A new group is committed to educating and communicating about Australia’s forests’ long-term sustainability and health. We believe certified sustainable active forest management is essential to balancing our communities’ environmental, social, and economic needs.
It is critical to dispel the myth that responsible, certified forestry equates to deforestation or that underfunded, locked-up forest national parks and reserves are a better outcome. In fact, sustainable active management ensures forests remain true healthy forests, supporting all their values, including biodiversity, protecting native wildlife, and contributing to climate change mitigation.
My article explains how certified sustainable forests are a vital resource for our future and highlights the importance of distinguishing between sustainable practices and deforestation.
Certified sustainable active forest management is critical in balancing economic development, environmental conservation, and social well-being.
In Australia, forest certification schemes ensure that forest management and timber production follow best practices, protecting biodiversity and sequestering carbon while offering renewable resources.
One misconception that must be addressed is that certified sustainable forest management equates to deforestation—this is certainly not true.
The research conducted by S.G.Kearney titled: The threats to Australia’s imperilled species and implications for a national conservation response, describes how human activities since European settlement have significantly contributed to the decline and extinction of many unique Australian species and the major threats to forest health being the increase in invasive species, ecosystem modifications, and historic and current agricultural land clearing activities.
It should be recognised and acknowledged that sustainable active forest management is not inherently harmful to the environment; quite the contrary, it is conducted in ways that enhance forest health and preserve ecological balance and biodiversity, much like the traditional owners had done for the 60,000 years before Europeans arrived.
While creating national parks, in theory, is meant to protect certain habitats, it is not a comprehensive solution to the broader problem of species decline. In reality, these areas are currently totally underfunded by the government and, accordingly, not managed to provide the values the community expects.
Effective conservation requires a coordinated and funded national approach supported by robust policies and legislation to address the diverse and complex threats facing Australia’s threatened species.
Australia’s certified forests are managed under strict guidelines to maintain ecological balance. Research-backed methods protect wildlife habitats alongside timber harvesting and preserving koalas and gliders. While there are proposals to establish new national parks to ‘protect’ these species, it is important to recognise that certified forests already provide robust protections.
Interestingly, scientific studies indicate declining species populations in national parks and increasing populations in actively managed forests. For instance, bandicoots and potoroos were translocated from state forests into national parks, where they had become locally extinct.
By halting local native forestry operations to supply locally grown and manufactured hardwood products to meet consumer demand, Australia is instead increasing its reliance on imported timber, often sourced from less sustainably managed and non-certified forests. This shift will no doubt exacerbate environmental issues abroad.
This also negatively impacts Australia’s housing crisis by reducing and limiting the local sustainable timber supply. It also impacts other key local industries dependent on the local sustainable timber supply, such as furniture manufacture and architectural timber products.
Certified sustainable forests offer significant climate change mitigation benefits. Wood products, such as timber, naturally store carbon, making them a low-carbon emission alternative to materials like steel and concrete, which are far more energy and CO2-emission-intensive.
As global demand for timber rises, sustainable forest management provides a renewable and sustainable solution to help meet this consumer demand while contributing to a lower-carbon future.
Sustainable management of our native forests and plantations is the best way to store carbon. According to the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fibre, or energy from the forest will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit.
Deforestation vs. Sustainable Forest Management
It is crucial to distinguish between deforestation and sustainable forest management. Deforestation refers to the permanent clearing of forested land for non-forest purposes, such as urban development or agricultural expansion. Â Â
Afforestation means establishing a new forests on lands that were not forested before (e.g. abandoned agriculture), while Reforestation means the “conversion to the forest of land that has previously contained forests, but that has been converted to some other use”.
Forest certification is a must for these types of forests, particularly those used in producing wood products for consumers. Pretty much all production forests in Australia are now certified under either the Responsible Wood/PEFC or FSC schemes or dual certified under both. For some products, quite extensive Chain of Custody supply chain tracking systems are also in place.
Certified sustainable forest management involves extensive biodiversity mapping and carefully planned harvesting activities, followed by coupe regeneration with similar forest species, ensuring that the forest remains a forest. This process is guided by internationally recognised standards, including strict environmental, social, and economic sustainability guidelines.
Certified sustainable forest management follows rigorous guidelines to ensure forests regenerate and continue to support biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and soil health. Forests harvested under these certifications remain vibrant ecosystems.
Dark-green anti-forestry groups actively promote the misinterpretation of deforestation vs. certified sustainable forest management to serve their philosophical position of eliminating all harvesting practices and generating funding from a less well-informed community.
Global and Local Implications
Certified sustainable forest management standards help address global deforestation and forest degradation issues. By adhering to these standards, certified forests protect biodiversity, maintain soil and water quality, and ensure the sustainable production of timber and other forest products. They also support Australia’s broader legal framework, including compliance with the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act.
Sustainable forest management plays a key role in addressing global challenges such as climate change. Certified forests provide a renewable resource for society and contribute to carbon capture, reducing the overall carbon footprint of industries reliant on timber.
By choosing products from certified forests, consumers can know that they are supporting an independent, third-party system that prioritises ecological health, economic growth, and the long-term resilience of our forests.
Certified sustainable forest management is not deforestation—it is a solution for maintaining forest ecosystems while meeting societal needs.
