The Victorian Government’s $110 million plan to transition the native forest timber industry to 50,000ha of plantations is struggling to deliver, with just 550ha of trees planted to date. Source: The Weekly Times
The failure to get more trees into the ground poses a major shortfall for the Latrobe Valley’s Australian Paper mill and the native forest timber workers and communities the government hoped to transition into plantation forestry, as it phases out native forest harvesting by 2030.
The Victorian State Government has been trying to find investment partners to establish new plantations, but skyrocketing land prices, machinery and labour shortages have pushed establishment costs to at least $14,000/ha.
According to the Weekly Times today the Government first committed $110m in the 2017 state Budget to establish 50,000ha of plantations – 10,000ha of hardwood and 40,000ha of pine plantations.
By October 2020 then agriculture minister Jaclyn Symes had wound back the target to an additional 30 million trees, equal to about 20,000ha to 25,000ha of new plantations.
The Weekly Times reports there are now doubts whether even this target can be delivered with $110m, and even as a subsidy to the private sector to invest in new land and trees.
In late 2020 Ms Symes said expressions of interest were being sought from experienced plantation investors, developers and managers to invest in Victoria’s future plantations.
But the Weekly Times says that as of this week current Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said negotiations were still under way with a preferred applicant.
A key consultant to the plantation industry told the paper that given the Government had planted just 550ha of new plantations since 2017, it was more realistic to assume it would take at least 20 years to establish 20,000ha of new plantations.
Based on ABARES forecasts on Victorian soft and hardwood sawlog and pulp production the consultant found Victoria’s overall pulp and sawlog production would fall from 2.3 million tonnes today to 1.48 million tonnes once native timber harvesting ends in 2030.
“It’ll take 15 years (from planting) for the first thinning of the pine plantations for pulp and 30 years to get sawlogs,” the consultant, who did not wish to be named, said.
