Scion's science platforms

Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF) funding supports longer term underpinning infrastructure and programmes of mission-led science critical to the future of New Zealand’s economy, environment and wellbeing.

Scion receives $23.4 million per year SSIF investment for research in 2 Science Platforms. A Science Platform is a combination of people, facilities, information and knowledge that provides a particular, ongoing science and innovation capability for New Zealand.

Scion has put in place an ambitious new strategy to ensure that New Zealand has a significant role in the world’s bioeconomy, placing trees planted as forests at the heart of a future low-carbon circular bioeconomy in New Zealand. The Platforms plans are updated to reflect this new strategy.

Scion’s Science Platforms

Forest Systems 

The purpose of the Forest Systems Platform is to provide essential, mission-led investment that delivers the innovative knowledge, tools and capability to support the growing and maintaining of forest feedstocks needed for the circular bioeconomy, timber, standing forests for ecosystem benefits, bio-based products and realising the full value of our forests planted for standing value.

By 2024, success in this Platform will see an increase in forested land, improved forest productivity, a diversified forest estate that includes indigenous tree species, increased carbon sequestration from both commercial and non-commercial forests and increased export value of New Zealand’s timber. The Māori economy will improve, and we will see increasing international investment into New Zealand forestry. We will continue to build on and strengthen the partnerships we have with the Forest Growing Levy Trust Board R&D Committee; Forest Growers Research Ltd, the Radiata Pine Breeding Co Ltd, Central and Local Government, Crown Research Institutes, individual companies and Māori.

Specifically, the Forest Systems Platform will:

• develop forests primarily for their standing-forest benefits (Impact Area 1—Forests and Landscapes)
• develop high-value timber and manufactured products by increasing value from planted forested land, increasing resilience to risks, sustaining licence to operate and supporting regional growth (Impact Area 2—Forests to Timber Products).

Manufactured Products from Trees Platform 

The purpose of the Manufactured Products from Trees Platform is to provide essential, mission-led investment that will enable the manufacturing industry to develop opportunities fit for the circular bioeconomy and management of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. This Platform delivers the innovative knowledge, tools and capability to enable the Manufacturing Industry to derive greater value from processed trees through a more diversified product range, increase the contribution of wood and waste into the urban environment, build manufacturing in the regions, meet increasingly stringent international protocols around product stewardship and address non-tariff trade barriers. This includes high-risk research into disruptive concepts such as distributed manufacturing and additive manufacturing.

By 2024, success in this Platform will see increasing investment into Manufacturing Industries, diversify the range of manufactured products from trees (and their export), including utilisation of waste wood products, increasing penetration of tree-derived products into buildings, packaging, bioenergy and polymers/chemicals, bioenergy and biofuels contributing to New Zealand’s energy supply.

Specifically, the Manufactured Products from Trees Platform will:

• develop high-value timber and manufactured products by increasing use of wood and wood fibre products in the built environment and diversifying wood manufacturing to support regional growth (Impact Area 2—Forests to Timber Products
• develop biobased manufacturing and products from wood fibre, waste and other biomaterials to redesign trees and forests to supply these products to improve New Zealand’s energy security and reduce emissions (Impact Area 3—Forests to Biobased Products).

Across the 2 Platforms, SSIF will support Scion’s thought leadership for the forestry industry and the emerging circular bioeconomy, supporting capability critical for its future, and challenging current industry paradigms through a strong focus on discovery science. SSIF will strengthen Scion’s partnerships with Māori, support 5 of the National Science Challenges, and extend national and international collaborations.

Forest systems ($7.2 million per year)

Delivering innovative knowledge, tools and capability to support the continued expansion of the New Zealand forest growing industry, thereby contributing to New Zealand’s economy, environmental performance and social and cultural health.

By 2024, success in this Platform will see an increase in forested land, improved forest productivity, a diversified forest estate, increasing carbon sequestration (positioning New Zealand to meet its ETS requirements) and increased exports. The Māori economy will improve, and we will see increasing international investment into New Zealand forestry. We will continue to build on and strengthen the partnerships we have with the Forest Growing Levy Trust Board R&D Committee; Forest Growers Research Ltd, the Radiata Pine Breeding Co Ltd, Central and Local Government, individual companies and Māori.

Specifically, the Forest Systems Platform will:

• increase value from plantation forested land under Impact Area 1 (SSIF funding $2,675,000; other funding $11,738,000)
• increase the resilience of forests to biotic and abiotic risks under Impact Area 2 (SSIF funding $2,445,000; other funding $8,415,000)
• sustain licence to operate across the forest industry value chain under Impact Area 3 (SSIF funding $285,000; other funding, $2,130,000)
• diversify forests and local manufacturing to support regional growth under Impact Area 4 (SSIF funding $1,753,000; other funding $3,223,000).

Manufactured products from trees ($10.2 million per year)

Delivering the innovative knowledge, tools and capability to enable the Manufacturing Industry to derive greater value from processed trees through a more diversified product range, build manufacturing in the regions, meet increasingly stringent international protocols around product stewardship and address non-tariff trade barriers. This includes high-risk research into disruptive concepts such as distributed manufacturing and additive manufacturing.

By 2024, success in this Platform will see increasing investment into Manufacturing Industries, diversify the range of manufactured products from trees (and their export), including utilisation of waste wood products, increasing penetration of tree-derived products into buildings, packaging, bioenergy and polymers/chemicals, bioenergy and biofuels contributing to New Zealand’s energy supply.

Specifically, the Manufactured Products from Trees Platform will:

• sustain licence to operate across the forest industry value chain under Impact Area 3 (SSIF funding $200,000; other funding, $222,000)
• diversify forests and local manufacturing to support regional growth under Impact Area 4 (SSIF funding $400,000; other funding $434,000)
• increase the use of wood and fibre products in the built environment under Impact Area 5 (SSIF funding $2,500,000; other funding $917,000)
• manufacture and apply biorefinery products from wood fibre, waste and other biomaterials under Impact Area 6 (SSIF funding $4.79 million; other funding $7,302,000)
• use more forest biomass to improve New Zealand’s energy security and reduce emissions under Impact Area 7 (SSIF funding $2.35 million; other funding $1.08 million).

Across the 2 Platforms, SSIF will support Scion’s thought leadership for the forestry industry and the emerging bioeconomy, supporting capability critical for its future, and challenging current industry paradigms through a strong focus on discovery science. SSIF will strengthen Scion’s partnerships with Māori, support five of the National Science Challenges, and extend national and international collaborations.

Scion receives $23.4 million SSIF investment annually to help prepare New Zealand for the world’s future economy. Through 2 Science and Technology Platforms: Forest Systems and Manufactured Products from Trees, Scion’s ambitious strategy is to ensure that New Zealand has a significant role in the world’s economy – the circular bioeconomy. The future economy places bio-based elements at its heart. We have the opportunity to move trees planted as forests to the centre of a future low-carbon circular bioeconomy in New Zealand. New Zealand’s biomass growing potential offers a once in a generation opportunity to provide the world with feedstock and technology that enables both productivity and sustainability. In other words – economic growth while providing an improved environment for the next generation.

Forest Systems Platform

The Forest Systems Platform provides essential, mission-led investment that delivers the innovative knowledge, tools and talent to provide the technology, science and research that will enable New Zealand to grow and support businesses to provide forest feedstocks needed for bio-based products, timber, standing forests for ecosystem benefits, and realise the full potential value of our forests planted for standing value.

Key highlights for 2022/2023 included:

• Supporting Better Border Biosecurity (B3), which works to minimise the entry and establishment of invasive pests, pathogens, and weeds that threaten New Zealand’s precious and productive plants. This year we launched new work to rapidly identify Phytophthora, “the plant destroyer”, using air sampling for environmental DNA. Sample sites include the Port of Tauranga and Auckland Airport, and the work involves experts from Scion, Plant & Food Research, the University of Canterbury, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Wilderlab.
• Research teams at Scion identifying new, rapid detection methods for myrtle rust days before plants show signs of infection, providing hope that nurseries in the future can start control treatment much sooner and stop disease outbreaks in their tracks.
• Developing new AI tools to screen Pinus radiata embryos faster and with greater accuracy than current methods to help us multiply the best trees by tens of thousands and improve growing efficiency, as part of the industry supported “Tissue Culture for 21st Century Forests” programme.

Manufactured Products from Trees

The Manufactured Products from Trees Platform provides essential, mission-led investment that will enable the manufacturing industry to develop opportunities fit for the circular bioeconomy and management of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. This Platform enables a new industry within New Zealand, supporting the world’s budding bio-based industries, where products now made from petroleum move towards plant-based alternatives - a critical economic opportunity for New Zealand.

Key highlights for 2022/2023 included:

• Our pilot-level research culminating in Ecogas launching New Zealand’s first commercial scale anaerobic digestion bioenergy plant, showcasing the power of partnership. Energy and Resources Minister Hon. Megan Woods officially opened the Reporoa facility in October 2022. Scion scientists were involved in de-risking the key technologies used in the facility during its early planning and development phase.
• Scion hosting the Indigenous Plant Fibres Symposium aimed at forming connections across the spectrum of indigenous fibres, to nurture relationships and innovation. Harakeke (flax) was a focus at the symposium, which was attended by more than 50 individuals and organisations.
• Building our understanding biomass resource availability for bioenergy feedstocks though new projects to define how to grow short 16-year rotation forests at large scales to generate biomass for biofuels quickly, to meet interim emissions targets by 2035, and to provide onshore jobs in the regions that secure New Zealand’s future position in the new economy.
• Growing research to optimise composting conditions in industrial facilities, paving the way for a future where less contaminated food packaging ends up in landfill. As the only certified compost testing facility in Australasia, Scion continues to explore the complexities of compostable packaging, aiming to contribute to a more sustainable future, using SSIF to underpin capability in this area and investing in fibre-based and plastic-based packaging research facilities.

Forest Systems Platform

The Forest Systems Platform supports national capability in tree breeding, systems ecology, systems biology, silviculture, forest protection, biosecurity, wildfire, plant biotechnology, geomatics, ecosystem benefits and computer science.

Activity in the 2021/2022 financial year has focussed on planning for future uncertainty under climate change; preventing new forest pests and pathogens from establishing, reducing the impact of existing risks, extreme wildfire spread, developing advanced genomic selection models for radiata pine; extending the science within remote sensing and geospatial science, data science and bioinformatics; significantly extending our capability in indigenous forest establishment and nursery practices; utilising biotechnology to accelerate the introduction of improved traits.

Some key outcomes include:

• propagation research demonstrating that smaller (cheaper) paper pots are just as effective, and more so in some instances, as traditional large plastic containers for growing and establishing indigenous tree seedlings
• discovery and exploration of a potential native biocontrol agent for Myrtle Rust
• discovery work to understand if the environment hosts natural early detectors of wildfires
• development of modelling algorithms that predict atmospheric air-bridges that link New Zealand to other land masses and linking these to the potential for pest incursions
• continuing to leverage $1.35 million of industry investment through the Resilient Forests research partnership
• trailing insect camera traps as new biosecurity tools to detect high risk insect pest incursions
• developing an epidemiological model to help control Red Needle Cast disease in Pinus radiata
• advancing our knowledge of biosecurity threats to alternative exotic species e.g. Eucalyptus and Cypresses
• developing new machine learning artificial intelligence tools to screen Pinus radiata embryos faster and with greater accuracy than current methods
• understanding of the effect of changing environments and the impact of different pine genetics on the growth and resilience of forests.

Manufactured Products from Trees

The Manufactured Products from Trees Platform supports the nationally important capability underpinning New Zealand’s substantial wood processing sector and aligned sectors such as manufacturing, plastics, packaging, bioenergy, building and environmental technologies. Activity in the 2021-22 FY has focussed on promoting a pathway for biofuels uptake in New Zealand; producing and enhancing novel bioplastic products including sensing technology; providing guidance to regulators in the built environment sector; scaling wood modification processes towards commercial application; managing the environmental impacts of circular bioeconomy opportunities; and developing novel packaging solutions for our primary exports.

Some of the key outcomes of the platform have been:

• developing relationships with the primary suppliers of biomass and biomass processing with regional industry partners (e.g. Agrisea) and regional development bodies (e.g. Venture Taranaki)
• developing bacterial polyesters (PHAs) from various waste materials, including methane, enabling commercial outcomes with Upflow and Plentyful
• continued development of novel, green recycling and distributed processes, including options to recycle CCA-treated timber and hard to recycle plastics
• updated understanding and report on the availability of biomass resources for bioenergy feedstocks and a new project to define how we should be growing a short rotation bioenergy forestry
• developing nanotechnology approaches for wood products applications including the design and fabrication of multi-layered nanomaterials.