Australia's forest industry

Why are Australia's forests different?

Australia's forests have ancient origins which affected their nature, how they were used and how they are valued today. Their distinctive ecology began with the gradual separation of the Australian continent from the great southern land mass of Gondwana about 135 million years ago. As the continent drifted away from the South Polar Region the climate became warmer and drier and new species of plants and animals, unique to Australia, evolved to dominate the landscape.

As a result of the progressive drying of the continent, most of the Gondwanan forests have been replaced by tough-leaved open forests dominated by eucalypts and acacias. Some isolated remnants of the ancient Gondwanan forests remain. These include the cool and warm temperate rainforests of eastern Australia and the dry rainforests or scrub forests of northern Australia. These forests have high conservation values.

It is not possible to determine precisely the changes that have occurred in the area and condition of Australia's forests since Europeans arrived more than 200 years ago. Australia's State of the Forests report estimates that about 33 per cent of the pre-European forest area has been cleared to make way for settlement, for agriculture and grazing.

Concern about wasteful felling, widespread fire damage, clearing of valuable forests for farms and the need to conserve timber resources for future generations, resulted in Australia's States establishing forest services between 1870 (New South Wales) and 1920 (Tasmania). These services set about the task of reserving crown land as State forest, protecting it from clearing and actively managing these forests.

Australia has the sixth largest area of forest in the world with 4% of the worlds forests, with only Russia (20%), Brazil (12%), Canada (8%), the US (8%) and China (5%) having more. There are 164 million hectares of forest in Australia - covering 21 per cent of the continent. That's about 12 rugby fields (8.2 hectares) of forest for each Australian, one of the highest areas per person in the world (the world average is 0.6 hectares).

Australia's native forest can be broadly classified into closed forests (which includes rainforests), open forests and woodlands. About 13 per cent of Australia's 163 million hectares of native forest are in conservation reserves, which compares favourably with a global average of 11 per cent. Only 7 per cent of the land area of total native forest is publicly owned and available for wood production.

However, in terms of the forests that are the major focus for commercial timber harvesting, the area of reservation is much higher. Of Australia's 4.6 million hectares of closed forests (including rainforest), 40 per cent are in conservation reserves. And of Australia's 45.6 million hectares of open forests, 18 per cent are in conservation reserves.

These areas of reservation exceed international standards and Australia is internationally regarded as a leader in sustainable forest management practices.

Australia's forest industry

Australia's forest and wood products industries have an annual gross turnover of more than A$18 billion per year, which contributes around one per cent (or two per cent if printing, publishing and recorded media is included) to Australia's Gross Domestic Product and is one of the largest manufacturing industries.

Over 83 000 people are directly employed in Australia's forest industries. Over 80 per cent of these employees work in the wood and paper manufacturing industries, with the balance in the forest industry. The forest products industries contribute significantly to regional employment. For example, it is estimated that 5% of the Australian Bureau of Statistics ‘statistical local areas' are economically dependent on forestry and logging in Tasmania, up to 20 per cent of all manufacturing employment is linked to wood and paper product processing.

In Australia, there are around 1 140 mills, with 75 per cent producing high-value, small volume hardwood products. The remaining 25 per cent are softwood mills, many at world-scale level of production, producing timber mainly for structural manufacturing.

In 2003-2004, Australia produced 1 million m3 of hardwood sawntimber, 3 million m3 of softwood sawntimber, 3 164 kilo tonnes of paper and paperboard products and 2.1 million m3 of wood based panel products (including plywood, medium density fibreboard and particleboard).

In volume terms, Australia has become both a net producer and exporter of timber since 1995. However, in value terms, the cost of wood products imported is higher than the export value leading to a significant trade deficit in forest products of around $2 billion per year.

Most Australian exports are destined for nations in the Asia-Pacific region with the major markets being Japan (38 per cent by value), New Zealand (19 per cent by value) and China and Hong Kong (13 per cent by value). In 2004-2005, total exports of wood products totalled $2.1 billion.

In 2004-05 imports of forest products totalled A$4.1 billion of which 20 per cent (by value) came from New Zealand, 10 per cent Indonesia and 6 per cent the United States.

Plantations and farm forestry represent a major opportunity for growth in Australia's long-term wood supply. Industrial plantations and plantations on farms (generally referred to as farm forestry) are growing rapidly and are critical to both the establishment of new value adding industries and to regional economic development. They also have important environmental benefits.

Australia's National Plantation Inventory reports that by the end of 2004, over 1.7 million hectares of plantations (1 million hectares of softwood and 715 000 hectares of hardwood) had been established to meet the growing demands for timber and pulpwood for paper products. The majority of new plantings consist of privately funded hardwood plantations. Over 85 per cent of new plantings in 2001 were hardwood.

Plantations supply over 70 per cent of Australia's sawnwood produced in Australia, yet comprise less than 1 per cent of the total forest area.

Amazing tree stories

• Australia has over 700 species of eucalypt in forests ranging from tropical forests in the north to temperate forests in the south. About 98 per cent of these species are found only naturally occurring in Australia.
• Over 11 million hectares of eucalypt plantations have been established in Brazil, Chile, India, China, Portugal, Spain, South Africa and many other countries for fuel, fibre and timber.
• The tallest hardwood trees in the world are Australia's mountain ash - (Eucalyptus regnans). The tallest existing specimen is found in Tasmania and measures a towering 90 metres tall. But even this is small next to the tallest mountain ash on record. This tree grew in Victoria and was measured at 132.6 metres tall in 1872. It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The world's tallest living tree is now a coastal redwood in California, USA, which is 112 metres tall.
• A single Australian tree covers a whole hillside and is more than 10 500 years old. An unusual stand of Huon pine has recently been found in Tasmania and is believed to be one of the world's oldest living organisms at over 10 500 years old. The one hectare patch is made up of a single tree with a thick tangle of roots, stems and branches. Over the centuries snow has gradually bent boughs into the soil where they have taken root. The new branches became stems that allowed further expansion.
• Australian wattle is becoming a valuable new food crop. Traditionally, Australian Aborigines used the seeds of some wattles for food. These same Australian wattles are now being grown in Africa (also home to a number of native wattles) for wood and shelter. The Australian trees are prolific seeders and can be used for food, particularly in times of famine.

Further information

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - www.daff.gov.au

National Association of Forest Industries - www.nafi.com.au

Further information about other aspects of contemporary Australia