Jack Bowen
Resilience is about ‘rebounding’, ‘springing back’ from adversity etc. It is a word that should be on everyone’s mind at the moment. COVID-19, and our resilience to overcome the Pandemic of the Ages must be first and foremost – no argument about that.
At the same time our business, and the forest industry we rely on, is needing to show similar resilience in defending our position as the supplier of the world’s greatest building product – Timber.
In November 2019 the Andrew’s government announced the closing down (over the next 10 years) of access to Victoria’s public native forests for the harvesting of hardwood logs for timber products. The decision seems to be a totally political one with little true logical sense – it took everyone by surprise.
The timber sector, the building industry, and Victorian consumers, need to fight the government’s decision. As it is, and despite the limited availability of Victorian hardwood for the building industry, the demand for this resource is at an all-time high. Demand is strong for structural, flooring, cladding, staircases, furniture, decking and general joinery applications. Add to that the critical job support the sawmilling industry provides within our country communities.
Victoria is blessed with over 7.64 million hectares of native forest which is owned by the Victorian public and managed, on our behalf, by the Victorian government through VicForests and Parks Victoria.
Out of the 7.64 million hectares of native forest in Victoria, only 3000 hectares is harvested in any one year i.e. 0.04% (the equivalent of only 4 trees per 10,000), and every area that is harvested must be replanted. Also, to be clear, NO Old Growth areas are harvested, they are all fully protected.
Following the Andrew’s governments announcement, we then had the devastating bushfires which led many people to believe the forest was all but gone forever. However, a recent report concluded that “fundamentally the area of forest in Victoria has not changed as a result of the fires.”
To further explain – “A mixed species forest is highly resilient. The catastrophe of last summer’s bushfires led many to believe the forest was lost. This is clearly not the case. Mixed species forest is highly resilient to fire and will recover in time.
The ash forest is more sensitive to fire however, it will regenerate from seed held in the canopy. Where there have been multiple fires in the 2000s though, intervention has been necessary to assist the ash forest to recover. A large reseeding program has been undertaken by VicForests in conjunction with Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Parks Victoria.
Some 11,500ha has been sown, mainly Alpine Ash, where the forest was not old enough to be producing seed. There is a further area of 8 to 9000ha that will require further intervention. Fundamentally the area of forest in Victoria has not changed as a result of the fires. The original contention of harvesting 4 trees in 10,000 remains valid.”
So, as our forests can show resilience by ‘bouncing back’ after catastrophic fires, so too does the Industry need to stand up and be resilient in demanding some common sense in the overall forestry debate.
Common sense should prevail if the ‘powers that be’ take notice of the following (oft repeated) facts:
Through photosynthesis young, actively growing forests absorb high levels of CO2 storing the carbon in the wood and releasing the oxygen we breathe, by comparison over-mature forests release more carbon dioxide annually than they absorb.
If the trees are harvested during their growing phase and used in timber products, then the carbon that has been stored remains locked up within the products.
After harvest, new trees are then regrown allowing the vigorous carbon storage process to continue.
The production and processing of wood uses much less energy – known as embodied energy – than most other building materials, giving wood products a significantly lower carbon footprint. As a result, wood can be used as a low-emission substitute for materials that require larger amounts of fossil fuels in their production.
Alternative building products to timber, such as steel, aluminium and concrete, produce vast amounts of CO2 in their manufacture – over 8% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions come from the production of cement alone.
As a rule of thumb, if you convert one cubic metre of solid material, such as concrete or brick, for a cubic metre of timber, you will eliminate approximately one tonne (1000kg) of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere. (Source: From a Carbon and Greenhouse Perspective: “Grow More Trees – Use more Wood!”)
The facts are clear. Sustainable, renewable, certified local Victorian hardwood timbers, desired by consumers, come from a very, very small area of Victoria’s vast native forest estate. The active sustainable management of this public native resource is highly positive: economically (providing a wide range of exquisite hardwood products), socially (supporting rural workers & communities and metropolitan manufacturers, retailers and builders), and environmentally (helping tackle climate change, reduce wildfire and feral animal risk, and providing ecosystem health).
A resilient product, a resilient industry – that is what we Victorians have always known and counted on as we have built, and decorated, our homes with our local native forest hardwoods over the past 150+ years.
As already highlighted, it is important for our built environment that access to these small areas of public resource is retained… so that we can continue to sustainably provide the exquisite native hardwood products that you as building professionals and consumers want and demand. Forests are one of the most resilient of earth’s resources – they need to be appropriately managed not locked up and left to inevitably burn.
Maybe one benefit of this extraordinary COVID-19 period in our lives might be to consider ‘diversity’ in a new light. The majority of us, even with our diverse political and environmental views, are trying to work together now for the common good.
Our ability to consider the needs and aspirations of others in our communities, to sympathise with views ‘others might have’, needs to filter through each and all of our various pursuits.
Certainly, if we don’t bring some harmony and unity in confronting and defeating this world Covid-19 pandemic – nothing else will matter.
Jack (John) Bowen is part of the Bowens Timber family, he took over the family business which has been running for 125 years after the death of his father John Bowen in 1971 and he became managing director. In 2005 he handed over the reins to his eldest son also named John Bowen.
