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The Global Sawlog Price Index reached a 16-year high in the 2Q/11; the biggest price increases occurred in Europe, Canada, Russia and New Zealand, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly

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Forecasting Stumpage Prices and Timberland Investment Performance Requires Local Knowledge of Wood Demand 17/10/11
Shifts in forest supplies and wood demand influence regional timber markets. The extent to which sub-regional markets, such as mill-specific wood baskets or property-specific timber markets, are influenced by regional or macroeconomic changes remains unclear.
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Global sawlog prices in the 3Q 2010 were almost back up to pre-crisis levels, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly 27/1/11
Sawlog costs for many sawmills around the world went up during 2010, and the Global Sawlog Price Index reached the highest level in over two years in the 3Q/10, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly. The biggest wood price increases occurred in Western US, Germany, Sweden and Northwest Russia.

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New £10 million grant scheme to improve access and prepare undermanaged woodland for first intervention 30/11/10
One of the barriers faced by woodland owners trying to bring their woodlands back into management is the lack of access routes and hard standing required to harvest andextract wood products. Although other grants can be used to fund access road, they do not specifically target undermanaged woodlands. To address this, as part of the English Woodland Grant Scheme, the FC is developing a product that will help owners meet the cost of building new access tracks and landings. The grant will also provide assistance in
other preparatory work required before thinnings can be made in currently undermanaged woodlands. Getting this work right is essential if the ‘first intervention’ or woodland management operation, made in perhaps 40 or 50 years is to be successful.
This will build on existing support available to woodland owners, such as the Woodland Planning Grant and Woodland Improvement Grant. To qualify for the ‘access and preparation’ grant it will be essential for applicants to already have a woodland management plan in place. Grants will not be made available unless this can be demonstrated. If you haven't got a management plan for your woodland then now is the time to get one. The Woodland Planning Grant could help cover the costs of this process. This new support should be available in 2011 and it is hoped that improved access will lead to more fuel being produced at a time when the market could grow following the introduction of the RHI.

Global sawlog prices have trended upward in almost all regions of the world for the past two years. 28/11/10

After a temporary drop in the 2Q, the Softwood Wood Fiber Price Index (SFPI) increased again in the 3Q to the highest level during the financial crises.

This year has been a very good year for the world’s producers of market pulp. World production for the first eight months was eight percent higher than last year.

Lumber markets were mixed around the world. In Sweden and Finland, lumber prices trended downward during the first half of 2010. Canadian west coast spruce-pine-fir prices went up the most, and were 14 percent higher in September than in June.

Woody biomass prices in the US peaked in late 2008 and early 2009 and have fallen until the 2Q this year when they probably bottomed out for this cycle.

The Global Forest Industry - 3rd Quarter update from the Wood Resource Quarterly

UK Woodland Carbon Code 29/10/10
The Woodland Carbon Code aims to support a move to a low carbon economy through encouraging investment in the establishment of woodlands in the UK for climate change mitigation. It sets out robust requirements for voluntary carbon sequestration projects that incorporate core principles of good carbon management as part of modern sustainable forest management.
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Sudden Oak Death update  11/08/10
There has been coverage in the press of a disease (Phytophthora Ramorum) that is affecting Japanese larch (JL) trees in South West England. An outbreak has recently also been confirmed in South Wales.
Phytophthora Ramorum is a fungal disease which to date has largely been associated with Rhododendron species. When spores are produced in sufficient quantity it can infect trees in the immediate vicinity. On JL it causes foliage to wilt and can lead to the death of the tree.
The Forestry Commission are going to require infected trees to be felled, as the fungus produces more spores on the trees than on its previous host, and can be spread further distances. Despite its name, it does not affect our oak trees, which are resistant to the fungus.
The problem is fortunately not significant to most woodland owners, as JL is not a major commercial tree species. Commercial forestry investments are based on Sitka spruce which is unaffected by the outbreak. The outbreak of Phytophthora Ramorum highlights that there remains a risk of disease affecting commercial crops, a risk which is mitigated by geographical diversification of locations. Such diseases are generally slow to spread and as evidenced by a previous outbreak of Great Spruce Bark Beetle, which did affect Sitka, can generally be contained or managed so as not to become widespread.
The Forestry Commission website gives further details
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/WCAS-4Z5JLL

Subsidised Technical Advice – Heartwoods Advisory Services 11/08/10
If you are a Woodland owners/occupier in the West Midlands, as a Woodland Champion Advisor approved by Heartwoods, we can provide you with subsidised woodland management advisory services. Approved contractors are supported through Heartwoods to deliver a day of professional time at a heavily subsidised cost of £100.00 + VAT per day, which includes:

Site visit to assess your woodland’s potential and discuss management options, including application for the English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS);

High quality, written report summarising your woodland’s characteristics, available grant support and its economic potential for e.g. timber production and woodfuel opportunities;

All travel and other expenses.

The Albedo Effect and its Effect on Afforestation Carbon Offset Projects 11/05/10
This article first appeared in the April 2010 edition of the “Quarterly Journal of Forestry”. The Official Publication of The Royal Forestry Society (England and Wales). It explains how, under some circumstances, location, land-use change and the effects these factors have on surface albedo, can result in afforestation projects being counter-productive and even lead to localised global warming due to positive radiative forcing.
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Final Version of No Trees, No Future Report 06/03/10
The report was released by the Trees and Design Action Group (TDAG) at the beginning of March. The guidance set out by TDAG is intended to inform decision making so that the right specimens of the right trees are planted in the right way in the right places and given the right aftercare and maintenance – trees can then truly be one of the urban realm’s greatest allies.
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State of the Forest Carbon Market Report 2009 02/03/10
Maria Bendana of Ecosystem Marketplace  reports that although 2009 was a rough year across the board, companies that rescue and restore forests to earn money by capturing carbon in trees likely expanded their operations despite the gloom.

Historically and across markets forest carbon credits transacted a total of 20.8 MtCO2. Volumes transacted in 2008 and the first two quarters of 2009 were 5.3 MtCO2 and 3.7 MtCO2. The voluntary “over the counter” (OTC) market for forest offset credits dominated forest carbon markets, transacting 73.4% of credits (15.3 MtCO2). Total historical market value through the first half of 2009 was $149.2 million, of which $137.6 million arose from the voluntary market. In 2008, the market was worth $37.1 million.
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Combating Climate Change - A Role for UK Forests - The Synthesis Report 2009  02/03/10
An assessment of the potential of the UK's trees and woodlands to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

February 2010 News Archives
January 2010 News Archives