Pressure is mounting on State governments to better manage national parks through hazard reduction burning and selective logging, to avoid a repeat of the bushfire crisis sweeping the nation. Fires yesterday in extreme conditions continued to threaten areas in south eastern NSW, eastern Victoria and Kangaroo Island. And it has already been reported that the NSW government will consider stripping land management and hazard reduction responsibilities from “conservationist” environmental agencies. / Timberbiz

Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is participating in a joint project called SEED, led by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, in which forest companies are developing new digital solutions together with companies in the ICT industry. / MetsäBoard

In August, Metsä Wood’s Open Source Wood, an open platform developed to connect people and innovation in the wood construction industry, announced a competition to find clever ways to connect large LVL panels. The winning idea – 1% Waste – was designed by Nazar Shklianka, an architect from Ukraine. / Metsä Wood

The peak industry bodies representing scores of businesses that employ thousands of men and women in the front line to be impacted by Premier Andrews’ poor policy announcement to shut down Victoria’s native timber industry are seriously questioning the government’s commitment to engage with industry. / Timberbiz