It is a well known fact that the general public regards the forestry industry as tree-killers. As the forestry-based pulp and paper industry, we are merely associates to (arbour) murder. Baring this in mind, we should all be whooping and whistling to see Forestry moved from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (now DWEA – Department of Water and Environmental Affairs) to the Agricultural department, which should establish forestry as a well-regulated form of agriculture and not an axe-wielding clan of tree-hackers.

 

It came as a surprise, then, to see the national agricultural department now referred to as the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Not simply the Department of Agriculture, not even the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, but the Department of Agriculture followed by a pronounced comma and then Forestry – implying, after all, that forestry is no more a form of traditional agriculture than the mass breeding of tuna in newly-developed ocean camps. Nor does this imply that forestry abides by the same careful resource regulations as other forms of agriculture or forma substantial contribution to our GDP.

 

Perhaps it is a temporary arrangement; part of the transition of forestry from its troublesome pairing with Water Affairs to its more suited agricultural partners. And yet, however temporary, that one small discerning comma strengthens the separation between Agriculture and Forestry eternally in the minds of the government and the general public and potentially erodes the legitimacy of forestry and forest products.

 

This suddenly led me to thinking: do we really want to be associated with other recognised forms of agriculture? In his column, Iain Kerr highlights how Vaal farmers suck up just under 200 litres a minute with apparently no regard for water preservation. With our own industry intent on highlighting our water efficiency, let alone our conservation of a number of wetland areas, is this who we want to be associated with?

 

Perhaps we should embrace our separation from Agriculture as much as we embrace the unique contribution our industry makes to a greener planet, from an already established history of biofuels to the sustainability of our products. There has also been a recent increase in our rate of waste paper recovery, which Ursula Henneberry explains in her regular column. With this in mind, we look at how the New Waste Management Act impacts the man on the ground, with an exposé on Lothlorien Waste Paper.

 

And to ensure we continue to be unique in our resource efficiency, this issue covers the use of Peristaltic hose pumps for effective pumping of abrasive lime slurry and a case study on SKF’s latest lubrication technologies.

 

Here’s to the many green ways (and that one little comma) that make us uniquely different.

 

Jodie Davies-Coleman