Sustainable management of our native private and public forests is the non-negotiable foundation for FFR&D activities. Ecological forestry goes beyond the sustainable yield of timber to regeneration of all the ecological functions of the forest and continuity of all its flora and fauna. Beyond this restoration of past function we seek to assist in ecosystem evolution to changing conditions including climate.  

Towards those ends two questions arise when we make decisions. 

• What does the forest have to offer now? 

In the vast majority of situations the answer is that there are too many small, stunted, suppressed or coppiced trees that need to be removed or thinned? 

• How can we make best use of what we have cut? 

In some situations it is possible to use some of this wood for posts, poles and other uses but  generally the woody biomass is only suitable for lower value uses such as traditional firewood or wood chip.   

While vigilance is necessary to ensure the tail of forest waste doesn’t wag the dog of sustainable forestry, we are equally convinced that there needs to be a use for low grade wood from forest thinnings and tree heads for ecological forestry to be socially and economically sustainable.  For 25 years traditional firewood has been that use but over the last decade we have slowly refined our management to see how much of the small branch wood could be more usefully chipped to create a flowable fuel for efficient, low pollution and carbon neutral energy. 

At Sellar Dairy we took  the first step creating industrial heat from on farm biomass to complement solar.  Our current research is focused using our ongoing and modest production of wood chip to fuel demonstration hybrid electric wood gas light trucks.  At FFR&D  we apply the permaculture principle of Small and Slow Solutions, to show how biomass energy at the small business and community scale managing our slow growing native forests can compliment mixed species eco forestry plantations towards a sustainable Australian silvi culture.  Small scale provides a low risk rapid learning cycle and opportunities for growth by replication that support diversified rural economies rather than global corporate players.

Everywhere around the affluent world, dense regrowth forests across marginal land abandoned in the move to cities and concentrated agriculture are in need of careful husbandry to encourage the growth of retained trees, enhance wildlife and amenity values and reduce the threats from climate change driven bushfires and other natural disasters. Our experience over more than 40 years of observation in southern Australian forests aligns with the observations of skilled indigenous fire experts from northern Australia and similar experience with indigenous cultural burning practices in the dense regrowth fire forests of California.  

Our alignment and history at FFR&D draws on three cultural legacies.