Issue 2, December 2011

Lessons from the North

A project undertaken by the Canadian forestry sector, known as Bio-Pathways, could give New Zealand manufacturers some clues about future options. Read more...

Issue 1, September 2011

Canada's Bio-Pathways
Canada might be a hemisphere away from New Zealand, but their forest products industry is not that far removed. It is an export-focused sector dominated by traditional manufacturers of pulp, paper and board products struggling to return a profit. Like us, Canadian foresters are under pressure to innovate and compete on the global market. For them, the pathway forward is clear.

Planning for rapid change: the new norm
The scale and speed of economic transformation in China, India and Brazil, even before the effects of the huge public debt of the US and some EU economies, has precipitated a fundamental structural shift in the relativities between economies (in geopolitical influence).

Lignin: the hidden forest product
Lignin is the second most abundant polymer on earth and plays a key role in wood structure. It is so hidden within the tree that a powerful microscope is needed to see it.

Organic wastes disappear with TERAX™
A hydrothermal deconstruction process being tested in Rotorua offers a new approach to waste management.

Fast tracking innovation
The TERAX^TM project shows how innovation can be achieved more quickly by adopting and adapting existing technologies, rather than starting from scratch.

Kicking the weedy nuisance
Scion is part of a collaborative research programme known as “Undermining Weeds” that provides the science skills necessary to overcome common problems faced by primary producers in New Zealand.

Fanning the flames
As rural fire managers brace themselves for the upcoming fire season, spare a thought for fire fighters of the future.

Multiplying success
The commercial radiata pine seedling industry in New Zealand relies largely on control-pollinated seed. But, tissue culture technologies for mass propagation have always worked better with open-pollinated seed.

Flight of the parasite
A parastoid wasp released last summer to control a eucalypt-munching caterpillar appears to be thriving. Scion introduced the Cotesia urabae wasp as a biological control agent aimed at gumleaf skeletoniser (Uraba lugens).

Science on Air
Scion scientists featured recently on Radio New Zealand’s show “Our changing world”. The topics covered show some of our diverse research areas.

NZ Journal of Forestry Science - special supplement
The New Zealand Journal of Forestry Science has a biosecurity focus this year. Volume 41 includes a special supplement that contains papers from the fifth IUFRO Meeting on Phytophthora Diseases in Forests and Natural Ecosystems that was held in New Zealand last year.