October marks the start of the bushfire season in many Australian states, our forest industries are well prepared for any potential threat to forestry assets, neighbouring farming areas, nature reserves and most importantly regional communities. Source: Timberbiz
“The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) acknowledges the leadership shown by forest industry companies in investing in firefighting resources and strengthening their tactical relationships with emergency services and volunteers in local communities to combat bushfire threats” said AFPA Chief Executive Officer, Diana Hallam.
While the bushfire season runs for six months from October, fire management is a year-round process, and our forestry companies invest a significant amount of effort and resources into prevention and preparedness activities to ensure our staff are educated and prepared to the best of their ability to protect Australia’s forest estates Ms Hallam said.
Australia’s bushfire history illustrates the importance of investing in fire detection and prevention technologies and upgrading existing assets to ensure there is an additional layer of protection to safeguard and mitigate against potential disasters.
Australia and our forest industries cannot afford another 2019/20 Black Summer event, after a total of 129,000 hectares of commercial plantations were burnt, causing significant impacts to long-term timber supplies in our domestic market and destroying native ecosystems and high-value habitats for flora and fauna species.
“Uncontrolled bushfires not only negatively impact the livelihoods of regional towns, but also the health of the environment particularly through the release of additional carbon emissions. It has been calculated that the 2019/20 black summer fires released a total of 900 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the annual emissions from worldwide air travel in one year,” Ms Hallam said.
“Our forest industries represent international best practice for preparedness and prevention in combatting bushfires, and as we enter into a possibly gruelling summer, we extend our appreciation in their commitment and protection to the land, the forestry estates and neighbouring communities.”
The bushfire seasonal outlook indicates our forest industries in many parts of the nation could be severely impacted this summer due to recent drier than average conditions and mean temperatures possibly being above average over summer.
