Australia harvests just 0.05% of its native forests (about 65,000 hectares), with all forests required by law to be fully regenerated after harvest. That is according to the latest edition of the ABARES Insights Australia’s Native Forests and Wood Production report, published today. Reflecting on the report, Diana Hallam, the CEO of the Australian Forest Products Association, said the report reaffirms the critical role that native forestry plays in creating everyday products, such as house frames, decking, flooring, furniture, power poles, pallets, packaging and paper.
“It also reaffirms that sustainable native forestry is not ‘deforestation’ because every harvested tree is replaced, and that our native production forests support diverse and unique biodiversity and have an important role to play in fighting climate change, through the creation of carbon-friendly products and active forest management,” Hallam said. “Importantly, it shows that our total national forest area grew by 2.8 million hectares from 2008 to 2021 and that the total area of multiple-use public native forests, where wood harvesting is permitted, has more than halved since the mid-1990s to 4.3 million hectares, or just 3.3 per cent of Australia’s total native forest area in 2021.”
Wood Central understands that the accessible area for harvesting has reduced even further, to just 2.1% following the forced industry closures in Victoria and Western Australia. “This should help put to rest claims that our sustainable industry is destroying forests,” Hallam said in a media release. “It’s worth noting that in the European Union, around 84 per cent of natural forests are available for harvest and wood production.”
“The report also raises the challenge around decreasing wood supply from our forests over the past 20 years, a trend that is worsening from those state-based industry closures. We know imports, often with supply chain sustainability issues, are increasingly being forced to fill the gap between supply and demand. Furthermore, we welcome the report’s recognition that plantations cannot replace the native sawlog supply.”
Australia (and China) lead the world in reforestation…
The report comes after Wood Central reported that Australia (and China) led the world for reforestation based on available figures published in the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) State of the World’s Forests report. Compiled as part of the FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment, which completed its first assessment of the world’s forest resources in 1948, China and Australia lead the way in reforestation, recording growth rates of 1,937,000 hectares and 446,0000 hectares per year, respectively.
“Oceania recorded the second-largest average annual net gain in forest area (after Asia) in 2010–2020, at 423,000 hectares, reversing its negative trend from previous decades,” the FAO reported. “The reversal mainly reflects changes reported by Australia, from an average annual net loss of 207,000 ha in 1990–2000 and 227,000 hectares in 2000–2010 to an average yearly net gain of 446,000 hectares in 2010–2020,” it said.
- For more information about the ABARES Insights Australia’s Native Forests and Wood Production report, click here to download the latest data.
