Report on the Southern Wood Council Forestry Training Awards 2025

Friday 16 May 2025 saw another great event for the Forestry industry in Otago and Southland, with the Southern Wood Council Forestry Awards, held in conjunction with Competenz. The Forestry awards celebrate success in Forestry and Wood Processing through the presentation of 10 major industry awards, along with the industry training certificates for the past 12 months.

As with previous events, Friday evening brought in a huge crowd, with good numbers coming up from Southland and from right across Otago. This year was the first time the event was held in its biennial format and, while there was initially some concern that interest might have dropped off in the intervening year, this certainly wasn’t the case, and it was a hugely positive atmosphere on the night.

“This year we saw record numbers of nominations for the prestigious industry awards and some exceptional quality people were put forward for recognition” says Grant Dodson, CEO of City Forests Ltd and Chair of the Southern Wood Council. There was an impressive list of nominees with a high level of skill and experience, which made judging the winner of each Award category, in my opinion, very difficult. (says Keith Raymond of Forest Growers Research, one the three independent judges). Keith also went on to say “I would like to congratulate all the people nominated for a forestry award. The Southern region has some great people working in the Forest Industry.”

The winners of the 10 award categories were as follows: 

• Apprentice of the year Award – Callum Maze of Roxburgh Logging
• Forestry Trainee of the year (Harvesting) Award – Josh Harrison of Mike Hurring Logging
• Forestry Trainee of the year (Silviculture) Trophy – Jamie Sycamore of Southland Forest Services Ltd
• Forestry Excellence Award – Lyle Swain of Swain Logging Ltd
• Wood Processing Excellence Award – Bryson Baratcart of Niagara Sawmilling Company Ltd
• Women in Forestry Excellence Award – Xshikarna Harvey of Mike Hurring logging
• Training Contractor/Company of the year Award – Lyle Swain of Swain Logging Ltd
• Forestry/Wood Products Health and Safety Excellence Award – Matt Stewart of Stewart Logging Ltd
• Forestry Environmental Management Excellence Award – Matt Winmill of Gillion Logging Ltd
• Outstanding Forest Industry Contribution Trophy – Alec Cassie of Wenita Forest Products Limited

Award Sponsors

After a tie, requiring an independent judge to make the final decision, Callum Maze, of Roxburgh Logging took out the coveted “Apprentice of the Year Award”, sponsored by Southwood Export. This award recognises an individual’s commitment to self-development and skill achievement through the apprenticeship programme. It focusses on people who are just starting out in the industry who have displayed a real commitment to the industry and to training.   John Taal, of Milton Stihl Shop stepped in at the last minutes to present the award on behalf of Southwood Export, who couldn’t attend on the night. Milton Stihl shop has been a long-time supporter of the SWC Forestry awards, generously providing Stihl Vouchers as part of the prize packages for several of the award categories

“Callum began working at Roxburgh Contracting straight out of School as an enthusiastic young man who took in everything that was going on. His natural ability and willingness to learn has seen him constantly involving himself with more experienced members of his team who recognise the potential in him and enjoy passing on their knowledge” says Lawson Roxburgh, Roxburgh Contracting. In addition to the trophy, Callum took away a prize package that included a Protos Safety helmet, from Ashley Communications and $750 Stihl vouchers.

Both forestry Trainee Awards, celebrating Harvesting and Silviculture, attracted some fierce competition. These trainee awards recognise commitment to self-development and skill achievement in these two key operational fields through industry training. Josh Harrison, of Mike Hurring Logging, took the Forestry Trainee title. Phil Williams, who submitted the nomination on behalf of Mike Hurring Logging, commented that Josh had taken to forestry training like a ‘duck to water’, and had obtained a significant number of training qualifications during his short time in the industry. Josh was a runner up for the Apprentice of the year award in the 2023 awards so it is nice to have his achievements rewarded again this time. Jamie Sycamore, of Southland Forest Services, took the Silviculture Trainee Award. Jamie has spent almost his entire working life in the forestry industry, starting in silviculture after leaving school, where his employer at the time did not take long to recognize his potential and quickly promoting him to team leader. He has since progressed to general manager and bought into the business.

Lyle Swain, of Swain Logging was a stand-out on the night, taking both the prestigious Forestry Excellence Award and the Training Company of the Year award. His apprentice Connor Egerton was also a very close runner-up for the Apprentice of the year award. Lyle Swain was described by assessor, Billy Treddinick, as a skilled and knowledgeable man who is well respected by his peers. He is a Safetree Certified tree feller and has been for several years and is the only certified faller currently in Southland. He is very determined, and his main goal is to be the best that he can, no matter what the task. He invests significant time, resources, and funding into training and supporting his crew and his passion for training and developing people led him to become a trainer/assessor through Competenz in 2024. Matt Thwaites of Rayonier-Matariki pointed out that Lyle also contributes to the wider forestry community by passing on his skills and knowledge through training and instils a sense of achievement and pride in his trainees.

With all three finalists for the Wood Processing Excellence Award from Niagara Sawmilling, it was certainly a win for the company but the award was ultimately taken by Bryson Baratcart, who is “a leader who sets the standard in ensuring machinery runs at optimal efficiency, ensures his team prioritises safe practices, mentors and upskills the next generation of wood machinists, sharing his expertise and fostering a culture of excellence and continuous learning”. Jason McDonald, of Niagara Sawmilling says, “Bryson has also driven innovation and process improvements, introducing refinements that have improved throughput, reduced waste, and enhanced product quality”.

Xshikarna Harvey of Mike Hurring Logging took the Women in Forestry title this year, with some stiff competition from other dedicated operators from across the industry. Xshikarna has played a key role in the commissioning of the Port Blakely distillery in Shag River Forest, for extracting essential oils out of Douglas Fir foliage. “There was no manual for how this task should be done, it required innovation and on-the-spot decision making to achieve the necessary outcomes. Xshikarna took to this quickly” Barry Wells, Port Blakely Ltd.

The SWC Awards evening takes great pride in celebrating Health and Safety in this historically dangerous industry. Huge advances have been made in technology and practices to drastically reduce the workplace harm seen in forestry and wood processing. This year Matt Stewart of Stewart Logging was the Health and Safety Award winner. Matt plays a huge part in Stewart Loggin achieving their excellent safety rating. This year he also took out Wenita’s Harvesting Health and Safety person of the year award in our most recent Safe Start Breakfast, says Drew Gillies,  Health and Safety Manager for Wenita Forest Products.

With an intense focus on environmental excellence in the industry as a whole it is with pride that the SWC can also recognise exceptional operations through the Environmental Excellence award. This year Matt Winmill of Gillion Logging Ltd took this award with reference to the meticulous planning around the harvest of a difficult site in North Otago, featuring steep terrain and waterways and wetlands to navigate and protect. Barry Wells of Port Blakely commended the ‘Out of the box’ thinking that was required to achieve positive environmental outcomes during this harvesting operation.  

The final award to be presented on the night was the Outstanding Forestry industry Contribution award, which went to Alec Cassie who has recently retired from Wentia Forest Products after 30 year contributinb to the industry.

In addition to the awards and training certificates being presented, the evening was peppered with spot prize draws with a total prize pool of over $5000. Most of the Spot Prizes were generously donated by NZ Safety-Blackwoods of Dunedin, including a Milwaukee Battery Chainsaw kit which is new to market and not yet on general sale but has a recommended retail value of $2000. Overall, a great night had by all an, while there was no doubt some disappointment from the very close runners up, there was a hugely positive atmosphere and vibe throughout the evening, all topped off with some hilarious banter from Ric Salizzo of Sports Café fame.