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Why burning Sugar Gum for our firewood is better than some other more readily available alternatives out there This time of year, and almost any place you go to buy your firewood, you will see (River) Red Gum. It is ridiculously easy to source and you would be forgiven for thinking it’s the only wood you should be burning. But, like most things, there is more to it than initially meets the eye. The majority of the Red Gum we burn in Victoria is sourced from private and State forests that are in the environmentally significant Murray and Darling River floodplains of Victoria and New South Wales.  And whilst it appears to be readily available and burns to generate a lot of heat, its harvesting comes at a heavy price to the ecological health of our old growth remnant native forests.   Collecting fallen or dead trees from native forests for our fires is an old tradition but these fallen or dead trees are homes for many endangered squirrel gliders, brush tailed tuans and carpet snakes.   So what’s the alternative? As a general rule of thumb Red or Box gum almost always is coming out of remnant native forests, so that’s worth remembering when making your buying decision. Ask your supplier about where they source theirs from. Fortunately, there are alternatives too. It’s best practice to look for Sugar or Blue Gum sources. This is what is currently being grown in sustainably managed forests. For any other brix or composite products, sourcing cannot be guaranteed so should be avoided.       CERES Farm-grown firewood makes use of Sugar Gum plantation thinnings that would otherwise be burnt as waste. These forests are established in largely cleared landscapes such as Victoria’s Goldfields and the Riverina and has a range of benefits for both the natural environment and the health of our farming communities. We are very fortunate to be working with the good folks over at Wood4Good. They want to see forestry become part of our collective solution by planting forests in a way that provide a perpetual source of renewable materials, bio-energy and income. They do this by planting new forests on degenerated farmland and then effectively manage and sensitively harvest over time so that biodiversity is protected.     Sugar Gum is also a much better long and hot burning source than other alternatives such as Red Gum. Sugar Gum has a Relative Available Heat Value of 95% where as (River) Red Gum is 81%. (Victorian Department of Primary Industries, Gavin Brook 2004). When burnt properly, using firewood from sustainable sources to warm your home can be less polluting and more environmentally sustainable than other methods as well. It’s good to know that your fire source this winter can have many positive impacts for our ecological and social communities.   Get in touch with us today to order your winter’s worth of firewood. For further reading about sustainable firewood please visit: https://vnpa.org.au/conserving-nature/sustainable-firewood/   Read more about Wood4Good here.

Rowan Reid is serious aussie agroforestry academic, who created his amazing Bambra Agroforesty Farm, in the lush Otways. Rowan has written a book about Australian Agroforestry called 'Heartwood'. It is beautifully illustrated and totally inspiring.

Timber is a controversial material among environmentally conscious builders, architects and consumers. While many rightly favour it as it’s a renewable resource that sequesters carbon, the role of timber harvesting in deforestation and habitat loss around the world is indisputable. But getting rid of timber entirely is not possible or desirable in most of our builds. What are sustainability-minded consumers to do?

Thursday 26th April, 2018 was a big day for CERES' newest social enterprise Fair Wood - our name got called out and now we are extremely grateful recipients of $20,000 in start-up funding from Darebin Council and Melbourne Innovation Centre's Darebin Pitch-It Competition.

CERES Fair Wood wins Darebin competition for start-ups! March 2018. 'Architect Paul Haar came up with the idea to counter the huge amount of timber illegally farmed from countries like Myanmar and Cambodia and support sustainable and environmentally conscious farmers...CERES Fair Foods general manager Chris Ennis, who currently heads the project, said the same people who buy electric cars and fair trade coffee would buy timber they knew was sustainable...“It’s about buying wood you know has been grown with a social and environmental approach in mind,” says Chris Ennis