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Forest Use &
Management
Australia’s native forests are sustainably managed
to protect and enhance the environment, to ensure the long term
supply of timber products, and to provide on-going local employment
through value added processing of the timber resource and import
substitution.
The total area of Australian native forest is
about 163 million hectares (or about 21% of the continent). The most
common forest types are those dominated by Eucalyptus and related
genera (80%). Today’s distribution of forests in Australia
represents about 60 per cent of the cover which existed before the
arrival of Europeans in 1788.
The total area of public forest in Australia is
approximately 46million hectares. Only 25%
percent of this area area is available for timber
harvesting according to strict management controls
with only 1% of the area harvested annually.
Protection
for native forests is provided by Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs)
between Commonwealth and State governments, which establish a
national reserve system (CAR Reserve System). These reserves
safeguard biodiversity, old growth, wilderness and other natural and
cultural values of forests. Forests outside these reserves are
available for wood production, subject to codes of practice (such as
Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals), that will ensure their
long-term sustainability and contribute to the conservation of their
natural and cultural values.
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