Wood and Wood Fibre Innovation grants announced

On Sunday, Mr Barnett announced that the government’s Wood and Wood Fibre Innovation grants totaling $1.25 million received 41 applications.

“This is very encouraging, this is a significant number of applications that would leverage $56 million of investment in the forest sector if that was all to proceed,” he said. 

An independent objective analysis by the department will assess and review the applicants to determine who will receive funding. 

Each applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000 in funding. 

Markets for Change chief executive Peg Putt said there is no doubt exports have increased but the Minister is failing to be clear about where the exports are coming from.

“The vast majority of that (the exports) is coming out of plantations not the native forest,” she said. 

“The Wood and Fibre Innovation program, as far as any applications relate to native forest, is about the government needing to throw money at industry.”

Of the 41 applicants, Mr Barnett said more than a third are for biomass, bioenergy or similar initiatives, and a significant number are aimed at improving the efficiency of saw milling operations to reduce waste. 

“This is also encouraging because it is adding value to our forest sector and it is delivering jobs,” he said.

“Our number one priority is jobs across Tasmania, in terms of the forest sector it is going to be delivering more jobs in regional Tasmania.”

Ms Putt said their concern is that program is heavily slanted towards encouraging the burning of native forests for electricity or industrial heat.

“This raises concerns at the attempt to substitute for the wood chip trade that has massive impacts on the forest and is very bad for the climate because it is highly emissive to burn forest and not climate friendly,” she said. 

Using engineer timbered products such as veneer lumber where smaller bits of plantation materials are glued together is what Ms Putt said is a more desirable process. 

“It really is a matter of the source of the wood, supply, value adding and whether it is going to impact adversely on the forest.”