Sustainable forestry has an important role to play in the future of WA agriculture, with both sectors coming together at last week’s inaugural Carbon & Farming Conference in Perth. Source: Timberbiz
The conference featured a fantastic line-up of speakers and the official launch of the Decision Tree tool, a web-based application with farm-specific mapping capabilities, developed in conjunction with both forestry and agricultural consultants.
Speakers included Federal Agricultural, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Murray Watt, 2022 Australian Farmer of the Year Michael Taylor, National Farmers Federation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tony Mahar, WAFarmers CEO Trevor Whittington, Australian Forest Products Association Deputy CEO Natasa Sikman and EY Partner, Climate Change and Sustainability Service, Elizabeth Rose.
From a corporate perspective, attendees heard from Rabobank Head of Sustainable Business Development Crawford Taylor, Wesfarmers Head of Sustainability Corporate Affairs Kylie Ashenbrenner and Wespine Resource Manager Brad Barr.
Forest Industries Federation WA Chair Ian Telfer provided the closing remarks at the conference and said he believed the integration of forestry in farming was one of the key initiatives to a successful future in meeting the demand for both food and wood fibre.
“We would like to see every farm profitable from a farming point of view, as well as contribute to growing wood fibre for the future,” Mr Telfer said.
“Bringing both the agricultural and forestry sectors together for this conference is a positive step in the right direction for both industries. Forestry needs more trees in the ground to ensure we can produce our own timber, but what today highlighted is how bringing farmers into the equation can have mutual benefits.
“We’ve heard from speakers outlining the importance of carbon neutrality going forward, both on a local and global level, and forestry is going to play a vital role in helping both farmers and investors achieve their carbon goals.”
Mr Telfer said any farmers or landholders interested in finding out more information could visit www.decisiontree.com.au
