Victoria’s forestry industry is set to benefit from nearly $4 million of new industry transferable research under the first round of projects funded by the National Institute for Forest Products Innovation (NIFPI) centre in Gippsland.
Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries Jonno Duniam and Victoria’s Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas congratulated the funding recipients and welcomed the benefits these projects would bring to Gippsland and the wider industry across Australia.
“These projects will support innovation in forest product sectors such as timber processing and forest management, and provide a major boost for the forestry industry,” Assistant Minister Duniam said.
“Each project will directly benefit the forest industry in Gippsland, as well as the forestry industry across Australia.
“The research will investigate the impacts of fire on performance of timber projects, as well as the smarter use of spatial information for forest management, improving commercialisation of manufactured timber products, feral animal management and improvements to plantation productivity.”
Minister Thomas said the investment would drive innovation and collaboration, helping to secure Gippsland’s role in advancing forestry research in Australia.
“We are supporting the future of our local timber industry by driving innovation across the supply chain,” Minister Thomas said.
“Six projects with a total value of $3.96 million have been successful under the first round of the Gippsland NIFPI Research and Development Project grants.
“The NIFPI centre in Gippsland will deliver jobs and growth through supporting the smarter use of our forest resources and assisting industry to extract greater value from our forest products.”
The Australian and Victorian governments are contributing $1.89 million to these successful projects — which is being matched by approximately $2 million of funding and in-kind contributions from the forestry industry and research agencies.
Innovators and researchers are encouraged to apply for the second round of grants opening soon.
Find out more about the NIFPI recipients and the round one projects here: www.nifpi.org.au