IFA Annual Report - Institute of Foresters of Australia

IFA Annual Report
THE INSTITUTE OF FORESTERS OF AUSTRALIA
ANNUAL REPORT 2013–14
2
IFA Annual Report
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
The past year has been extremely busy with
the Board moving to monthly teleconferences
to improve the link between the Board and
the management. However, disappointingly
we have ended the year with a deficit which I
forewarned in my message in last year’s annual
report as follows – The coming year will continue
to challenge the Institute as our membership is
declining and our plans are bigger than our budget
Rob de Fégely,
however we hope that you will continue to support
IFA President
us as we wrestle with change, technology and
the cost efficient delivery of the latest trends in forest management from
conservation to production.
Change in any business or association takes time and costs money.
Our aim is to diversify our income so that we do not rely wholly on
membership fees and biennial conferences. One of our cost saving
measures has been to outsource the office administration and in doing
so we said good bye to Anne Katalinic and Ed Chalmers in the middle of
the year. I would like to publicly and sincerely thank both of them for all
their work for the Institute over a number years.
Events and Activities
The South Australian Division held a very successful plantation
symposium in Mount Gambier in May and then another again in
October on Plantations and Water Use where the latter reviewed the
implications of the new water licencing regulations in South East South
Australia. Our third major event for the year was our Sydney seminar
on Developing Resilient Forest Landscapes. Our final event for the
year will focus on the work and opportunities for Australian Foresters
Abroad and will be held in Canberra in conjunction with our Annual
General Meeting on the 24th of November. The AGM will also be the
venue for our launch of Foresters without Borders an initiative that
will allow Australian foresters who have skills and interest in assisting
countries and institutions overseas who are less well off than we are and
can benefit from the skills we have developed over our wide and varied
careers.
However, these events take considerable time and energy and I would
like to thank the great voluntary efforts of the South Australian
Divisional Chair Jim O’Hehir who put in a significant effort into running
two in Mount Gambier this year where he filled both events with a great
range of speakers and on topics of interest. I would also like to thank
Ross Peacock who did the same for our recent Sydney seminar.
Another format that worked well for us earlier this year was our
combined World Forestry Day lunch in Brisbane where we combined
with Timber Queensland, the Brisbane Hoo Hoo club and TABMA
(NSW & Qld) for a very successful day. In this instance I would like to
thank Stephen Walker our Queensland Division Chairman who worked
effectively with these organisations to run an enjoyable and successful
function where we also honoured David Wood as a Fellow of the
Institute.
Finally I would like to thank the Victorian Division for sponsoring the
AGM last year in Melbourne where we held a successful seminar on
Innovation and where Alan Brown was made an Honorary Member of
the Institute for not only his contribution to forestry in Australia and
overseas but particularly for his role as production editor of Australian
Forestry over many years. Alan was a joint author of two seminal books
on Australian forestry – ‘Growing Trees on Australian Farms’ which he
wrote with Norman Hall in 1968 and ‘Eucalypts for Wood Production’
which he wrote with Ted Hillis in 1978.
For future events we will continue to experiment with the balance
between sponsorship and pricing for our professional development
events. It is clear we need to keep working on these as despite having
great speakers we do not always get the attendance the topics deserve.
The ACT Division has been the major driver of our FOI request
on the Tasmanian Forest Agreement if only to continue to remind
Government Ministers and their Department that we have a robust
forest planning process and a constitution that must be followed and
that we are watching what the government does. I want to stress that
the IFA is apolitical and tenure neutral and we do not try to increase
our level of political advocacy but ensuring that due process in planning
how our forests are managed is critical to ensure that we end up with a
forest estate that all Australians can be proud of.
Membership
Our membership numbers continue to struggle and we dipped below
1000 members last year but managed to recover above this with
the signing of new members. At the time of writing the Institute has
initiated a major membership drive where we are hoping to sign 100
new members for the end of the year.
To improve our service to members we installed a new membership
database in September last year and this website has the flexibility
of being able to do online invoicing for events and functions. We also
closed the member advantage card this year as it was clear that this was
not considered a valuable feature of IFA membership.
Communications and publications
We ceased printing the hardcopy of The Forester which was personally
hard as I enjoy reading hard copy however it was extremely expensive to
produce and our younger members expect to read the majority of their
industry information online, and electronic copy makes it searchable
and easier to store.
The Board is concerned about Australian Forestry, in particular the
cost of production, the quality of some papers being submitted, and the
slow process of peer review. The Board is actively looking for ways to
improve our flagship publication. On a more positive note we now have
all the back issues scanned and available online which makes searching
for references much easier.
ANZIF Conference – Beyond Tenure – managing forests across
the landscape 13–15 April 2015
Next year your Institute will celebrate its 80th Anniversary and one
of our celebrations will be at the ANZIF conference which will be
held at the Novotel in Creswick, Victoria between April 13th and 15.
The conference committee is chaired by Prof Rod Keenan and it has
been working assiduously on the program and they have developed an
impressive array of speakers on a range of topics on forest management
across the landscape. This will be the 8th joint conference we have
held with our cousins the New Zealand Institute of Forestry and I am
positive that it will be a great event. Be sure to mark this event in your
diary and make the time to attend as I am sure you will find the cost
and time an extremely worthwhile investment in your career.
In closing thank you all for your support this year, the Board continues
to face challenges which we must resolve to ensure the Institute like all
good forestry is sustainable!
3
IFA ANNUAL REPORT 2013–14
AROUND THE DIVISIONS
ACT DIVISION
QUEENSLAND DIVISION
The attention of the ACT Division at the
beginning of the 2013/14 financial year
concentrated on finalising and publishing
the proceedings of the IFA 2013 National
Conference – Managing our Forests into
the 21st Century held 7–11 April 2013, at
the Canberra Rex Hotel, Canberra. The
conference proceedings were published in
September 2013 and feedback indicates that
Stuart Davey,
the proceedings are informative and a useful
ACT Divisional Chair
reference. I would again like to thank the
editorial committee of Alan Brown, Kim Wells, Mark Parsons and
Bill Kerruish for their work compiling and finalizing the proceedings.
The Queensland Division held its 2013 AGM
on 16 August 2013 with 27 members (up from
the 16 that attended the previous year) and
10 guests attending. The guest speaker was
President Rob de Fégely, speaking on the Cloudy
Bay Sustainable Forestry Project. The other
highlights of the meeting were the presentation
of an IFA President’s Award to Dick Pegg for his
services to the domestication of tropical and subStephen Walker,
QLD Divisional Chair tropical Eucalypts and the presentation of Jim
Muir’s Schlich Medal to the IFA and subsequent
handover to the Gympie Timber Museum for permanent display.
The Divisions discussion paper regarding current forest policy issues
and the outcomes of the Future Forest Forum held on the last day
of the conference as reported in the proceedings has been used to
shape and inform the Institute’s new strategic plan and proposed
constitutional changes. The Forum outcomes continue to influence
the direction of the Institute and forestry. I would like to thank
and recognize those members who contributed to the discussion
paper and reported outcomes. I would particularly like to thank the
contributions of Ross Florence and Brian Turner.
The Division had good attendance at the Division’s Christmas party
and World Forestry Day dinner. Peter Volker, Ministerial Adviser to
Senator Richard Colbeck, discussed Tasmania’s forests in 2014, and
Claire Howell and Steve Read talked about Australia’s State of the
Forests Report 2013 at the dinner. Institute members also attended
an engineered wood products workshop by Professor Phillip Evans
(University of British Columbia) in May.
Throughout the year ACT IFA members and the Division continued
to work with other organisations to promote forestry and forest
management. Mark Parsons supported Alison Carmichael at the
Senate Inquiry into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area
(6 May 2014). ANU organized a significant number of forestry
seminars with eminent speakers from Australia and overseas.
Divisional representatives held several meetings with ANU regarding
forestry education.
Divisional members also assisted the IFA office staff in sorting
archival material and files. I would like to thank those members for
their assistance.
The Queensland Division Committee elected Stephen Catchpoole,
Steven Husband, John Huth, Alex Lindsay, Felix MacDonald, Len Sivyer
and Tiffany Thomson to the committee and elected Stephen Walker as
Chair. Tony Willett and Emma Leslie-Mohr (Secretary) advised they
were happy to continue serving on the committee in their current roles.
Emma left Queensland shortly after the AGM to take up a position in
Victoria with Len Sivyer taking over the Secretary role for the remainder
of the year. Tiffany Thomson withdrew from the Committee prior to the
end of 2013 due to other commitment in her role as Vice-President of
the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ).
The Queensland Division met five times throughout the year with good
participation rate overall from Committee members as demonstrated in
Table 1. Attendance by some members was limited by work commitments
given that meetings were generally held mid-afternoon on work days.
They were able to contribute in other ways via email and support
for events.
The Queensland Division Committee delivered a bumper program
of events for members this year:
• Precision Silviculture Field Day – Beerburrum (20 IFA members)
• International Day of Forests Lunch – Brisbane (60 participants
including 15 IFA)
• International Day of Forests Museum Open Day – Gympie
(IFA with PFSQ)
• Intersection between CSG and Forestry Weekend – Dalby
(18 IFA Members)
• IFA Field Afternoon – Atherton and Wongabel (27 foresters, family
and friends) Our thanks go to IFA members Steven Husband, Jim
Burgess, Tony Willett, David Menzies, Trevor Beetson and Alex
Lindsay for organising these well-run events.
CSG Field
Weekend –
Ruby Joe
Production
Well
4
IFA Annual Report
WA DIVISION
VICTORIAN DIVISION
The WA Division maintained momentum
during the year with the support of an
active Committee and an enthusiastic core
of members located in Perth and regional
centres throughout Western Australia.
Institute President Rob de Fégely attended
the AGM held on 6 September 2013.
A new 10 year Forest Management Plan
took effect on 1 January 2014 and the
WA Division has promoted the need for
active management to maintain forest health and water yield from
forested catchments in the face of a drying climate. In support of
this activity the Division made a detailed submission to the Western
Australian Government on revegetation techniques in jarrah forests
mined for bauxite. The Committee has sought to engage positively
with the newly appointed Minister for Water and Forests and the
Parliamentary Secretary for Forests, along with the Office of the
Minister for Environment.
John Clarke,
WA Divisional Chair
Activity was maintained at The Foresters Wood near Manjimup
with a working bee in May, and planting of a grove of Beech (Fagus
sylvatica) in August. A sign has been erected at the entrance at
to the Wood explaining the history and concept of the Wood and
inviting visitors to enjoy a walk amongst the wide variety of tree
species planted there. The Munda-Biddi long distance cycling
trail passes through the Wood and attracts a growing number of
cyclists each year. The Division was successful in securing a grant of
$15000 from LotteryWest to support planning for walk trails and
interpretation at the site.
Burning off at Forester’s Wood.
The Division has also been active in supporting the Wellington
Discovery Forest near Bunbury. A Research Advisory Committee
has been formed and met several times with the aim of promoting
opportunities for scientific research to support forest management.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife has approved treatment
of a further 10 ha of forest to demonstrate the benefits of good
silviculture in native forests. Earnings from the sale of any forest
products generated by silvicultural treatment will be re-invested in
the management of the Discovery Forest.
A field activity held in spring 2013 with a focus on recreation
management in the jarrah forest was well supported by members.
On a sadder note, the WA Division farewelled Phil Shedley and
Bruce Beggs who were prominent members of the forestry
profession and had been active and long-standing members of the
Institute.
The Victorian Division had a year focussed
on communication. Mark Poynter, the
division’s media officer has had eight articles
published in the Online Opinion (www.
opiniononline.com.au) on topics from the
full spectrum of forestry and public land
management. The topics included bushfires
and prescribed burning providing a link up
between the risks and the mitigations. The
Gary Featherston,
Tasmanian World Heritage decisions and
Vic Divisional Chair
actions were critiqued and the unbalanced
reporting of the issue by the mainstream media was exposed. The
science and logic behind the Koalas in plantations were explained
along with the impact and legality of secondary boycotts. The use of
National Parks for wealth generation was also discussed.
HVP Plantations sponsored a seminar in July. Cameron MacDonald
presented on his Gottstein Fellowship study tour of Ireland, England
and Finland looking at how these countries have developed a
significant fibre resource on private land and an engaged landowner
network to maintain this resource. The seminar was able to discuss
the ramifications for Victoria and our unique challenges to getting
forestry well established on private land.
The Leadbeater’s Possum Advisory Group concluded its review of
the policy settings for the management of productive forests that
are potential habitat for the possum. Work will be required to ensure
the actionable outcomes are supported by sound science and what is
actually best for the possum.
Michael Ryan, the past Chairman and Mark Poynter have done
a great body of work providing critiques of some recent pivotal
“scientific” reports. We will now have to carefully consider how to
communicate the results of this ground breaking work.
Work commenced on the planning and organising for the ANZIF
2015 Conference. The joint Australian and New Zealand foresters
conference will be held from Monday 13 to Wednesday 15 April
2015 at the Forest Resort Novatel Creswick. The conference will
also recognise the 80th anniversary of the IFA. The organising
committee is well advanced in getting the event arranged. The
committee reviewed the format of the conference and based on
the recent learnings from the successful Canberra conference in
2013 will hold a series of workshops on the Monday to allow a more
intimate knowledge transfer to occur. The body of the conference is
then conducted over the Tuesday and Wednesday and then the field
trips follow on the Thursday and beyond. Rod Keenan did a great
job as Chair of the Organising Committee to get the committee
established and functioning, ably supported by Consec - Conference
Management our support partner.
In the fire arena, Gary Morgan was recognised with a special
achievement award from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC at
their annual conference. This was in recognition of his work with the
old CRC and his role in establishing the new CRC. It also follows on
from the Regional Achievement Award from the Commonwealth
Forestry Association Gary won in 2013.
IFA ANNUAL REPORT 2013–14
NSW DIVISION
NSW continues to be a place of change
although the employment environment
seems to be stabilizing. The NSW
government is running a range of concurrent
inquiries focusing on legislative and
program reforms which have stretched
the Divisions ability to respond with high
quality submissions. Our submissions have
been very well received and have resulted
Ross Peacock,
NSW Divisional Chair in repeated requests for follow up briefings.
A small writing team of Nick Cameron, Vic
Jurskis, Paul Massey-Reed, Ross Peacock and Ron Wilson led the
development of the submissions.
Divisional activity has been increasingly focused on supporting
the new Strategic Plan and extending our policy influence and
developing linkages with education and research providers.
Preliminary signs are positive that our on-going efforts in providing
quality submissions to government inquiries will result in a more
considered operating environment for professional Foresters.
In addition to providing detailed inputs via written submissions,
the Division actively engaged in discussions concerning industry
restructuring and development. Nick Cameron continued his role
representing the Institute on the NSW Forest Industries Taskforce
that is undertaking a general review of forestry in NSW. The Division
attended hearings and supported regional industry visits. The NSW
government decision however was disappointing with its sawlog quota
buy back expected to lead to a decline in industry activity. Paul
Massey-Reed also represented the Division North Coast Taskforce
Meeting functions throughout the year included the 2013 AGM at
NSW Parliament House hosted by the Hon Robert Brown MLC
and an excellent field day at the University of Western Sydney
Hawkesbury Institute of the Environment hosted by Dr Sebastian
Pfaustch. The only regional function was a presentation on the 2013
spring wildfires in northern NSW by Ross Peacock and dinner hosted
by Kathy Lyons at Wauchope. Much of the Divisions activity in late
2014 was focused on planning for the one day CPD event at the
Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney on adaptive management for resilient
landscapes. This event is a feeder to the national conference in 2015
in Victoria.
5
SA DIVISION
The SA Division has two Branches, the
Adelaide and the Green Triangle centred
around Mount Gambier. The activities
undertaken during 2013/2014 in the Green
Triangle involved the Plantation Productivity
Symposium and several meetings with guest
speakers.
The IFA ‘Plantation Productivity
Symposium: Proving R&D Pays’ was run
12–14 May 2014 at Mount Gambier, in
collaboration with the IFA President, Rob
de Fégely, and IFA CEO Alison Carmichael and supported by
local IFA members Lew Parsons, Mike Bleby and Adrian Lynch.
This was a very successful three day event, comprising two days of
presentations and one field day, which attracted over 90 attendees
from around Australia. The symposium sought to revisit the research
and development successes which have lifted the productivity of
plantations, an improvement that should not be taken for granted.
It also sought to understand the value proposition of plantation
research and development especially as recognized by the new
ownership of Australian plantation forests. Keynote speaker Dr Jack
Lutz (Principal and Forest Economist of Forest Research Group,
USA) was clear in explaining that the new classes of institutional
investors would need to see a strong business case to support
research and development.
Jim O’Hehir,
SA Divisional Chair
Around 30 members of the Green Triangle Branch hosted a dinner
meeting with the FORESTERRA group on 21 February 2014.
FORESTERRA is an International Project, Enhancing FOrest
RESearch in the MediTERRAnean through improved coordination
and integration of Mediterranean forest research programs and
countries including Australia.
During January and February 2014 a long running fire in the Mid
North of South Australia burn most of the historic Wirrabara Forest
Reserve, where plantation forestry was first begun in Australia in the
1870’s. The Adelaide Branch expressed its concern for the future
of the historic Old Wirrabara Nursery precinct requesting that the
manager ForestrySA try and conserve as much of the Nursery as
possible and not unnecessarily clear what had been damaged by the
fire. Accordingly, rehabilitation of the Nursery site continues to be
based on a plan that proposes conserving what trees and building
that can be and returning the site to as similar to a pre fire state as
possible.
On 22 October 2013, about 30 Green Triangle Branch members
and guests took advantage of Dr John Turner’s presence in the region
to invite him to present the findings of a recently completed FWPA
and NSW Forestry Corporation funded study on Inter-Rotation
Productivity of NSW Radiata Pine Plantations. – Inter-Rotation
Productivity of Radiata Pine. Bob Boardman and Jim O’Hehir
presented summarised findings of similar comparisons of multiple
rotation studies conducted in South Australia.
Mount Gambier was the location chosen for one of Michelle
Freemans ‘Turn Over a New Leaf’ events on 7 August 2013.
Michelle was the winner of the Victorian Rural Women’s award for
2013. The IFA assisted with organisation of this successful event,
including speakers.
6
IFA Annual Report
TASMANIAN DIVISION
Aidan Flanagan,
Tas Divisional Chair
Over the last year, the Tasmanian
Committee has focused on ‘holding
the fort’. The lack of clear Government
policy in regards to how forests are to be
managed, and under what structure, has
made it difficult to engage. However, the
election of a new Government in Tasmania is
providing more avenues for engagement, and
consequently the promotion of science and
good management.
The continued loss of professional foresters is undermining the
States capacity to manage its forests effectively, and to undertake
research designed to improve forest values. However, those that
remain continue to apply their skills and in doing so promote the
value of professional foresters and the capacity of forests to meet
multiple use needs.
A small gathering in Launceston enjoyed a few Christmas drinks,
while the promotion of activities with AFG and Private Forests
Tasmania provided opportunities for members to gain insight into
new technologies and approaches to management.
ACFA DIVISION
The Association of Consulting Forester
of Australia (ACFA) is a Division of the
Institute of Foresters of Australia and all
members of ACFA members are required to
maintain Registered Professional Foresters™
status. ACFA as a Division of the IFA is
unique in that it is “interest” based rather
than “geographically located” which reflects
the nature of the members as a broad range
Braden Jenkin,
of 29 individuals spread across Australia and
Divisional Chair
some working in the international sector.
Recognising the geographic spread of members, the 2013 ACFA
AGM was again held by teleconference and ACFA considers that
the use of technology to facilitate meetings must be underpinned by
face to face events where possible. The role of many ACFA members
is to provide independent and objective professional services to
clients across the full breadth of forestry and forest management,
including processing and selling of wood products. One area of
expertise practiced by ACFA members is the provision of forest
asset valuations and this is underpinned by ACFA’s The Australian
Forest Valuation Standard which provides guidance for forest valuers
in conducting a valuation. In support of members, the IFA and ACFA
organised and ran a successful continuing professional development
(CPD) event on forest valuation related issues. The event was well
attended with excellent presentations by a range of industry leaders
in this space.
With the change in the forestry sector and a shift in ownership, there
have been many changes in the consulting sector. This combined
with the reduction in consultants as member of ACFA poses the
question of what is the most logical / appropriate future for ACFA?
Do we become a special interest group? Is there potential to evolve
the RFP scheme to better meet the needs of consultants as small
business operators or do we simply cease to be? This decision must
be driven by the membership.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership numbers fell for the fifth consecutive year from 1206
members to 1035, with the reduction consistent across States
and membership categories, reflecting employment trends in the
forestry sector.
IFA ANNUAL REPORT 2013–14
Membership remains a challenging issue to address. A decade ago
members retiring from employment retained their membership as
they wished to continue to actively participate in Institute affairs.
Today members exiting employment either through retirement
or restructuring are resigning, perhaps indicating their level
of frustration not with the Institute but with the industry and
profession in general. The focus of the Strategic Plan is to expand our
membership to include Foresters working in allied land management
professions and and other graduates working in the industry who may
not be aware of the benefits and value being offered by the Institute.
7
MEMBER
RECOGNITION
In November in Melbourne Alan Brown was
made an Honorary member. Alan is Publishing
Editor of Australian Forestry and also a Fellow of
the Institute.
To better know and service our members we installed a new online
membership database in September. The software has an events
management package and a facility to select and more easily
communicate with members as individuals or groups. We continue
to build the array of member-only services including direct access to
Australian Forestry and “member look-up”.
In May the invoices for the following financial year were issued from
the database, which provided yet another opportunity to check and
correct the information we hold.
At the end of the financial year we ceased our contract with
“Member Advantage” as usage statistics showing that this was not
well accepted or used by members.
In April members were again invited to participate in Professionals
Australia (was APESMA) biennial remuneration survey.
PROJECTS
IFA was engaged by Forestworks to complete seven learning
resources to support units of competency from the Advanced
Diploma of Forest Industry Sustainability. IFA members were
engaged to write the resources and we are very pleased with the
results and will look for further opportunities to tap into and
document the knowledge held by members.
STAFF
At the end of the financial year we farewelled Anne Katalinic
and Ed Chalmers and appointed a specialist company to provide
administrative support from Sydney, while CEO Alison Carmichael
remains in Canberra.
David Wood was made a Fellow of the Institute at an event in
Brisbane in March and his citation was published in the April edition
of The Forester.
FINANCES
The following information is a summary of the current situation, and
the audited annual financial report is available on the IFA website
under Corporate documents under “About IFA”.
It was a big year for the Institute with a lot of changes made to the
way we operate and we expected a deficit. With reducing member
numbers and no conference to provide additional income, we
ended the year with a $52,000 deficit, 20% more than budgeted,
and a corresponding reduction in equity. There was a 10% increase
in salaries as a result of changes in personnel and the need to
accommodate time for hand-overs. The line item “Consultancy
expense” is not a new expense but a new way of tracking such
payments within the Chart of Accounts. In the past these were
scattered throughout the accounts and we now have a much better
idea of the cost of our people resources, not just staff.
This was an extraordinary year and the result is not expected to be
repeated in future as we build on the effort made. Members will
note that during the year we implemented a number of activities
that provide income and sometimes a surplus therefore reducing the
Institute’s reliance on member fees. These activities include events,
funded projects and the career portal.
IFA Annual Report
8
COMMUNICATIONS
AND PUBLICATIONS
MARKETING
During the year the IFA began to regularly advertise in Timber &
Forest News with two advertisements, one for general membership
and the other advertising the careers portal.
We are still novices at social marketing but during the year have built
a small but consistent presence on Twitter and company pages on
Linkedin and Facebook that help us to promote events.
COMMUNICATIONS
The Journal is going through a significant period of restructuring
and manuscript handling delays are being experienced.The Board
is making a concious effort to address this issue and is planning to
direct additional resources into manuscript delays and in building
an expanded Editorial Committee. The Journal will continue to be
one of the flagships for the Institute and its success is central to our
overall restructuring efforts.
Australian Forestry journal. In January publishers Taylor & Francis
introduced new manuscript handling software for the journal similar
to that used by other journals called Editorial Manager. This is a
welcome replacement for the spreadsheet that was used before but
as expected expected there were problems for some people in using
the new system.
The T&F website for the journal allows us to post supplementary
information about papers and Melissa Turner created a video that
helped explain her paper “Adoption of community engagement
in the corporate culture of Australia forest plantation companies”
Australian Forestry 76(1): 58-68.
The journal has been affected by the reduction in research spending
on forestry and this has resulted in smaller issues and even two issues
being rolled into one at the end of 2103. Our impact factor dropped
slightly from 0.97 to 0.919.
Year
Impact
Factor (If)
Total
Articles
Total
Cites
2013–14
0.919
19
531
We commend Colin Matheson, Managing Editor, and Alan Brown,
Production Editor and the editorial panel and reviewers for their
continued efforts.
The Forester newsletter. After producing two quarterly printed
newsletters in September and December 2013, the publication was
changed to two-monthly and published on line. This caused some
consternation with members who went looking for their March issue
in their mailboxes, prompting the IFA Board to write to members
explaining the reasons for the change.
Email bulletin. The weekly bulletin continues, and from the numbers
of responses we get each week it appears to be well-read. From April
onwards with was made a member-only service. Thank you to those
members who contributed items and helped with proof-reading
during the year.
PROJECTS
Careers portal. Late in the financial year we launched a careers
site on the IFA website, on the recommendation of the Society of
American Foresters and we are encouraging its use by the broader
forestry sector.
Knowledge base. A start was made to upload information held by the
IFA to a searchable knowledge base. This project stalled in March
until more resources can be found to fund further development, but
in the meantime the information already uploaded is still available.
Obituary project. Members John Dargavel and Geoff Dean worked
diligently during the year on a project with ANU and the Forest
History Society to compile a set of biographies of the forestry
profession. Over 200 obituaries have been digitised and can be
found on in the above-mentioned knowledge base. These will be
made publically available on other biographical sites and could be
compiled into a book accompanied by thematic essays, and made
available for the IFA’s 80th year in 2015.
2013 conference proceedings. In September the 2013 conference
proceedings were released as a handsome publication. This was sent
to all conference attendees on a memory stick, and provided for sale
electronically or in hard copy to others.
SUBMISSIONS AND LETTERS
There were fewer submissions made this year than in previous years
and this is in part due to a change of policy where no submission is
made unless a member volunteers to take the lead in its preparation.
Thank you to the many members who contributed to the below list,
there are too many of you to mention by name.
• IFA letter to World Heritage Council re wind back of Tasmanian
World Heritage Area extension
• IFA submission to the Agricultural Industry Advisory Council on
the Agricultural Competitiveness Issues Paper
• IFA submission NSW on remake of the coastal integrated
Forestry Operations Approvals
• IFA submission on the proposed extension to the Tasmanian
Wilderness World Heritage Area
• IFA letter to Tasmanian Premier re Tasmanian Forest Agreement
and response received
• IFA submission to NSW NRC on Cypress Forest Management.
Copies of all submissions and letters are available on IFA website at
http://forestry.org.au/publications/ifa-submissions
9
IFA ANNUAL REPORT 2013–14
RECOGNITION
REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL
FORESTERS PROGRAM
The Registered Professional Forester program numbers remained
stable with just over 80 members. We welcomed 3 new RPF
members during the year. They were:
• Thomas Baker: Specialist in Forest and plantations soils and tree
nutrition and plantation silviculture, growth and yield
• Tony Mennen: General Practising Forester
• Steve Husband: General Practising Forester with recognised
skills in Forest Vegetation
AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
New activity. A new award will be administered in future by the
Institute following the transfer of funds during the year from the
ANU for the M R Jacobs Prize for Silviculture. This prize has
traditionally be a book award made to student’s carrying out research
in silviculture or related forestry practices while enrolled at the
University of Melbourne, Southern Cross University, Canterbury
University, or the Australian National University.
A trust deed was drawn up to create an environmental trust with a
management committee consisting of IFA Director Stuart Davey,
along with Andrew Campbell, Bill Jackson, Glen Kile and Neil Byron.
At the end of the financial year the decision about the whether the
trust will be included on the Register of Environmental Organisation
lies with the federal Department of Environment.
Max Jacobs Fund. The Max Jacobs Fund is used to support worthy
projects in any field of forestry research and to provide graduates
within Australasia with support for professional development not
readily available from other sources. Matt Larcombe, University
of Tasmania, was the successful applicant with a contribution made
towards living expenses while in to Portugal for 2 months to take part
in research into the status of E. globulus as an invasive species in that
country.
There will be no further offers made under this Fund in the
foreseeable future. The Fund has been underwritten from IFA
operational funds for the last few years. The introduction of the new
Jacobs award mentioned above will replace the
A R Henderson Grant. Matthew Kinny was the recipient of the 2013
Henderson Grant, provided so he could take part in an educational
unit at the University of British Columbia titled Forest Access
and Transportation. The decision was based on the fact that this
professional development is not available in Australia and is directly
related to Matthew’s employment.
Jacobs and Chinner medals. Both medals are awarded to a final year
student for Outstanding Field Studies in Forestry at the Australian
National University and University of Melbourne respectively.
Congratulations to 2013 winners Lim Isis, ANU and Sarah DicksonHoyle, University of Melbourne.
Forestry Scholarship Fund. The Forestry Scholarship Fund was
established under a Trust with Deductible Gift Recipient status
bestowed by the Australian Taxation Office, to financially support
graduate and post-graduate forestry students. Six post-graduate
scholarships of $2000 each were taken up for the National Forestry
Master’s Program at University of Melbourne. The recipients were:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Chris Morton
Gavin Livingstone
Jorge Maldonado
Paul Bentley
Thomas Dodemaide
Helen Bull.
The Forestry Scholarship Fund is dependent on donations and in the
financial year the fund received $1000 was received as an ongoing
donation and $2300 interest. In the same period $14,500 was
distributed as scholarships.
EVENTS AND
CONFERENCE
EVENTS
In the past the IFA conducted many events for members at a
Divisional level but this year saw the Institute begin to conduct larger
events with broader appeal. These events were designed so as to
share information and skills but it appears they have also brought the
Institute some positive attention with many who were not previously
aware of it, nor the work of the organisation and the members.
ATTENDEE
NUMBERS
EVENT
WHERE
WHEN
Innovation forum
supported by
Forestworks
Melbourne
1 day
November 2013
47
Valuation
seminar
Melbourne
1 day
November 2013
48
Plantation
productivity
symposium
Mt Gambier
3 days including
tour
May 2014
83
Presentations for the last mentioned event are now available as
videos, incorporating both the presenter and the powerpoint slides.
2015 ANZIF CONFERENCE
During the year a Committee was established to plan for the 2015
ANZIF conference to be held in Creswick in April 2015. Consec,
the conference organisers who asssisted with the 2013 conference
in Canberra, was again been invited to support the committee.
Professor Rod Keenan of the University of Melbourne is the Chair
of the conference committee, and committee members are as
follows:
10
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
IFA Annual Report
Gary Featherston
Alison Carmichael
Rowan Reid
Michelle Freeman
Gerd Bossinger
Lyndall Bull
Ian Shears
Rob Youl
Tuesday Phelan
Gordon Davis
Keith Maplestone.
IFA BOARD
There was one change to the IFA Board during the year as after
6 years Michael Ryan stepped down as Victorian Chair and Gary
Featherston was elected Chair of the Division, and therefore
Director, for a second a time.
During the financial year, meetings of directors were held as follows:
31 July 2013
by teleconference
16 August 2013
by teleconference
TURN OVER A NEW LEAF
13 September 2013
by teleconference
In 2013, IFA Director
Michelle Freeman
developed “Turn Over
a New Leaf”, a program that aimed to
connect students with forestry professionals
and industry to discuss ideas, network and
seek career opportunities. This program
was funded by the 2013 RIRDC Rural
Women’s Award, which Michelle won in
Michelle Freeman,
the state of Victoria. The first event was
IFA Director
held in Canberra at the IFA conference,
and two subsequent events were held in Mount Gambier, hosted
by Southern Cross University, and Melbourne, hosted by the
University of Melbourne. These events generated significant interest
thanks to Facebook and some much appreciated support from IFA
members, and incorporated a panel of presenters followed by an
open forum. Michelle was also kindly hosted by the WA Division
and Forest Products Commission to visit and connect with forestry
professionals in the West. Each of these happenings proved fantastic
opportunities for Michelle to connect with students and forestry
professionals looking to support and assist the next generation of
foresters. There are too many to thank here, but we are very grateful
to everyone who got behind this initiative.
7 November 2013
face-to-face
4 February 2014
by teleconference
4 March 2014
by teleconference
8 April 2014
by teleconference
11 May 2014
by teleconference
3 June 2014
by teleconference
The Board issued two communiqués to members, one in September
that reported on Board activity against the strategic goals, and the
second in May related to the changes that members were noticing.
A discussion paper was released in November inviting members to
comment on potential changes to membership and governance.
Changes were made to Regulations to allow for Divisional AGMs for
be conducted in August and September, instead of July and August,
leaving a few weeks for preparation of reports after the end of the
year.
The Annual General Meeting for the 2013/14 year was held in
Melbourne on 7 November. It was followed by drinks and a member
dinner.
There were no payments made to directors during the year other
than minor direct expenses for meetings.