The very popular forestry technology series, ForestTECH has been run by the Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA) annually for forest managers and technical foresters in this part of the world since 2007.

In 2012, the Wood Transport and Logistics theme for ForestTECH 2012 attracted over 300 forestry managers, forest owners, harvest planners, transport operators and forestry contractors from both New Zealand and Australia.
This year, ForestTECH 2013 will be a first for the New Zealand forestry industry. It will include two major forestry events over two days and at just one location. FOREST INDUSTRY SAFETY SUMMIT Because of the focus this year on forestry safety, a two-day Forest Industry Safety Summit will be run by FIEA in conjunction with the Forest Industry Contractors Association and NZ Forest Owners Association. It will address the very real Industry and Government concerns around forestry safety and showcase new practices, systems and tools that can be used in the forest to improve safety – with a focus on local and practical outcomes. Keynote addresses from leading safety experts from North America will be complemented by presentations from local health and safety managers. The key themes will be focused on providing more effective and safer ways for contractors and principals to work together.

Steep Slope Wood Harvesting Conference
In addition to the Safety Summit, a two-day Steep Slope Wood Harvesting conference is being run by FIEA. It will be running at the same venue – and over the same two days. Analysis by Future Forests Research indicates that the proportion of the forest harvest from steep hill country (over 20 degrees slope) is currently 44% of the total harvest and this is forecast to rise to 53% by 2016 and to over 60% by 2025. Nationally over the next 12 years to 2025 there is a requirement for a new cable harvesting crew every four weeks. Harvesting steep slopes presents a range of challenges. Choosing the appropriate technology requires careful consideration of cost, productivity, safety and environmental impacts. The Steep Slope Wood Harvesting conference will profile new innovations – equipment, tools and operating practices – around steep slope harvesting operations. The programme for the Steep Slope Wood Harvesting conference is attached here. ForestTECH 2013 runs in Rotorua on 26-27 November.

Further details can be found at www.foresttech2013.com