Scientist aims to make forestry ‘greener’
University of the Sunshine Coast plant scientist Dr Stephen Trueman is leading an exciting project which aims to establish a “greener” hardwood forest and timber industry in Queensland.
Dr Trueman and a team of 14 researchers from the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries and CSIRO are working to improve the wood quality of trees sourced from hardwood plantations.
The project, which will help reduce dependency on timber from native hardwood forests, last week received a State Government grant of $875,000.
The USC Senior Lecturer in Plant Science said he believed his research would help develop plantation timber that matched or exceeded the quality of native timber.
“We now have information from 10-15 years of Government and private company trials, so we can tell which plantation trees have the best growth and form and which will produce the best timber.
“We will look at which trees have the right combination for commercial hardwood plantations, and will propagate the trees en masse through industry nurseries for release as elite varieties of plantation trees.”
Dr Trueman said USC was was well placed to do this research as the Sunshine Coast was central to almost 200,000 hectares of plantation forestry.
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Desley Boyle said the $875,000 grant, provided through the Plantation Hardwoods Research Fund, would help Queensland develop a strong plantation-based forestry industry.
“We plan to phase out timber harvesting in Crown native hardwood forests by 2025, and have been working with the forest industry to decrease our reliance on native forests for timber production by building an economically-sustainable hardwood plantation industry in the State,” she said.
“There are a few issues around the quality of plantation hardwood timber in comparison to its native forest equivalent, and Dr Trueman and his team of researchers will look at improving the breeding of hardwood trees for commercial production.”
Ms Boyle said the project would help accelerate the development of a home-grown, commercially viable and green timber industry, which would generate both economic and environmental benefits for Queensland.
— Terry Walsh