Timber Queensland, in partnership with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, will bring together industry, government, and regional stakeholders in Roma on 20 November for a 9 am to 1 pm forum aimed at driving innovation and investment across the region’s cypress and hardwood sectors.
Titled ‘From Forest to Framework: Unlocking Timber Value in the Darling Downs and South-West Queensland,’ the event has been convened to address the need for greater product development, market diversification, and collaboration across sawmilling, harvesting, and processing operations. The forum will examine opportunities emerging from the Queensland Government’s new Future Timber Plan and explore how the region’s timber supply can better meet growing demand in construction, the bioeconomy, and infrastructure projects.
According to Mick Stephens, CEO of Timber Queensland, the cypress and hardwood industries remain vital employers in small regional towns, supplying essential products used in decking, flooring, cladding, joists, structural beams, and joinery. “These sectors are often the lifeblood of jobs in regional communities, producing the materials that help put roofs over the heads of people across the state,” Stephens said.
Industry leaders, researchers, and government representatives will address sustainable timber supply, new product innovation, biofuels and feedstock opportunities, and the implications of major infrastructure projects for timber logistics in southern and western Queensland. The program is designed for sawmillers, forestry contractors, private forest owners, graziers, and mixed-use landholders who are exploring timber as a secondary income source. It also targets builders, developers, architects, and engineers seeking to increase the use of sustainably sourced timber in construction.
The forum will also be relevant to local and state government officers, planners, and regional development agencies engaged in forestry, infrastructure, and land-use planning who need to understand the sector’s emerging innovation agenda. Organisers say the full-value-chain approach — bringing growers, processors, product specifiers, and policymakers together — is intended to accelerate practical outcomes rather than produce abstract recommendations.
