Chris Minns can have his Koala Park and his regional jobs, too. That is according to a new report – published by Frontier Economics on behalf of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia (WWF), which claims that the NSW government can generate a surplus of new jobs if it decides to end native forest logging across the state.
The 74-page report comes days after Wood Central revealed that the Government is deciding on whether it will introduce a fully-sized 176,000-hectare park or instead opt for a smaller park to balance the needs of conservation and industry (between 36,000 and 53,000 hectares, in addition to the existing 136,000 hectares protected by National Park).
Frontier Economics estimates that a decision to end native forestry would result in two million hectares of NSW State Forests, where select logging can occur, being turned into protected forests – with the loss of 1070 northern, southern and western NSW employment roles – offset (in the medium-to-long term) by 1200 full-time roles in plantations (80 positions), manufacturing (550 positions) and forest restoration (570 positions).
“A plan to support employment in bush economies is a crucial step towards ending the destruction caused by native forest logging,” said Jailene Santana, a Forest Futures Specialist at WWF-Australia. “Native forest logging runs at a loss is a burden on taxpayers, and the jobs associated with it are not secure.”
“But the NSW government can change that narrative…”
Jailene Santana, a Forest Futures Specialist at WWF-Australia
“Our analysis shows that ending native forest logging alongside a carefully thought-out structural support package could deliver more jobs than are currently provided by native forest logging,” according to Danny Price, Frontier Economics Managing Director. “There is no need for job losses if the transition is carefully planned and implemented.”
To replace the state’s hardwood resource, Frontier Economics said a structural reform package should provide support to expand hardwood plantations and deliver greater incentives and investment in regenerative forestry and agroforestry.
“There is increasing interest in these different approaches to forestry because of the environmental, economic and social benefits,” according to a media statement by WWF-Australia. “Regenerative forestry plants forests on marginal farmland. Trees are selectively harvested rather than clear felled. The retained forest increases biodiversity and resilience against extreme weather events like droughts and floods, improves soil, and boosts agricultural production.”
Then, there is new technology and systems that can process the hardwood: “3RT technology creates structural-grade hardwood products from plantation thinnings, which are normally turned into wood chips and exported,” WWF-Australia said: “Engineered wood products can provide a financial return on hardwood plantations sooner and help ensure Australia has locally sourced building supplies rather than relying on imports.”
Graham Phelan, lead author of the report, said the government has an important role in coordinating the transition out of public native forest logging and attracting investment to assist the sector in moving to a more sustainable footing: “Regions like the Bega Valley and Port Macquarie-Hastings have shown they can adapt to changes in public native forest logging,” Mr Phelan said, adding that “with the right investments, these communities have a real opportunity to benefit from a more sustainable hardwood sector.”
This afternoon, Wood Central spoke to Maree McCaskill, CEO of Timber NSW – the lobby representing the hardwood supply chain – who contested the figures used in the report. Ms McCaskill said the figures were produced from ABARES where the definition of forestry jobs largely only applies to those employed by Forestry Corporation.
“The NSW government’s own consultants, Mandala Partners, working for National Parks and Wildlife Service on the Great Koala National Park assessment, identified 3,137 people working in the North East, excluding Forestry Corporation employees. Even those do not account for the downstream value chain.”
“In early 2023, Ernst + Young – commissioned by the Commonwealth-supported North East NSW and South West NSW Regional Forestry hubs – reported that the hardwood industry employed more than 8,900 full-time-equivalent positions, including 5,700 in North-East NSW alone,” she said. “They conducted an almost Census-like process to ascertain the numbers.”
- To learn more about the Ernst + Young report, click here for more information.
