The Huhu Grubs Thriving in New Zealand Natural Forests Have Helped a Biology Student At

SOUTHEM ONLINE
Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal Online news briefs
SOUTHEM Online - Issue 241 – 14 April 2010
Hi and Hola - Welcome to this edition Southem Online.
Our Linked-in Group for Forestry in the Southern Hemisphere is growing. Here you can share discussions, news and jobs. Feel free to go to the group web page and join in:

Cheers and Saludos from Down Under
Mike Smith
Editor and Director
Email:
URL:
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TIMBERLAND INVESTMENT CONFERENCE
Center for Forest Business
University of Georgia
March 23-25, 2011
The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation
Lake Oconee, Georgia, USA

Save the Date!
Forestry Climate, Investments and Opportunities are changing! Join us for our 2011 Timberland Investment Conference where we will provide you the latest Forestry topics, speakers and opportunities.
UGA’s Center for Forest Business professionals and invited speakers will provide you insight in the resilience of forest resources and how timberland values have been impacted by the financial markets. The conference should meet your timberland questions as well as provide you the information necessary to make the most prudent timberland investment decisions involving the process of purchasing, management and divesting a tract of timberland.
The Center for Forest Business integrates the latest academic research and sound financial methods to provide education and service to forest industry, investors and landowners throughout the world.
For more information, contact:
Bob Izlar -
Director, Center for Forest Business
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
University of Georgia, Athens
Phone (706) 542-6819
FAX (706) 542-5073
Rich Molpus -
Center for Forest Business
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
University of Georgia, Athens
Phone (706) 542-5079
Cell (601) 421-1721
WORLD CLASS FOREST AND WOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY
The Department of Forest and Wood Science at Stellenbosch University aims to be the preferred supplier of world-class education, research and outreach in Africa for the benefit of all peoples, industries and societies at large, with a primary focus on sustainable management of tree-based natural resources and the processing thereof. For detail refer to or contact Pierre Ackerman at
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 helicopters. For more information, go to:

REMSOFT TACTICAL PLANNER AND COLLABORATION TECHNOLOGIES DEMO DAYS
Team Remsoft is hosting a reception and free demonstration of the new Remsoft Tactical Planner and Collaboration Technologies in Melbourne and Rotorua in May. This event is open to all our clients and to those who want to learn more about the software and why we are the industry standard world-wide.
Applications include:
•Tradeoff analysis
•Carbon strategies
•Biomass & biofuel analysis
•Valuation
•Operational planning
•Higher and best-use
•Risk management
•Cash-flow analysis
•Harvest scheduling
•Certification & compliance
•Collaboration
•Transparent, accountable defensible plans
For more event information please visit or email to confirm your attendance.
We hope to see you.
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE FORESTRY YEARBOOK
The forest industry’s US$30 billion annual export earnings will help the countries of the southern hemisphere recover from the global economic recession, says the publisher of the new edition of the Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Yearbook. In spite of additional challenges surrounding climate change and natural disasters – the Chilean earthquake and massive forest fires in Australia – the forest industries are proving resilient, says editor and director Mike Smith, from Trade and Media Services Ltd. “Plantation forestry and the products being manufactured have increased to such a level that they are an important component in the earnings of most countries in the southern hemisphere,” Mike Smith says. For more details, go to the web site at:

And download the Yearbook flyer at

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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.
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REPORT ALLEGES VICTORIAN OFFICIALS crippled BUSH FIRE alerts
Authorities in the Australian state of Victoria are alleged to have deliberately throttled back an emergency communications system before disastrous bush fires swept through the state in February last year killing 173 people, The Melbourne Age has reported. The article said that the action of the Victorian government and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) in deliberately restricting the operation of a new A$108 million emergency communications system in the lead-up to Black Saturday caused confusion and severe delays in messages sent to firefighters when the disaster hit. The Age said the revelations were not aired at a Bushfires Royal Commission set up to investigate the disaster.
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CHILE’S NEW PRESIDENT INVITES BRAZIL TO JOIN RECONSTRUCTION EFFORT
Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera has invited companies in Brazil to participate in his reconstruction following the catastrophic 27 February earthquake. The newly elected president was on his first foreign trip and took the opportunity to invite companies with scientific, technological and innovative capabilities to participate in the reconstruction of the hundreds of thousands of houses, and thousands of schools destroyed in the earthquake. Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula committed “unconditional” assistance to Chile.
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ARAUCO-STORA ENSO URUGUAY PULP PLANT PRESENTED
The company Montes del Plata, integrated by the Chilean Celulosa Arauco and the Swedish-Finnish Stora Enso, has presented plans to the Uruguayan Government its plans for a pulp plant that will demand an investment of US$2,300 million dollars, Forestalweb reported recently. The manager of Montes del Plata, Erwin Kaufmann, discussed the project with the Uruguayan Ministers of Economy and Finance, Fernando Lorenzo; Transport and Public Works, Enrique Pintado; Industry, Energy and Mining, Roberto Kreimerman, and the secretary of the Uruguayan Presidency, Alberto Breccia. During the meeting, technicians from the investor group gave details of the pulp plant construction project planned in the zone of Punta Pereira, in department of Colonia the coast of Río de la Plata.
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CMPC’S MATTEE URGES BRAZIL TO WELCOME COMPETITION IN ECONOMY
The president of Chile’s CMPC Brazil Eliodoro Matte has urged Brazilian businesses to welcome the opening up of economies to greater competition, Diario Financiero has reported. He said the opening of Chile’s economy in the 1980’s had allowed exports to multiply eight times and imports by 10. Matte was addressing the XXIII meeting of the Freedom Forum, organised by the Institute of Management Studies in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande Do Sul. He said that the free market permitted the development of economies through trade and exchange, and he urged businesses to resist calls for greater intervention by the state in the economy, as occurred during the onset of the recession last year.
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INDUSTRY WELCOMES ASIC INVESTMENT DISCLOSURE PAPER
Industry groups are welcoming the release of an official consultation paper aimed at improving disclosure for retain investors involved in agribusiness managed investment schemes. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) consultation paper presents for public comment a draft set of “disclosure benchmarks” developed by ASIC to enhance investor protection. The Australian Plantation Products and Paper Industry Council (A3P) and the National Association of Forest Industries (NAFI) welcomed the paper’s release. A statement said that A3P, and the plantation industry at large, strongly support appropriate levels of investor protection as a matter of principle, particularly for retail investors, who comprise the majority of those joining forestry schemes
GREAT SOUTHERN, TIMBERCORP CLIENT FILES UNDER SCRUTINY
Investordaily.com is reporting that corporate watchdog ASIC has gone to ground over speculation it is reviewing client files of dealer groups linked to failed agribusiness firms Great Southern and Timbercorp. The web site reported that industry sources claimed ASIC began a broad sweeping review in September last year of client documents from Australian financial services licensees (AFSL) with exposure to the agribusiness firms. A source backed THE claim, suggesting ASIC's call for specific client details would be used to determine whether the advisers used a one-size-fits-all advice model.
GLOBAL FOREST PARTNERS SELECTS CENGEA FOR AUSTRALIAN BLUEGUM PLANTATIONS
Meanwhile, the US-based Global Forest Partners (GFP) has appointed Cengea Solutions of Halifax, Vancouver Island, Canada, to provide forestry services at Australian Bluegum Plantation (ABP) to managed the 92,000 hectares of pine plantations recently purchased from Timbercorp, a Cengea statement said.
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ARGENTINA TIMBER INDUSTRY PUSHES WOOD USE IN CONSTRUCTION
Argentine timber industry representatives have meet government officials in an effort to boost the use of wood in construction. A notice from the Argentina Federation of Timber and Remanufactured Industry (FAIMA in Spanish) said representatives met recently with officials, inc luding Guillermo García Fahler, the head of Works and Urban Development for the government in in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The meeting was part of the plan of action FAIMA is undertaking to promote the use of the wood in the construction. The main objective of the meeting was to begin an institutional relationship, between both organisations, in order to stimulate a dialogue and common work on the issue for both entities.
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PAPERLINX CLOSING TASMANIA MILL, CHANGING TO MERCHANT-ONLY
Australia’s PaperlinX Ltd is closing its Burnie Mill in Tasmania, leaving it as a paper merchanting outfit. The closure of the remaining operations at the Burnie Mill is the final stage of PaperlinX’s exit from its Tasmanian paper manufacturing operations with the balance of operations already closed, a company statement said. Commenting on this decision, PaperlinX Managing Director, Tom Park said, “This has been a long and complex process and while it is disappointing that we have not been able to find a sustainable outcome for the Burnie operations we do believe that we have reached an outcome that is in the best interests of PaperlinX and its shareholders.”

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ARGENTINA TO LIFT BIODIESEL USED TO REPLACE OIL-BASED PRODUCTS
Argentina is planning to lift the volume of bio-diesel used in place of gas-oil imports, a report in El Cronista said. It said the government was considering replacing oil-based products with bio-diesel in particular during winter and grain harvest periods when fuel was scarce. Argentina’s Energy Secretariat published a list of 19 companies to supply biodiesel to be blended with diesel fuel and the volumes assigned to each company. The article quoted Planning Minister Julio de Vido announcing the move at a biofuels seminar organised by the Argentine Biofuels Chamber (Carbio), the Argentine Biofuels and Hydrogen Association (AABH) and the ArgentineSurgarCenter.
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CARBON CREDIT AUCTION FAILS TO ATTRACT BIDS IN BRAZIL
Brazil’s first auction of carbon credits recently finished without any business being transaction. Forestalweb reported the four participant companies offered lots of 60,000 tons of carbon credits. This first such auction directed at the voluntary market in Brazil was carried out via the BM& FBovespa, created in 2008 with the integration between the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange (BM&F) and the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa), but finished without any deals being made. The carbon credits were being auctioned for the price of 10 Braizilian Reals per ton. It’s reported that this was the third auction of carbon credits made through for the BM& FBovespa and the first one directed at the voluntary in Brazil
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NERVOUS WAIT AS FORESTRY WORKERS FACE AXE
Forestry workers are facing a nervous wait in the Mid North Coast amid speculation the New South Wales State Government in Australia could axe up to 70 workers, cutting their jobs and hiring private contractors, The Coffs Coast Advocate has reported. It said that questions continued to be asked of Forestry Minister Ian Macdonald, the Greens even going as far to suggest State Forests could be privatised. The Member for Coffs Harbour Andrew Fraser said the majority of positions in the firing line are those overseeing the harvest of timber in State Forests.
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Green building RATING TOOL BEING launchED TO RATE sa retail CENTRES
The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) plans to launch a Green Star SA rating tool for new retail centre developments within the next two weeks, Engineering News reported. It was expected interested parties would start registering for certification of proposed shopping centres by the end of April. "We are already receiving expressions of interest from retail projects which want to register, and get rated later on in the year, so it’s quite exciting," GBCSA CEO Nicola Douglas said in the report.
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FORESTRY ALARM IN FIJI OVER TERMITE SPREAD
The forestry industry in Fiji is reported to be becoming increasingly alarmed over the spread of termites in the South Pacific country. The Fiji Times has reported that it appeared the termite infestation had affected a much higher number of homes than initial figures revealed. Advisory councillor for Tavakubu in Lautoka, Jagendra Singh said about 90 homes in the area were infested. This was in comparison to earlier reports by the biosecurity authority that 74 homes in Lautoka had been confirmed to be infested. The continued spread of the termite had become a major concern for the Forestry Department, the report said, with suggestions the termites may be a foreign species heightening concerns.
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Survey: cattle graziers’ climate change adaptability
Australia’s CSIRO research agency has started a telephone survey of the challenges and opportunities for northern Australian cattle graziers as a result of climate change. “We will be asking how graziers in the Northern Territory and Queensland are currently coping with climate variability and their plans for the future,” said CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship researcher, Dr Nadine Marshall. “We aim to learn more about their circumstances, strengths and weaknesses and then observe how they deal with climate change impacts over time. “Ultimately, we want to establish what makes for successful adaptation and assist industry and government to develop effective plans for maximising the capacity cattle graziers have to adapt to environmental changes.”
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A Latin-American Forumon REDD
Thais Megid Pinto, FAS, writes: A Latin-American Forum on REDD aims to facilitate the communication and to promote experience and information exchanges among Latin American countries related to REDD. The website was created so all interested could use it as a means of communication to submit information, articles and texts related to REDD. Official documents on REDD of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and events calendar can also be posted on this page.
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HUHU TO THE RESCUE AS IDEA GETS BIOLOGY STUDENT NOTICED

The Huhu grubs thriving in New Zealand natural forests have helped a biology student at the University of Waikato place third in the recent National NZBio Student Scientific Poster Competition. Thomas Williams, who was one of 38 participants, presented research that aims to identify microorganisms which are capable of degrading wood so that bioethanol can be produced sustainably from woody waste materials. Currently, this process involves using harsh chemicals and high temperatures, so an efficient biological method is highly sought after, says Williams, who is studying towards a Master of Science degree. Huhu grubs eat and metabolise wood and it is presumed that this is achieved through symbiotic microorganisms living in the huhu grub’s gut. This research involved feeding groups of huhu grubs diets containing either wood, cellulose, or starch and comparing the microbial gut communities of the huhu grubs fed on each diet. Williams hopes his findings will determine which group of huhu grubs are responsible for breaking down wood.
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SOUTHEM ARTICLES FROM JOURNALS
SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY AND TASMANIAN EUCALYPT SILVICULTURE
Rebecca M. Ford, Kathryn J. H. Williams, Ian D. Bishop and John E. Hickey. Public judgements of the social acceptability of silvicultural alternatives in Tasmanian wet eucalypt forests. Australian Forestry 2009 Vol72(4).

TREE SPACING IN THE KALAHARI
K. K. Caylor, H. H. Shugart, P. R. Dowty and T. M. Smith. Tree spacing along the Kalahari transect in southern Africa. Journal of Arid Environments. Volume 54, Issue 2, June 2003, Pages 281-296.

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OPPORTUNITIES
FORESTRY ENGINEER SOUGHT IN PERU
A company involved in consultancy studies and services to the mining and environmental sectors in Peru wants to a professional Forestry Engineer with a minimum of 5 years in industry, with experience in biodiversity conservation and the management of forest species. Experience in PIP and development of technical files.

Environmental Consultant - Ecology (Botany)
Golder Associates (NZ) Limited (Golder) is seeking an Environmental Consultant to be located in our Auckland office. A strong knowledge of New Zealand’s indigenous flora with plant identification skills and experience of plant survey methods is essential. To apply for the role please do so via our website by simply pasting the link into your browser.

SOURCES SOUGHT FOR ANDES BARK FOR QUININE
Mark Willhite writes: Hi, I am looking for sources of bark for quinine from Chinchona ledgeriana and C. succribra from the tropical Andes region of South America, particularly Bolivia. This is an initial inquiry to determine if there is a economically feasible supply. Please provide details that you have regarding location, point of delivery, production amounts, etc. Thanks, Mark Willhite, World Forest Investment, Inc.

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MEETINGS
CARBON REGULATED WORLD FOCUS OF PULP AND PAPER CONFERENCE
18-21 April, 2010. The 64th Appita Annual Conference (incorporating the 2010 Pan Pacific Conference). Melbourne, Australia. Features a symposium on “Sustainability in a carbon regulated world – what is actually happening?”

AMAZON FAUNA MANAGEMENT CONGRESS