UC professor wins award for carbon forestry research

The University of Canterbury’s Head of the School of Forestry, Professor Bruce Manley, has won a Forestry Science Award for his dedication to, and leadership within, forestry research, and his innovative work on carbon forestry.

Professor Manley has led research groups responsible for the initial research on carbon capture by planted forests and analysis of commercial forest resource quality.

Instrumental in the wider adoption of estate-modelling techniques for forest planning, he regularly advises government on policy related to his research interests.

Forestry Minister Shane Jones presented the award to Professor Manley at Parliament at an event marking the State Forest Service’s centenary.

“It was a very special moment for me,” Professor Manley says.

“It was great to be recognised in a room full of people I have worked with over many years.”

After completing a Bachelor of Forestry Science with Honours, Professor Manley joined the New Zealand Forest Service in 1976 at the Forest Research Institute in Rotorua where he became a highly respected senior manager. He has also completed a PhD in Forest Management and a Bachelor of Business Studies,

He joined UC’s School of Forestry in 1999 and was appointed Head of School in 2006. Professor Manley is internationally recognised for his research in modelling both quantity and quality of forest resources, and says he enjoys seeing the ongoing developments in the forestry sector.

“The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) was a world first and provides opportunities and risks for forest growers. I have enjoyed doing analysis and modelling to quantify these opportunities and risks,” he says.

“My research has looked at the potential impact of the ETS on afforestation, silviculture and harvest age, and on the decision of whether to even harvest or grow a stand on for carbon. This work has led to research on ways to improve the ETS.”

A career highlight has been research on the lifecycle of harvested wood products, Professor Manley says.

“In a project for Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Ministry for the Environment (MfE), Associate Professor David Evison and I visited the major markets for New Zealand logs – China, South Korea and India. We tracked what New Zealand logs are being used to produce, and the end-use and life of these products. The results of our work are being use by MfE for Kyoto Protocol carbon accounting and UNFCCC carbon reporting.”

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