Our kiln-dried decking, flooring and screen batten timbers are sourced from state forests in NSW. The oldest stands of hardwood in these state forests are regrowth from natural regeneration after log harvesting, and are not plantations. Most plantations are of pulplog - currently harvested for the paper and fibreboard industries and they have no useful role as hardwood sawlogs milled for the high-value products we bring to the building market. Will plantations supply sawlogs in future years? Perhaps - but there are no clear outcomes that can easily be plotted in this endeavour. In the public arena, it is a subject poorly understood in scope and detail and badly reported upon. By modern forest management standards, state forests are a good idea. They started out as a great idea. In an earlier era, they replaced logged old-growth forests on difficult north coast terrain close to rivers, roads, settlements and mills. They were an attempt to make log supply sustainable in days when these indicators were not diligently mapped. If they were a good idea then, they still are. Nothing in the meantime has changed to make State Forests a bad idea as a source of timber. No alternative sustainable supply of native species has become available. Had land use following primary logging been for grazing or agricultural, we would have been denied a valuable timber resource that has survived to the present. Our methodology, our rate of harvest and our management of sawlog are, on the other hand, aspects of sustainability which require continual reform and improvement. Timberzoo's participation in the native hardwood sawmilling industry is to support both sustainable forestry and waste minimization. We have teamed with several mills over the years to develop a Waste Minimization Agenda, diverting kiln-dried hardwoods from low-value crate and pallet destinies to high-value use as flooring and lining board, screening or decking. Nowadays NFG has become a legitimate and credible grade in flooring and is well established in the market. Certification of Native Forests Since late 2007, Forests NSW has been certified as compliant with the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) AS 4708 by independent audit against this internationally recognized forest management standard. The native hardwood mills which supply our NFG and Rustic grade timbers have gained chain-of-custody accreditation stemming from this initiative. Stamped and certified packs of flooring are currently available from our Moolap showroom. For an overview of forest certification in Australia, see the ATFA - Australian Timber Flooring Association web site here.

where do our non-recycled timbers come from?

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