Live demonstration at Focus on Forestry Conference, November 2014.

The new Focus on Forestry, organised by CMO, NMMU and the ICFR is being held at Cedara College and Mondi’s Mountain Home plantation from 19 to 21 April 2017.

The new and improved conference will cover the full value chain, with a specific focus on silviculture, fire management and forest engineering.

The conference part is being held in the John Fischer auditorium at Cedara, just outside Pietermaritzburg, over the first two days (19 - 20 April). Day one has a silviculture and fire management focus, and day two has a forest engineering focus, although the content of both days is such that it will benefit people involved in all disciplines.

The content is aimed at forest managers, farmers who grow trees and contractors within the forestry industry, but will also have great appeal to equipment suppliers, educators, researchers, consultants and governmental employees.

The theme of the conference is ‘Harvesting, silviculture and fire management systems for a restructured forest industry’. The theme covers both South African and wider African issues that are current in our industries.

The keynote address is being delivered by Chantell Ilbury, who has published many books, including
‘The Mind of a Fox’ which was co-authored with Clem Sunter. Chantell is an expert strategist and will help us gaze into the crystal ball of South African and African forestry.

As with previous Focus events – the conference content is selected to provide pertinent management information that can make a difference to your business. There is a large discount for early bird registrations, which close on 15 March – so don’t miss out.

AfrEquip, the Platinum sponsor, will have a large presence – including the African premiere of a new piece of Tigercat equipment at their static display outside the conference venue.
Husqvarna, one of our Gold sponsors, will be supplying a very attractive lucky draw prize – details to be released in due course!

Our other Gold sponsors – Ponsse, Mospare SA and ANCO Manufacturing - will also be there in full force.
There will be social functions at the venue after both days. This will take the form of limited refreshments and the provision of salads, bread, braai’s, cutlery, crockery and braai tongs – and delegates will have the opportunity to purchase braai packs at the venue. Plan on staying behind to network, connect with old friends and colleagues and interact with exhibitors. A cash bar will be available when the complimentary refreshment limit is reached.

The field day, held on Mondi’s Mountain Home plantation, promises to be one of the biggest that the industry has seen. A number of forest engineering, fire and silvicultural equipment providers will be present with static displays and live demo’s.

Entrance to the Focus field day is free for conference delegates and R100 for others (which can be paid on the day). Safety is a high priority at the field day and all demos will take place at a safe distance. This will allow family members to join in and see the type of equipment currently in use in forestry. Meals and refreshments will be available to purchase at the field day from locally sourced caterers.

The gates will open at 08h00 and demo’s will begin from 09h00. Proceedings will finish at 14h00.
To register, please visit the cmo website – www.cmo.co.za. Other information can also be accessed there, or contact nontethelelo@cmo.co.za.

Registration will be on the mornings of the conference. There will also be an early registration from 17h00 to 18h00 on Tuesday 28 April at Cedara if one wishes to miss the rush on the conference mornings. Limited sponsorship opportunities are still available for the event.