The video tells the hardwood growing story from the perspective of industry partner Forico — Tasmania’s largest private forestry management company.
The process in the Forico nursery relies on a two-dimensional trolley system to slide seeds and seedlings between different sowing and dispatch lines, as well as glass and shade houses.
During the video, Jim Wilson, Plantations Operations and Services Manager at Forico, highlights the company’s new netting line, which uses the same technology as Mars bars to wrap seedlings in a perforated, protective netting. This netting helps prevent wallabies and possums from chewing the crown of the seedlings. The netting is sealed at the bottom, allowing other products to be securely contained in with the seedlings, and in future, Forico aims to add fertiliser further down the dispatch line.
The video also touches on how demand for hardwood is expected to grow in the coming years. Though previously used solely for pulp, hardwood is likely to fill the growing need for products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (GLT). This growth could also help facilitate the hardwood industry’s transition from mixed native and plantation forestry to plantation only.
“I think our forest industries are yet to have their day in the sun. There’s a lot of things to be really excited about forestry and particularly forest estates… that are producing products on a sustainable basis that can be used in a whole range of industries, some of which we don’t even know about yet,” said Wilson in the video.
“The ones that are exciting for me are things like bioplastics, renewable energy and alternative construction materials such as cross laminated timber.”
The full video is available to watch at just over eight minutes in length with or without subtitles.
If you haven’t watched them already, other videos in the InFocus series explore wood science, softwood plantations, and the acoustic properties of wood, and are ready to watch on the WoodSolutions website and on YouTube.
The InFocus series delves into forestry concepts in an accessible way, with the aim of dispelling misconceptions about how the forestry industry works.
The new Hardwood Plantations video is now available to watch online!
