlocked country was attracted to the direct access that could be gained via Uruguay.

http://tinyurl.com/southemport ************************************************ BAD DEBTS MOUNTING UP FOR LAND BANK South Africa’s state-owned Land Bank has already repossessed 25 farms around the country, of which six are black-owned properties, used as collateral against farm loans. The rest of the farmsteads had belonged to white commercial farmers, Business Report said. It’s reported that Parliament's agriculture, fisheries and forestry committee called on the government to forge ways of saving a further 350 black emergent farmers who are in trouble and are costing the Land Bank about R100 million a month - or R1.2 billion a year - on loan defaults. The bank has warned that this is unsustainable. ************************************************ SUZANO PLANS US$100M FORESTRY PROJECT TO SUPPLY EXPANDING MILLS The big Brazilian company Suzano Papel e Celulose, one of the largest integrated producers of pulp and paper in Latin America, is reported as confirming it will invest US$100 million this year in the development of a forest base to supply new industrial units in the north east of the country.

http://tinyurl.com/southemsuzano ************************************************ AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVE TO FORE IN OBAMA G8 ANNOUNCEMENT An Australian initiative on climate change has taken centre stage at the G8 talks in Italy with US President Barack Obama announcing a new global partnership to drive the development of clean energy technologies to help fight global warming.

http://tinyurl.com/southemclimate ************************************************ CHILE OPTIMISM LIFTING A turnaround in the expectations of Chilean consumers has matched increased optimism

among managers in what is being seen as a pick up in demand. The Economic Perception Index (IPEC in Spanish) for the month of June, produced by Adimark GfK, reached 40.4 points.

http://tinyurl.com/southemchile ************************************************ MAF BOOST FOR EROSION BATTLE New Zealand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s (MAF) Hill Country Erosion (HCE) Fund has granted NZ$1.1 million to Taranaki Regional Council for its South Taranaki and Regional Erosion Support Scheme (STRESS). The HCE Fund contribution will be used for the onground treatment of erosion-prone land, mainly in the Waitotara catchment and isolated hot spots in the region.

http://tinyurl.com/southemerosion ************************************************ RISK TO BRAZIL’S RARE PLANTS HIGHER THAN ESTIMATES ENS News Service has reported that thousands of rare plants found only in Brazil are at risk of being lost forever. Quoting the newly published scientific book, it says that the number of rare and endemic species in the country is more than four times the government's estimate. The book, "Rare Plants of Brazil," was compiled by more than 175 scientists from 55 research institutions.

http://tinyurl.com/southembrazil ************************************************ LIQUIDATOR IN BUZZ OVER TIMBERCORP BEES WANTED: Vast swarm of bees, cheap as possible. That could be the advert placed by the liquidator of the Australian agri-investment company, Timbercorp. The Age reported that 52,000 beehives are needed to pollinate the company’s vast almond, asap, at a cost of A$3.6 million.

http://tinyurl.com/southembees ************************************************ ATLAS COPCO GOES ZERO CARBON RATED Atlas Copco’s Oil-free Air division has announced that the company’s ZR series of watercooled oil-free air compressors with built-in energy recovery systems is the first in the world to be TÜV certified for ‘net zero energy consumption’ at specific design conditions.

http://tinyurl.com/southematlas ************************************************ SOUTHEM EMPLOYMENT NOTICES GIS ANALYST – CARBON EMISSION REDUCTION AND OFFSET PROJECTS The successful candidate will conduct GIS and satellite imagery analysis activities to support projects in the land use, land use change and forestry sectors. For more information, call Michael Green at Bradman Recruitment in Australia on 613-9225 5225. HARVEST PLANNER AND LOG PRODUCTION COORDINATOR A harvest planner is required for Rayonier’s Matariki Forests in New Zealand. The company wants a log production coordinator. For more information, contact:

[email protected] POST-DOCTURAL RESEARCH FELLOW Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, is advertising for a post-doctoral research fellow for its State Centre of Excellence for Climate Change, Woodland and Forest Health. For more details, contact Prof. Tom Lyons at 618-9360 2413 or email: [email protected] **************************************** MEETINGS 29-31 July 2009 – Wood - the Source of Wealth and Opportunities in Construction and Infrastructure. Concepción, Chile. [email protected] VII LATIN AMERICAN FOREST AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CONGRESS 11-14 August 2009 - VII Latin American Forest and Environmental Law Congress. Curitiba, Brazil. IUFRO 6.13.01 http://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-6/60000/61300/61301/. Contact: Paulo de Tarso de Lara Pires, ptlpires(at)ufpr.br http://www.congresso7.com.br/ TRAINING IN ENVIRONMENTAL NEGOTIATION 17-22 August 2009 - A training session will be held professional negotiation in conservation and the management of natural resources. Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. For more info, go to: http://www.conservation-strategy.org/ OPPORTUNITIES FOR FORESTRY INVESTMENT IN RECESSION 30 August 2009 – Seminar entitled: Opportunities for Investment in the Forestry Sector in the Context of the International Economy. For more information, contact: [email protected] WHO WILL OWN FORESTS 14-16 September 2009 - Early registration has open for "Who Will Own the Forest? 5" Summit to be held in Portland, Oregon. For more information, go to Register at: http://wfi.worldforestrycenter.org/wwotf5/reg.html

AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS BOLIVIA 22-24 September 2009 – First National Congress of Agroforestry Systems (ECOSAF). Cochabambra, Bolivia. http://ecosaf.comxa.com IDENTIFYING SILVER LINING TO GLOBAL STORM CLOUDS 8-9 October 2009 – New Zealand Pine Manufacturers Association Conference 2009 – “Global Storm Clouds – Identifying the Silver Linings”. Holiday Inn, Wellington, New Zealand. http://www.pine.net.nz/content/blogsection/8/12/ XIII WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS 18-23 October 2009 - The XIII World Forestry Congress, Buenos Aires, Argentina. http://www.wfc2009.org/version2/presentacion_ingles.asp CLIMATE CHANGE FORUM 12 October 2009 – Special Event on Climate Change at XIII World Forestry Congress. Forum on Forests and Climate Change: To Copenhagen and Beyond. Buenos Aires. http://www.fao.org/forestry/foris/wfc/15e.pdf

CARTOGRAPHY CONFERENCE November 2009 - Santiago will host Latin America’s first International Cartography Conference in 2009 Santiago is hosting the 24th International Cartography Conference (ICC) in November 2009. Organised by the International Cartography Association (ICA), the ICC is an important event for the cartography community. For more info, go to: www.icc2009.cl ************************************************* NEWS ONLINE Do you have news items you wish to make available to others on SOUTHEM Online? If so, please send them to [email protected] ************************************************ MISSING? Did we miss you off the list, or do you have an associate who may want to receive SOUTHEM Online. If so, please feel free to register by sending a message to [email protected] with subscribe in the subject box providing details about yourself. Or you can register at the web site at: http://www.southem.com/content/view/37/35/ ************************************************** REMOVE If you would prefer not to receive further issues of this newsletter, please reply to me at email [email protected] with the word ‘Remove’ in the subject.