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Forestry

Red versus blue: Why the right gum tree matters in a healthy wetland

Most of the 1,000 different eucalyptus tree varieties are native to Australia but not all belong in a pristine wetland.
Red gum tree alongside a waterway.

Maree and 18 others are banned from 12 per cent of Tasmania. They say it's unconstitutional

Tasmania's native forestry estate covers 812,000 hectares, including walking and biking trails, but 19 people have been given indefinite bans from entering any of it. The move is facing a constitutional challenge.
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A woman holds up a notice while standing in front of forests.

VicForests ends community forestry operations in western Victoria

VicForests says the risk of more court proceedings is the main reason for bringing forward the end to community forestry in Victoria's west. 
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A woman stands in front of a cleared patch of forest.

Hazard reduction burns increase risk of severe bushfires, report finds

Traditional fire management strategies such as hazard reduction burns, logging, and the thinning of undergrowth have increased the flammability of forests, new research has found.
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A firefighter in the middle of a blaze faces the camera

Landholders 'in limbo' as Quintis cuts sandalwood investment scheme portfolio

The collapse of the forestry investment scheme has left landowners owed millions, as an expert questions why Quintis did not pulp its own stock to reduce oversupply.
A large stack of logs inside a shed

AI is keeping watch day and night to help protect Australia's forests from bushfires

From detecting smoke rising from timber plantations to scanning bushwalkers' photos to assess fuel loads, artificial intelligence is becoming an essential part of protecting the nation's forests.
Burning bush next to a fire break

Will there still be firewood? How Western Australia's native logging ban could affect you

The state government has banned native logging. Here's what that means if you're building a home, stoking your home fire, or doing up your garden.
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A hand touches a cut log of red-coloured hardwood.

Warren has built his whole life around native timber logging. Now Victoria's industry has shut down

After decades of campaigning, environmental groups are celebrating the end of native timber logging in Victoria. But timber workers like Warren Fenner are grieving the end of an era, and are facing an uncertain future.
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Man standing at sawmill site with logs and truck in background

Timber communities scarred by Black Summer fear they cannot afford another catastrophic fire

How has fire management changed since that fateful summer four years ago, when bushfires wiped out a third of the softwood forestry plantation in the Snowy Mountains?
Piles of blackened logs in the middle of a black forest.

'First case of its type' sees forestry body sentenced for felling trees needed by hundreds of native species

Four trees thought to be more than 150 years old were found felled in an area of NSW that had been largely burnt by bushfires just months before.
Mogo State Forest

Timber industry grants to increase high-value Australian production, but is it enough?

A scientist has argued the federal government needs to add another zero to its $70 million package to accelerate the timber industry’s transition to more sustainable practices.
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Gathering logs in hardwood plantation in Tasmania

'It's basically dead': The legacy of decades of logging

An AI-based analysis of 20 years of logging by VicForests, shared exclusively with the ABC, shows for the first time the potential scale of failed regeneration in Victoria's state forests.
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ABC News Current

Tea harvesting on two wheels pays off for father-son farming duo

Nestled in a rainforest timber plantation is a unique tea producer. Queensland father and son Brendon and Darryl Collins are creating a unique legacy as they move away from timber farming.
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Image of four adults and two children standing in green hedges.

Centuries old, now on the back of a truck — environmentalists say this 'outrageous' photo shows what is happening to Tasmania's native forests

The latest photo of a large tree on the back of a Victorian truck driven through the centre of Hobart dismays opponents to Tasmania's native forest logging practices, who describe it as "outrageous" — but it's completely legal.
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A huge felled tree trunk is transported on the back of a truck through a central Hobart street at night time.

This timber is so rare, you have to prove you are worthy enough to buy it

Third-generation sawmiller Ian Bradshaw considers himself the custodian of Tasmania's rarest native timber — a job he takes very seriously.
Large tree stumps with an axe on top.

Call to phase out native timber logging in state forests prompts protest in Clarence Valley

More than 100 pro-logging protesters rally outside a north coast council meeting.
Bearded man in high-vis gear stand in front of protesters.

Court order calls halt to VicForests logging in western Victorian forest

VicForests is facing another court proceeding, this time issued by community group Wombat Forestcare, which is concerned salvage logging operations are proceeding without proper surveys for threatened species. 
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Fallen trees in front of standing trees and a machine

Conservationists call Gandalf's Staff one of Australia's natural marvels. But very few to get to see it

Environmentalists say Tasmania's tall trees could become a major tourism drawcard like California's redwoods, but pot-holed winding roads and rough tracks make them hard to access.
A man stands next to the  base of a tall tree in a fores

Logging operations halted in NSW forest after dead glider discovered

The EPA has issued a stop-work order for timber harvesting in Tallaganda State Forest following the discovery of a deceased endangered glider.
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A small white fluffy glider with prominent ears, wide eyes and a little button nose peeks out of hole in a tree at night

Timber industry claims WA government not honouring phase-out agreement

Sawmillers in WA say the state government is breaking its promise to support timber and logging communities ahead of the ban on native logging.
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man stands in yard leaning against planks of timber

As native logging ends, some are worried the Upper Murray's next fire season could be 'catastrophic'

There's concern the end of native timber logging in Victoria will leave communities like Corryong more vulnerable to future bushfires, even though authorities say forest contractors will continue to be involved in land and fire management.
Burnt-out structure in bushland.

WWF releases findings on states fighting deforestation. NSW ranked last

World Wildlife Fund Australia is urging environmental reforms in NSW after the state ranked last in its efforts to fight deforestation.
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Bulldozers and a police vehicle in a birds eye photo at Newry State Forest

As an El Niño looms, AI is being rolled out in SA's largest forestry region to detect bushfires more quickly

In an Australian first, artificial intelligence will be used in South Australia's Green Triangle forestry region to monitor for bushfires and improve emergency response times.
An image of a vast forestry plantation with a plume of smoke coming out the top.

With only a third of homes lost in the Gippsland bushfires rebuilt, residents are in a race against time

Funding is drying up for the East Gippsland Timber Milling project, with more than 180 property owners still hoping to tap in and salvage their old timber before it deteriorates. 
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Rubble from house destroyed by fire

In one of Victoria's most isolated towns the sawmill industry is shutting down, and locals are worried

Timber milling is an intergenerational lifeline in Corryong. Many residents will be impacted by the state government's recent acceleration of the end of native timber harvesting, tipped for the end of the year. 
A man in a high-vis jumper stands next to pallets with logs piled in the background.