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In 1836 looking out from Pyramid Hill in Barapa Barapa country, Scottish surveyor Major Thomas Mitchell recorded this passage in his diary,  "As I stood, the first European intruder on the sublime solitude of these verdant plains, as yet untouched by flocks or herds; I felt conscious of being the harbinger of mighty changes; and that our steps would soon be followed by the men and the animal for which it seemed to be prepared."  A harbinger indeed he was, the squatters who followed “Major’s Line” - the wheel ruts from Mitchell’s wagons visible in the fertile soils even decades later - would destroy these verdant plains in a little more than two generations. Mitchell was right the land had been “prepared”.  Barapa Barapa, Djab Wurrung,Dja Dja Wurrung, Eastern Maar, Gunditjmara, Jardwadjali, Jupagalk, Taugurung, Wadawurrung, Wergaia and Wotjobaluk peoples had been managing their country with fire and controlled grazing for millennia. After the squatters cleared away the traditional owners, they cleared away most of the indigenous vegetation.  They ploughed up to a dozen times a year, they over-stocked their pastures with sheep, what little was left was stripped to the roots by plagues of rabbits.   We don’t hear much about it but this was the start of Victoria’s own dustbowl; it would last 50 years and be remembered as the time our skies turned an apocalyptic red. These were the dust storms. Massive red clouds carrying millions of tons of soil sweeping across Victoria and New South Wales sometimes reaching as far as New Zealand’s Southern Alps  Behind the dust storms topsoil would pile up in drifts burying fences, destroying machinery and seeping into houses. In once productive paddocks wheat crops were overwhelmed by drifting sand, whole flocks of sheep were lost, cattle choked. With no soil to till, no animals left farmers walked off their properties.  In rural towns schools and businesses closed, people gasped for air and were blinded as their land simply blew away. The wind needed to be slowed - which meant trees needed to be put back.  Nurseries were established and farmers given trees to plant shelterbelts that would slow the wind and stop the moving soil​.One species, a fast growing, drought-tolerant native from South Australian Eucalyptus cladocalyx also known as the sugar gum for the sweet, sticky sap it exudes from damaged bark, became the windbreak tree of choice.  Right across Western Victoria on once cleared farms tall sugar gums grew along fencelines - the “green walls” slowed the wind, caught the dust and protected the pastures. By the 1950s the shelterbelts had matured and the dust storms had eased.  By now farmers were using the dense heavy wood from their sugar gums as fence posts and firewood and sometimes for timber. Sugar gums coppice easily handily regrowing another tree from the stump. Not having to replant their shelterbelts meant many of the original stands have been cut for timber or firewood two, three or four times and are still growing. Sugar gum’s versatility and sustainability has not gone unnoticed.   As native forestry around Australia closes or slows down and large quantities of illegally harvested timber is being imported from overseas, sugar gum is increasingly being sourced as one of the few trusted hardwoods for building and in particular decking. George De Silva, Fair Wood Carpentry manager, explains that most decks these days are made from Merbau, which has been completely logged out of South-East Asia and the Pacific except for a few last stands in Papua New Guinea which foreign timber companies are now racing to cut down. George builds a lot of decks and relies on sugar gum’s natural durability and local provenance to make something that will last and that people will feel good about living with. He points out there's a satisfying symmetry using timber from a tree that helped fix a deforestation event here a century ago that’s also helping fix another deforestation event in our neighbour’s rainforests today.   Words by Chris Ennis.

Returning to pre-covid momentum has been a challenge for West Brunswick Community Garden, but now and again new faces appear at weekend working bees, eager to connect with nature and community. Last Sunday, volunteers convened beside Dunstan Reserve to improve the 30 individual garden plots utilised by the local community. Old Red Gum sleepers have experienced the winds and rain of Merribek weather and were well due for a replacement. CERES Fair Wood provided garden veggie bed kits, consisting of Cypress Macrocarpa sleepers, to help the team carry out the task. “It’s great that this timber is very durable; we're hoping it will last another ten years,” says Richard, member of the garden’s committee. “Around 2012, the then Brunswick City Council put [the land] out for expressions of interest and a local organisation who had been looking for an opportunity to develop a community garden came along.” Since transforming what was an empty space to a flourishing suburban haven for plant life, including a ‘food forest’ that gives the public access to herbs and fruits, the garden has greater outcomes than horticultural produce. “Obviously the garden’s principal activity is around producing food, but also we see ourselves as an educational resource.  We have a strong commitment to sustainability and organic gardening practices that we try to emphasise as much as possible in our workshops. “We also have a role in creating community. As much as possible, we try to bring people together, some volunteers live by themselves and are looking for social contact. “We try to cater for all interests and I guess it reflects the community here. We have a very diverse group of people both in terms of their background, people from all over the world who have settled locally.”

“When you plant a tree and grow it, and you gift that property to new generations or next owners, you are gifting time trapped in those trees.” - Rowan Reid, founder of Bambra Agroforestry Farm in the Otway Ranges. Agroforestry is a social plan as much as it is a farming practice. Educating younger generations about the philosophy and practice of agroforestry is an investment in the future of Australia's environment. The impact of agroforestry spans across both geographical scales and generations, offering lasting benefits for people, farm productivity and native ecosystems.For farmers beginning to reforest their agricultural land, the rewards are multifaceted: 🌿Improved soil stability and fertility🌿Habitat creation for wildlife🌿Better stream quality🌿Livestock shade and shelterEucalyptus timber, renowned for its beauty and durability, is consistently in demand among carpenters, architects, and property developers. Agroforestry creates a stable income stream for farmers, bolstering resilience in a changing climate—especially in horticulture, where extreme weather events can impact crop yields.As forests mature, future generations inherit this stream of income and the knowledge of how to responsibly select logs for harvest to maintain the health of farm forests.This engaging podcast episode featuring Rowan Reid and Andrew Stewart, fellow agroforesters from the Otways, explores what the future holds for agroforestry in Victoria. What is agroforestry?Agroforestry is an ancient practice, rooted in the traditions of Indigenous communities worldwide. By growing trees and shrubs alongside crops or livestock, agroforestry mimics natural forests, enhancing ecological health and improving agricultural productivity.We live in an interesting period of human history: Local environments respond to modern exploitative practices in ways that threaten future livelihoods, and colonisation has disrupted sharing of traditional land management knowledge.A study by the World Agroforestry Centre estimates that agroforestry could sequester up to 4.2 billion tonnes of CO2 annually worldwide—a powerful tool in the fight against climate change.In Australia, agroforestry offers an opportunity to reverse environmental degradation. It helps sink carbon dioxide, mitigating the greenhouse effect and its impact on global temperatures. Farmers, in particular, are uniquely positioned to be agents of positive change, using agroforestry to restore landscapes and foster resilience in their communities.  Fair Wood strive to source timber that we can certify meets high standards of environmental sustainability. Read more about our timber selection criteria here.  

On Thursday, 14 November, we attended an event hosted by Ecologi inviting professionals in the construction and infrastructure industries to learn about Keon Park Station's eco-design implementations. In collaboration with Level Crossings Removal Program, we repurposed an end-of-life Manna Gum as seating in the public leisure space below the elevated train station.  Our Marketing Coordinator spoke to attendees about the short supply chain, as the logs travelled from our urban sawmill near Tullamarine airport, to our profiler in the Dandenong, and back to the area it grew as rich-brown, stylish batten seating. Manna Gum timber remaining from the eight trees salvaged in this collaboration were integrated into Fair Wood's retail supply.  

CERES Environment Park recently opened their magnificent and light-filled Community Hall. The hall, consisting of two spaces that can be divided with a sliding wall, is now open for event bookings. Gorgeous views over the environment park, situated on the corner of Roberts Street and Stewart Street, Brunswick East, can be observed as the building sits nestled atop the park's hillside border. Salvaged Manna Gum was used to construct the kitchen server counter. When a storm in 2021 passed over the Yarra Ranges, toppling over numerous trees in its path, our supplier saw an opportunity to save these trees from going to mulch.  For one Manna Gum, it's story continues here at CERES.    

Three days at Melbourne Home Show were a fun and busy blur for the Fair Wood team on the 23rd to 25th of August, 2024. The event saw crowds of Victoria state locals fill the expo hall at Exhibition Centre in Southbank. Amongst the exciting buzz of chatter and demonstrations of some interesting home products, the Melbourne Home Show was a great opportunity for us to converse with people in our community; some about to embark on house renovations, others working in architecture or construction industries, and a few simply curious to find out what we mean when say 'fair' and 'sustainable'.  A giveaway planter box was on display - our carpentry timber whipped this up, repurposing timber once used as fencing. Events seem to be becoming our thing; Be sure to follow us on social media for news and updates about any future events we'll be attending.

It’s just after sunrise and I’m driving the CERES Fair Wood truck at a crawl up a gravel road North of Heathcote in Central Victoria. The lightly treed paddocks to my left are literally moving and over the next five kilometres I stop half a dozen times to let hundreds of kangaroos stream across the road and disappear into the forest. Down a bush track I come to a small clearing where I meet wood4good co-founder Ben Boxshall and his offsider Matt waiting beside eighteen cages of firewood. Around 15% of Melbournians still rely on a woodfire as their main source of heat.  With Australians collectively burning around seven million tons of firewood (the equivalent of filling the MCG ten times) it's important that we source it as thoughtfully as possible.  wood4good has been managing this regenerative forestry project that began twenty five years ago when 300 hectares of exhausted grazing land was replanted with sugar gum and red ironbark. Over the past five years the smaller sugar gums and iron barks have been selectively thinned to give the larger trees room to mature. The thinned trees, thick as fence posts, are traditionally treated pushed into piles and burned. wood4good imported a Hakkipilke Easy38 firewood cutter from Finland to turn this "waste product" into sustainable firewood that also pays for the forest's regenerative management. Today’s load of firewood is the last to come out of this block for a while. I look through the high pruned stands and see the first step of Ben's plan for the tree plantation to become a perennial forest completed. In a few years Ben hopes to be selecting the first few timber trees in a cycle that will go on long after he has gone. Organisations like wood4good are using regenerative forestry practices to protect and restore ecosystems that can also provide timber, firewood, honey and flowers. Since Victoria ended native clearfell forestry in January we have replaced our timber shortfall by importing other people’s native forests - from Tasmania, NSW, South East Asia and South America. Like ours, these forests will eventually be closed up or be logged out. A new conversation is tentatively beginning around how we manage our native forests and how we will source the timber we love to use in our houses and our furniture into the future. If we're to do this regeneratively then it'll be organisations like wood4good who lead the way. For now, if you want to keep warm in the best way possible you can order it online at with us here.  

CERES Fair Wood is featured in City of Darebin Social Enterprises video.

Reimagining urban forestry and placing value in waste wood Logging and clearing of native forests contribute significantly to climate change, driven by the escalating demand for timber. Paradoxically, even with billions spent on importing timber products, thousands of large urban trees across Australia end up in landfills. In Greater Melbourne alone, around 500,000 trees are discarded, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. CERES Fair Wood saw an opportunity to reimagine urban trees not as waste but as a valuable timber resource, tackling climate change and fostering a circular economy. CERES Fair Wood introduced the Urban Forestry Service, challenging traditional forestry practices by bringing the sawmill into the city. Applying Highest and Best Use (HABU) principles, they divert "waste" urban trees from landfills and transform them into ethical timber products. By viewing urban trees as a resource, they aim to reduce carbon emissions from green waste, provide alternatives to timber from native forests, create circular economy jobs, and foster community connection to the urban forest. Collaborating with research partners, they're defining the city's timber resource scope and exploring a canopy-positive circular economy approach. The project has secured joint ventures, funding from WWF and Sustainable Table, a permanent mill site lease, and infrastructure funding. Their efforts have already diverted substantial carbon emissions and added economic value to finished timber products. The organisation is committed to changing how society interacts with its timber supply utilising ongoing research, infrastructure development, and strategic partnerships. By challenging the status quo, they're not just building markets for sustainable timber but reshaping the narrative around urban trees, creating a model for other communities to replicate. Read More about the TMRRW Awards

This blog post is from Chris Ennis' weekly newsletter. This week in CERES ReBoxCo’s workshop tucked at the rear of  Fair Wood’s warehouse, a lyrically named furniture-maker, Floyd Quinlan-Baskett, emerged from his workbench with a brand new bench seat.  With its fine joins and slotted lines Floyd's seat had a delicate Scandinavian spareness that hid its inner strength. As Floyd brought the new seat out to be put on display it drew oohs of admiration from the Fair Wood sales staff and the carpenters coming in to pick up timber. Just a few hours later a customer popping in to pick up some other items bought the seat on the spot. It all happened so quickly that the photo above was the only one Floyd took before his seat disappeared in the back of the customer’s car. The wonderful secret that many who sit on Floyd’s seat will never know is that it was made entirely from an old hardwood fence destined for the tip.  This is what CERES ReBoxCo is all about - a creative response to timber we throw away when we build or package things. This has manifested in Floyd’s beautiful bench seats as well as planter boxes, raised garden beds, dog houses, storage boxes, seating pods and café parklets. Old hardwood fences once dumped into landfill are dropped off by local contractors at ReBoxCo, the palings sanded and oiled back to life will be used as cladding. More timber is salvaged from end-of-life Macrocarpa windbreaks that were once heaped up into piles and burned. Pine framing studs that hold together packs of PVC drainage pipes are saved from a neighbouring plumbing supply business who used to throw them in the skip. Even waste from ReBoxCo’s own furniture-making is repurposed into exquisite trellises. Recently, a man from Volvo called Lee Amundsen, ReBoxCo’s manager - he was regularly receiving shipments of car parts in new Baltic pine packing crates and he couldn’t stand seeing this beautiful wood being smashed up and thrown away. This week Lee began using Volvo's Baltic pine to make planter beds. The great thing about the beds Lee says is the wood is heat, not chemical treated, insects won’t eat it and if the planters are kept above the ground they’ll last 15-20 years. Now we’re transitioning to living in smaller spaces this is the way we are going to garden. Instead of sprawling veggie patches more of us grow our tomatoes, greens and herbs in planter boxes and raised garden beds. Knowing people want not only to garden sustainably but to have their gardens built in the same way, Lee Amundsen has started dotting ReBoxCo’s furniture, planters, raised beds and seating pods in the CERES Nursery and around the park to demonstrate what’s possible. See ReBoxCo's products here.

On National Tree Day, we find ourselves thinking about the stories of our trees and timber. Speaking with Ben from Wood4Good, he spent his gap years in Europe and Northern Germany. He relates the story of how once a year people converge in one place and inspect the logs that will go to auction, but its more than just this pure transactional approach, it’s also a social gathering. They auction the logs one by one and then that night they eat and drink together. The following day buyers organise travel and freight home of their newly bought log. There is value in this exchange, a respect for the fibre but also the cultural traditions, this happens year after year. These are forests that have been managed by humans for hundreds of years and are a place of recreation, hunting and foraging, they are part of the local culture and lore and their stories ground them to place.  During the lockdown years, CERES ran an online gathering led by Sieta Beckwith our Narrative Director who spoke with Tyson Yunkaporta. Tyson says you can’t have a story without it being anchored in place. This really stuck with me and got me thinking of all the great stories I love and our stories of timber. It made me realise that the forests of Germany and Ben’s story have this. They are living memories for the people that frequent them anchored in place. In Australia, we do things differently. There is illegal logging taking place. There are certifications and schemes that are meant to protect our forests, plantations and other sources of wood, but these are often good on paper, but not so good in practice. Under dubious forest practices, we export truckloads of our precious hardwood as woodchips for pulp destined for predominantly cardboard (thanks to international 24-hour shipping windows). Then we do something even more remarkable, we import millions of dollars of timber, such as old-growth native Baltic pine and south-east Asian rainforest timbers, to build our houses and our furniture. It’s at best a bit topsy turvy, at worst a broken system! Our added deep-running disconnection we have in so called Australia to identity has thrived off of the nameless and faceless trade of buying and selling ‘sticks’ of timber with no anchor to place and an attitude of 'don’t ask, don’t tell'. But people are tuning in to being more sustainable in their day-to-day lives, you simply can’t ignore it any longer, the urgency is palpable.  CERES Fair Wood exists to change the way we connect with our timber supply, we are here to celebrate the story of our timber and encourage responsible material selection. We support small-scale farm forestry and the people who champion a better way. We are also always on the look out to extend this network. In our transparency we are celebrating the story of our timber and of our shared past, to celebrate and take gratitude to the land. We drive that value by stopping and saying, what’s the story here, scaffolding our future timber supply by anchoring it in place and time. Stories can’t exist without place Tyson argues. Through doing this work, by connecting the dots, people start creating their own connection to place, to the story, to our timber. Where their timber comes from may be a place they will never visit, but bringing the story of that place to them, gives them an opportunity to connect. We begin to understand ourselves within the sense of this living ecosystem. In doing so, we start creating mutual stories of care and respect.    We encourage you to get in touch with us to have a chat about where our timber comes from.  Happy National Tree Day!