Timber

Forestry  Australia  President  Dr  Michelle  Freeman  has today welcomed the Federal Court’s decision to uphold a Regional Forest Agreement in New South Wales ... “Forest managers, growers, scientists and workers will breathe a sigh of relief that the challenge by the North East Forest Alliance to the Regional Forest Agreement covering North Coast NSW native timber harvesting operations has been dismissed."

Gippsland's hardwood industry is now largely gone, with harvesting of timber from native forests on Crown land no longer permitted. Gippsland's native forest is part of the vast swathe of forest that stretches along the Great Dividing Range from the Dandenongs to behind Brisbane. It’s integral to Australia having the seventh biggest forest estate in the world ...

Is this really how harvested forests are left? Australian Rural & Regional News looks into recent statements that highlight continuing conflicting and confusing information in the public domain about connections between forestry operations and bushfires and whether prescribed burns reduce bushfire risk.

Jack Bradshaw. Australia, along with 16 other countries, has recently committed to the “Initiative for Greening Construction with Sustainable Wood” at COP28 in Dubai ... How will Australia support this initiative with insufficient forest resources to service even the present demand?

Victoria’s native forest industry officially closes at the end of the month, but Radial Timber in Yarram is going nowhere ... it’s in survival mode. “We’re looking to source what local plantation material we can get – we’ve got two signed up at the moment and one should be starting to harvest,” said Radial’s managing director, Chris McEvoy ... Radial will concentrate on its new peeling plant and its bioenergy plant, which operates by pyrolysis.

Walkers’ timber mill in Corryong powered down for the last time on Monday, putting 24 employees out of work and severely impacting the local economy ... It is the end of an era for the mill after 87 years of operation under three generations of the family.

The ‘precautionary principle’ is not included in the code of Tasmanian Forest Practices Code, where a more pragmatic approach manages any threatened species, according to a senior Tasmanian forestry expert ... Dr Peter Volker said the system had been in place for more than 30 years and had stood the test of time. “We have been able to harvest, reforest and protect threatened species in a sustainable manner.”

The Victorian government’s regulation of timber harvesting, which has led to the impending closure of Gippsland’s native forest industry in January, directly contradicts the joint national-state approach to ensure biodiversity alongside a timber industry over the previous 30 years, analysis shows ... When setting up the National Forest Policy Statement in the 1990s, the JANIS working group – conservation scientists and planners from all states and the CSIRO – drew up the criteria to form a CAR (comprehensive, adequate and representative) reserve system.

As more than 200 timber industry workers and supporters watched, Clarence Valley Councillors voted 7-2 at the October 24 meeting not to pursue a motion brought to council by its Biodiversity Advisory Committee calling for native forest logging on publicly owned land to be phased out.

Forestry Australia has released three new and highly topical Position Statements to share its evidence-based positions on important issues relating to the management of forests across Australia ... “Now more than ever we need to ensure that there is evidence-based and balanced information readily available, given we live in an era of information overload, misinformation and disinformation”: Forestry Australia President, Dr Michelle Freeman.

Timber harvesting was not a concern of Gippsland Indigenous groups, who overwhelmingly want to be involved in direct management of forests before, during and after bushfires, the RFA Major Event Review of the 2019-20 bushfires found ... “Traditional Owners seek to be managing fire directly, with their own crews and equipment. They see themselves as fire givers, not firefighters.”

The 2022 official audit of VicForests has found an average 96 per cent compliance with the state's forestry environmental standards ... This audit was conducted according to four themes: environmental values in State forests, conservation of biodiversity, operational planning and record keeping, and coupe infrastructure for timber harvesting operations.

As the Victorian Labor Government’s closure of the state’s native timber industry fast approaches the December 31 trigger point, New South Wales timber harvesters met with Senator Jonathon Duniam, Shadow Minister for the Environment, Fisheries and Forestry, and Sussan Ley, Member for Farrer and Deputy Leader of the Opposition to highlight the importance of the industry to the local economy and forest and fire management.  

The Clarence Valley timber industry is still uncertain how many jobs could be lost due to the suspension of logging in the proposed Great Koala National Park as the NSW Government assesses the impact on the endangered marsupials and timber industry jobs ... “They still haven’t actually said what the areas are that they are going to not harvest in and where the actual koala hubs are, so it’s really hard to work out what the ramifications are going to be”: Donna Layton, Marshall Notaras Hardwoods GM and VP of Timber NSW.

The Minns Government’s proposed Great Koala National Park is not an extinction panacea for koalas, says the President of Forestry Australia, Dr Michelle Freeman ... "it is simplistic to suggest that locking away forests is the great panacea for saving koalas from extinction ... In fact, experience shows us that declaring a National Park does not equal koala population growth."  

The NSW Government has announced the process to establish the Great Koala National Park, as well as a halt to timber harvesting operations in the 106 koala hubs within the area being assessed for the park ... ARR.News asked some questions of the Minister about koala surveys and research indicating that properly conducted forestry does not adversely impact koala numbers. A departmental spokesperson responded.