Australia’s forest industry is growing strongly but there is a clear need to plant more trees to keep up with demand. Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator Richard Colbeck, said ABARES’s Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2018 shows Australia’s forest and wood products industries are benefitting from regulatory certainty and growing global demand for sustainable product. Source: Timberbiz
“The data in this report reaffirms that this is an industry that is making a vital contribution to the nation, particularly in rural and regional Australia,” Minister Colbeck said.
“If we are to keep up with demand our forest industry needs a shot in the arm, focussing on the need to plant a billion new trees over the next decade.
“Australia has the seventh-largest reported forest area of any country with 134 million hectares of forest, covering 17% of Australia’s land area and 3% of the world’s forests.
“Australia has 132 million hectares of native forest and 2 million hectares of commercial plantations.
“Yet the area of commercial plantations reduced by 44 thousand hectares or 2% between 2010-11 and 2014-15.
“We have got to keep up with demand otherwise the construction and manufacturing industries will start seeing significant supply pressure.
“Wood and non-wood products from Australia’s forests make a substantial contribution to the economy, the value of production of wood products industries was $23.7 billion in 2015-16.
“The Liberal National Government is focussed on providing the right trees, at the right scale in the right places and is standing with the industry to make this happen through the National Forest Industries Plan.
“We are also committed to the rolling 20-year extensions for all Regional Forest Agreements and investing in the National Bushfire Mitigation Programme.
“The forest industry is in a strong position to continue to grow and prosper now and in the future, and the Liberal National Government will be there every step of the way.”
