An Ernst + Young Report shows that the timber industry in South East NSW is a critically important part of the region’s economy, supplying a quarter of NSW’s nation-building hardwood timber. Source: Timberbiz
Yet the livelihoods of thousands of timber workers in the region are threatened by unworkable plans to ‘transition’ out of native forestry and into plantations. Science-based forest policies can achieve environmental aims while safeguarding local timber supply and local jobs.
Commissioned by the Commonwealth-funded North East NSW and South East NSW Regional Forestry Hubs, Ernst + Young’s report shows that in South East NSW the hardwood timber industry contributes $720 million in revenue, adding $270 million to NSW GDP and employing c.2,200 people.
The report tracks the hardwood timber industry’s economic impact beyond the direct harvesting activities seen primarily in rural areas to the supply and servicing of downstream sectors including construction, transport and manufacturing. Hardwood timber generates wholesaling and processing jobs and supports tradesmen in regional centres and the Greater Sydney region.
The NSW timber industry undertakes highly selective native forestry, certified to the highest forest management standard. Hardwood timber is a renewable, sustainable and essential input into the construction, agriculture, mining and energy sectors and this strong demand for hardwood timber is driving its increasing value.
“The hardwood timber industry is a growing part of the State’s economy, yet the WWF have a misguided and unfeasible plan to replace native forestry with plantations,” Timber NSW CEO, Maree McCaskill said.
“The idea of ‘transitioning’ timber supplies from native forests to plantation timber is a fantasy for three reasons.
“Firstly, while plantations have a role to play in timber production, they are not a silver bullet. The rest of the world is moving away from plantations, which feature single species, towards a more resilient, climate smart forestry model based around natural production in mixed species forests.”
Hardwood timber in NSW is currently supplied from a mix of native forestry (80%) (conducted primarily in NSW State Forests) and plantations (20%), in line with strict timber harvesting and environmental regulations. Of the 20 million hectares of native forest in NSW, less than five per cent is being used for timber production and only a very small fraction of this is harvested in a given year.
“Secondly, economic assessments conducted by the NSW Department of Primary Industry in the South East region identify just 10,000 ha of cleared land suitable for hardwood plantations,” Ms McCaskill said. “This cannot hope to replace supply from the native forests which cover 70 per cent of the region’s land.
“Finally, even given available land, any transition would take 40-60 years and be financially unfeasible,” she said.
“All forests require active management, and some harvesting is critical to forest health and minimising bushfire risk. Given this, NSW State Forests can and should be managed for their critical economic contribution, in harmony with their contribution to our communities, environment and biodiversity. All current State Forest land must remain available for timber production.
“In a context of rising demand for nation-building timber supplies, we need science-based policies, not fantasies. Trying to transition away from native forestry into plantations is unworkable. It will do nothing except decimate jobs in the NSW timber industry and hike timber imports from less regulated neighbouring countries,” she said.
“One job loss in a rural area has the impact of 100 job losses in the cities, impacting schools, local services and small businesses. We must safeguard local timber supplies and keep these jobs and skills in NSW.”
