Willie Stander, CEO of White River Saw Mills: “Our people are our edge”

How does a sawmill without its own log supply survive Covid, a collapsing structural timber market and soaring input costs driven by load-shedding? For the White River Saw Mills (WRSM) Group, the answer lies in its relationships with people.

Logmech solves Mkhoba Forestry’s steep slopes quandary

Harvesting and transport specialist Mkhoba Forestry has invested in the proven TimberPro 725D levelling harvester and SP Maskiner 761LF head combination to address steep-slope cut-to-length operations in south-western KwaZulu-Natal.

SA’s forestry industry advised to focus on its successes

Forestry South Africa’s annual general meeting offers a glimpse into a rural industry that may be small in national agricultural terms, yet its resilience, ability to build relationships within and beyond its value chain, and depth of leadership make it highly influential in national policy and strategy.

PVoC programme paused

Featured Article

01st September 2026

Precision transport to maximise efficiency

South Africa's forestry industry runs on efficiency, and every load that moves from plantation to mill must cross difficult terrain to get there. Harvesting methods keep improving, but transport remains one of the sector's biggest levers for profitability, safety and sustainability, and one of the hardest to get right without accurate data at the point of loading.

Women In Forestry

14th August 2026

Sappi’s ESD programme grows businesses

Pinky Mooko, director of Baleti Estate in Mpumalanga, combines forestry with avocado, macadamia, pecan and honey production, while creating permanent and seasonal employment opportunities within the local community.

13th August 2026

South Africa’s bioeconomy represents opportunities for women

Every day, my role requires me to view our business through two very different lenses. On the one hand, I sit in boardrooms and speak with global investors who analyse our performance using balance sheets, ESG targets and the hard numbers of the circular bioeconomy.

12th August 2026

Reflections on the mentoring process

The women who hosted the 2026 webinar are all mentored by women in the She is Forestry SA (SIFSA) network. They had this to say about their experiences

Environment

25th July 2026

Pest Alert - Cyrtogeniusluteus

During surveys conducted in Mpumalanga in May 2025, aimed at investigating pine bark beetles, members of the TPCP team and Sappi detected an unknown bark beetle inhabiting galleries beneath the bark of harvested pine trees.

25th May 2026

World's first tree harvested by a drone in a real forest - AirForestry

AirForestry says its drone felled trees in a working production forest and, separately, completed an end-to-end harvest without human control — each a first for the airborne thinning method it has built since 2020.

22nd May 2026

300,000 hectares and counting: How South Africa's forestry sector is quietly preserving biodiversity

Biodiversity stewardship must extend beyond the boundaries of protected areas,” says Dr Ronald Heath, FSA’s Director of Research and Protection. “Conservation has to happen across entire landscapes, where productive land uses and natural ecosystems coexist and support one another.

Forestry equipment

26th August 2026

Post-fire recovery is about more than mopping up

Wildfires don’t begin with dramatic flames racing across the landscape. They start quietly, with a single spark or ember that ignites dry grass, overgrown vegetation, and accumulated fuel, waiting for the right conditions.

27th July 2026

Logmech solves Mkhoba Forestry’s steep slopes quandary

03rd June 2026

The Ponsse Buffalo Planter has landed, and Novelquip’s tech is driving it

Novelquip Forestry, a South African engineering company, and Ponsse, the Finnish manufacturer of forestry machines, launched their new mechanised planting technology, the Buffalo Planter, at Expo Minas Florestal in Brazil in May.

Forestry in Focus

26th August 2026

Post-fire recovery is about more than mopping up

11th August 2026

Mentorship helps women overcome career barriers and build confidence

05th August 2026

JP Landman says the FSA punches well above its weight

Top Archives

15th July 2024

The IUFRO Stockholm Congress Statement

20th February 2025

Q&A: Willie Conradie of TimberLife talks CLT

03rd April 2025

The TIPWG website is a vital resource for all things pesticide

Featured Archive

20th October 2024

Scovia Akello wins the She Is Forestry Postgrad Award

Stellenbosch University's Department of Forestry and Wood Science's Scovia Akello, a PhD student supervised by Prof Brand Wessels since 2021, won the 2024 She is Forestry Postgraduate Award.

Willie Stander, CEO of White River Saw Mills: “Our people are our edge”

Logmech solves Mkhoba Forestry’s steep slopes quandary

SA’s forestry industry advised to focus on its successes

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