events
TimTech wins big export order AUSTRALASIAN timber preservative supplier TimTech Chemicals has won a World Bank funded long-term contract to export large volumes of wood preservative. The first 100,000 litres were despatched from New Zealand this month. Managing director Ron Eddy this week announced the company was the new supplier of H2 timber preservative to the Hyne group in Australia. An above-ground preservative, H2 conforms to AS 1604-1997 TimTech is moving its Australian headquarters in Queensland from North Lakes to Narangba. Mr Eddy said former consultant John Thorpe had left the company and TimTech was
no longer associated with BioTechnology Australasia, Timber Protection Services and Homesafe/Hometeam. TimTech continues to exclusively represent Dr Wolman of Germany (pole bandages, Wolmanit Fume and its new wood preservation chemicals) and Kemira of Finland (Guardian Fire and Guardian Timber). TimTech’s alliances with Dr. Wolman GmbH gives it access to the 58 billion German BASF Chemical Group and also the 3 billion Kemira Corporation of Finland and exclusive rights to market new generation, innovative products and processes in Australasia.
Prescribed burning debate From Page 3
availability of forest machinery suitable for forestry fire fighting; diminution in the available knowledge of forest roads, and associated information like appropriate sites to load and unload; and a general diminution of ‘forest awareness’ in the population. In particular, the reduction in human resources, equipment and roading and access funds from the forestry industry, particularly in areas such as the Otways, places an increased burden on the State Government and DSE to ‘fill the gap’. For example, while VicForests spent $7.3 million on roading in 2008-09, forestry industry revenue raised for roading was over $13 million for both 2000-01 and 2001-02. VAFI and NAFI are concerned that any further reduction in native forest resource availability could exacerbate
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the contraction of the native forest harvesting, haulage and processing sectors and further reduce native forest industry resources, which contribute to fire management. On the other hand, the forest industry draws attention to the increase in fire management capability provided by the expansion of the plantation sector. There exists a debate as to environmental properties of forests that may be caused by prescribed burning. This issue represents a necessary tradeoff between the risks involved and supports the existence and further development of planning requirements and practices to minimise such impacts. The evidence points to the need for landscape-scale prescribed burning, albeit subject to more research to refine and adapt prescribed burning practices in order to reduce their impact.
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