Forestry

Australia’s peak farm body has called on delegates at the ALP National Conference this week to vote down a radical anti-farming motion backed by the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN). Farmers say the “Climate, Clearing and Cows” motion, which calls for methane emissions to be halved in the next 6.5 years, is misinformed and in conflict with mainstream scientific opinion.

Titled,  Embracing Our Natural Capital: The Science, Technology and Art of Managing Forests For All Values, the 2023 ANZIF conference, will provide an exceptional learning and development opportunity ... an opportunity for forest scientists, managers and growers to come together to enhance our knowledge and explore the future of our forests and sector.

Forestry Corporation has almost completed a groundbreaking replanting program that has seen more than 11-million seedlings planted in the state’s pine forests this winter. Almost three years on from the Black Summer bushfires and the recovery effort in softwood plantations continues.

Vic Jurskis. The facts haven’t deterred the ecowarriors of North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) from trying to hasten the demise of the sustainable, renewable, solar-powered native timber industry. They don’t care about habitat for people, other than themselves. They’ve launched an application for an injunction to ‘save’ the overcrowded koalas that are breeding more rapidly than ever on all the soft new growth resprouting after the Black Summer holocaust that they helped to create.

The state government decision to close the native forest timber industry culminates eight years of mismanagement that turned VicForests from a profitable business into a loss maker, an analysis by a Traralgon consultant has found ... Mr Cameron said Australian hardwood sawn timber mill gate revenue sold for 3.5 times the price of Australian softwood sawn timber, and contributed to much greater value-adding and job creation than softwood.

The state government has been accused of using a landmark Victorian climate report, which was written without any input from forestry researchers or the forest industry, to prematurely close the native forestry industry. These forestry groups resent the lack of consultation and have attacked the intellectual content of the report ... The report was written without any contribution from leading forestry experts – Forestry Australia, which represents forest scientists, forest managers and timber growers; Forest & Wood Products Australia, the sector’s chief research and marketing arm; the Victorian Forest Products Association; and leading forestry academics.

Forestry Australia has released a series of two-page Position Statements to better inform members and the community of its position on a range of issues. Designed to be short, sharp and easily understood, the first five in a series of position papers covers the areas of Ecologically Sustainable Forestry Management, Forest Fire Management, Forest Fire Recovery and Restoration, Sustainable Forest Harvesting and Forest Research, Development and Dissemination ... President of Forestry Australia, Dr Michelle Freeman said the organisation is seeking greater recognition by policy makers, media and the wider community of balanced science-based positions on important forest policy and forest management issues.

The future of Victoria's forests has been captured by political ideology and complex legalities rather than being determined by science and professional expertise, according to Forestry Australia ... "The problem is, there has been no universally accepted definition or clarity regarding how key components of the [precautionary] principle should be interpreted or applied in practice," Forestry Australia said.

VFPA welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement to reverse the highly contested rainfall regulation, known as ‘water rule’, under the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) ... The announcement means the Australian Government will permanently remove this perverse rule from the Carbon Farming Initiative Regulation from 1 June 2024.  

The final report of the Trials Review, Information and Genetics (TRIG) project, has been released along with advisory information and updated data. According to TRIG Steering Committee Chair, Dr Kevin Harding, the project sought to leverage the past work of Victoria’s farm forestry sector by accessing legacy information and datasets to ultimately deliver new, updated tools and information for the next generation of farm forestry plantings.

Deputy Secretary of Biosecurity and Compliance Dr Chris Locke said new fees and charges for importers would better reflect the true cost of delivering Australian biosecurity services. “While some importers will experience slightly larger increases in the prices, the average increase across all importers is around 28 per cent,” said Dr Locke.

The Supreme Court of Victoria has announced its decision on VicForests appeal of last November’s landmark court decision in Kinglake Friends of the Forest and Environment East Gippsland vs VicForests, known as “The Glider Case”. The panel of three judges upheld Justice Richards’ findings that VicForests’ actions were in breach of environment laws.The orders limiting logging in forests that are home to endangered gliders will remain.

Ecology, community and renewable timber were on the agenda last week as the NSW Minister for Agriculture, The Hon. Tara Moriarty MLC spent time in Bagawa State Forest near Coffs Harbour.  Minister Moriarty said the field visit provided a deeper understanding of how State forests are managed to balance multiple uses and objectives.  

It’s not only the timber industry that’s in decline, the government’s forestry agency, the Forest Products Commission (FPC) is also sinking fast. The WA 2023-24 Budget Papers indicate that this commercial business is failing under the Labor Government. It is predicted to continue to make losses in coming years.

John O'Donnell reviews eucalypt decline and dieback in relation to the lack of low intensity fire management across Australia. John considers that exclusion of frequent low intensity mild fire is the primary cause of eucalypt decline in Australian native forests and woodlands and this has been inadequately recognised ... This lack of recognition is in itself a major environmental issue and ignores up to 60,000 years of Aboriginal burning practices across the landscape.

Blanket bans of native forest harvesting will not improve our carbon balance or recover biodiversity according to the professional association for forest scientists, growers and managers, Forestry Australia. President Dr Michelle Freeman said the consensus position of independent scientific experts, forest managers and researchers  is that active management of forests is required to maintain forest health, mitigate fire risk, conserve biodiversity and maximise carbon outcomes.

Questioning by the WA Opposition’s Mia Davies has revealed that the Forest Products Commission is not planning on issuing any timber contracts from 1 January 2024 until an indeterminant time in the future ... “It is a clear tactic to force businesses out of the sector”, said David Utting, convenor of the Sustainable Forest Industries Roundtable.

The State Government’s decision earlier this week to end the native forestry industry effective January 2024 came as a shock to the whole sector, clearly with zero consultation with any forestry industry representatives. Timber Towns Victoria calls the decision ‘reckless’ and ‘irresponsible’, condemning the decision.

‘Branching Out”, the latest report on the NSW native forestry by the Blueprint Institute, was released on 26 April and put into the media with the subeditorial line “Report outlines economic benefit of ending native forest logging’ ... The Report should be marked ‘draft’ given its deficiencies - and that is being generous.

The decision by the Victorian government to bring forward the end of native forest logging to January 2024 has been met with differing reactions ... "There are very few production systems on the globe that offer stronger sustainability credentials than well managed native forests. In fact, we know that well managed native forests can actually provide superior biodiversity, fire and climate outcomes": President of Forestry Australia, Dr Michelle Freeman ... On the other side of the coin, the Victorian National Parks Association ...