Last month, an uncontrollable blaze ravaged hundreds of hectares of timber plantation at Mount Lonarch, west of Ballarat, marking a significant loss for Hancock Victorian Plantation Holdings (HVP Plantations). The fire, which ignited on 22 February, destroyed 1,000 hectares of pine trees, heavily impacting the supply chain for mills in Victoria and beyond. Source: bnn Breaking
HVP Plantations’ corporate fire manager, Richard Mailer, disclosed that despite the substantial loss, efforts are underway to salvage what remains of the damaged plantation.
HVP Plantations rallied a force of 100 personnel from across Victoria and Queensland to combat the fire alongside the Country Fire Authority and Forest Fire Management Victoria. Their tireless work through day and night succeeded in saving 700ha of the 1,700ha estate. The company’s swift action underlines its commitment to forest management and fire prevention, especially in the face of increasing bushfire threats exacerbated by climate change.
This incident has been the company’s most substantial loss since the Black Summer fires of 2019-20, which saw 6,000ha of its estate turned to ash.
The devastation at Mount Lonarch is more than a temporary setback for HVP Plantations; it poses significant questions about the future sustainability of timber supply in Victoria, Australia’s largest plantation timber estate region.
The company, owned by international investment funds, manages 183,000ha of plantation forests in Victoria, making fire management a strategic priority to safeguard its assets and the broader industry. Plans are already in place to replant the affected estate with radiata pine this coming winter, in an effort to mitigate the long-term impact on the supply chain.
Amidst the backdrop of a changing climate, the challenges facing plantation forestry in Australia are mounting.
Professor David Lindenmayer from the Australian National University Fenner School of Environment and Society highlighted the increasing frequency of extreme forest fire danger index days, a trend that underscores the urgent need for smarter plantation design and the adoption of new technologies for early fire detection and suppression.
The national plantation estate’s shrinkage by 15% between 2009 and 2022, as reported by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, further emphasizes the critical role of effective fire management in the industry’s future.
The recent bushfire at Mount Lonarch serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities facing the timber industry in an era of global warming. While the immediate response from HVP Plantations and firefighting teams has been commendable, the incident highlights the broader challenges of sustainable forestry management and the importance of innovation in fire prevention and control.
As Victoria and the rest of Australia brace for a hotter, drier future, the lessons learned from Mount Lonarch will undoubtedly shape the strategies and technologies deployed to protect the nation’s precious forest resources.
