Believe it or not, favourable industries that will benefit from the Wood Snake’s energy in 2025 include banking, tourism, shipping, consulting, fine arts and culture, engineering, healthcare, and food and beverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of that industries which benefit from \u201ca good sense of (Snake) timing, strategy and focus\u201d include agriculture and construction!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What all this might mean to us humble mortals is that there is no need to exhaust your energy: \u201cAdopt the nature of the Snake with awareness and a greater sense of timing\u201d and be ready to strike when the time is right \u201cto maximise the energy of the year\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To me, this points to the Year of the Wood Snake being a good time for all of us to focus on forests, to care more about trees, and to teach us to put a greater value on timber and related wood products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Victoria and California have already been hit hard this year by devastating forest fires. We hear about the loss of life and property, but how much do we know about the serious loss of trees? Burnt to a cinder. It\u2019s worrying that Australia is among the top five countries with the biggest annual average loss of tree cover by fires worldwide from 2001 to 2023. See more from Statista here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not much we can do, I suppose, to stop the fires and\/or reduce the amount of forest which goes up in flames?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hang on! The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) says we can do a better job of forest management to reduce tree cover loss from fires<\/strong>: “Most forest fires are started by people, but forest management can help avoid them. In recent years, there has been a stark increase in uncontrolled forest fires, both in frequency and intensity. Persistent hotter and drier weather due to climate change, and other human factors such as land conversion for agriculture and poor forest management are the main drivers behind this increase.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Forest management practices that can prevent fires include controlling visitor activities, removing trash, and maintaining buffer zones between public roads\u201d. There\u2019s more from FSC<\/a> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The world loses 5 million hectares of forest to deforestation each year. What activities are driving this? According to Our World in Data<\/a>, agriculture is the leading driver of deforestation globally. Population growth, expansion of urban areas, and increased food consumption have led to many forests being converted into farms. For Australia, most deforestation is driven by the beef industry, not fires or logging.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2024, Greenpeace Australia Pacific renewed its focus on combating deforestation to protect \u201cour unique forests for the future and, in turn, save the lives of millions of vulnerable animals and birds.\u201d It also called on key supermarkets and fast food chains to source only beef without bulldozers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Read what more Australia is doing to stem the tide of deforestation. Here\u2019s what we had in October last year<\/a>. And Wood Central, in March 2023, ran my story – A new digital platform is being developed to tackle due diligence on deforestation in UK supply chains.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve been impressed with the global impact of Restor – \u00a0started by Thomas Crowther<\/a> a few years back \u2013 and the One Million Trees project in Australia<\/a> and elsewhere. \u00a0Here\u2019s an update on the project, which seeks \u201cto restore the habitat lost in the bushfires, as well as provide a buffer zone to protect the park from future disasters. This will not only protect the park and its native species, but also the local community and its agricultural activities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In The Forest on ABC TV<\/a> in December 2024, Crowther, the brilliant ecologist, explained why the work of resort was so important everywhere, and it was so important to go beyond planting new trees to do much more to regenerate and protect existing natural and planted forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also know from the UNDP that<\/a>: \u201cHealthy forests play a crucial role in mitigating climate change by acting as carbon sinks, absorbing billions of metric tonnes of CO2 annually. However, they are under threat due to deforestation and degradation. Preserving and restoring forests is essential for achieving the world\u2019s climate goals\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We need to cool our urban environments, and one ideal way to do this is to ensure that we have enough tree cover to provide shade and absorb the heat from our buildings and roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Melbourne, which often experiences heatwaves with temperatures hitting 42 degrees in January, recognizes this and has embarked on tree planting in a big way: “Our goal is to plant 3000 trees in Melbourne every year to increase the resilience of the urban forest and to cool our city by 4\u00b0C. Trees and vegetation can cool our cities by providing shade, reflecting sunlight and by releasing moisture into the air through their leaves in a process called transpiration.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Happy](\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2YY7EPX-1024x721.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nLet\u2019s examine a few topical issues and opportunities:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Forest Fires<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
![\"Depositphotos](\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Depositphotos_531934366_XL-fotor-20241228205441-1-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDeforestation<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Restoration<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
![\"Picture3\"](\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Picture3.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nUrban Heat Island Effect<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
![\"Picture5\"](\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Picture5.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
![\"Picture4\"](\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Picture4.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n