The Wood Merchants: Logs to Lumber

In the second part of the Wood Merchant series, we follow the journey of the logs down to the wood market where they are chopped into lumber.

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In the state of Victoria, Australia we currently log a tiny potion of the native forest it is all replanted a sustainable and renewable resource. The government and conservationists here are thinking they are doing the best thing for the environment are stopping native timber logging in 2030. We don't have enough plantation timber to fill our replacement needs with the loss of native logging meaning loss of more jobs and the collapse of small rural communities. Where is that timber coming from? We currently import nearly 6 billion dollars of raw timber each year and Interpol says we import approx 800 million of illegally harvested timber into Australia this total doesn't include all the imported processed timber with unknown origin. Australia's demand for timber is going to jump after 2030. The conservation movement in Australia doesn't realise the damage they are doing to the world through deforestation in other countries and pollution costs of long distance transportation for their desire to stop native timber logging in the state of Victoria, Australia.