Wood Central, 23 May, 2026
Forest economist Tyron Venn used his Primex Forest Industries Dinner keynote to warn that Australia’s reduced native harvest has pushed its timber footprint offshore — into forests at far higher risk of illegal logging and deforestation.
Reduced harvesting in Australia’s native forests is driving timber demand offshore to countries with a high risk of illegal logging and deforestation, a pattern that has pushed the nation’s overseas harvest footprint far beyond the domestic one it is meant to replace. That is according to Dr Tyron Venn, one of the country’s preeminent forest economists, who delivered the keynote address at this year’s Primex Forest Industries Dinner in Lismore, NSW.
