Forestry organisations promote sustainable management in new report

FORESTRY Australia, a not‑for‑profit, independent professional association representing more than 1,100 scientists, practitioners, and farm forest growers, has released information showing well-managed forests are “critical to Australia meeting its emissions reduction targets”.

The organisation says its Forest Carbon Balance Evidence Review brings together the latest science on forest carbon dynamics and demonstrates that sustainable forest management plays a vital role in carbon sequestration, emissions reduction, and climate resilience.

It confirms that forests are one of Australia’s most important natural resources for capturing and storing carbon.

It also acknowledges that carbon stocks can decline through natural mortality and disturbance events, such as bushfires, and argues that to accurately estimate forest carbon emissions from management, transport and processing, carbon stored in wood products – and the substitution benefits gained when timber replaces more emissions-intensive materials such as steel and concrete – should also be included when accounting for on-site carbon stocks.

Dr Michelle Freeman, President of Forestry Australia, said, “Forests are dynamic systems, not permanent carbon vaults.

“How forests are managed over time significantly influences whether they are carbon positive, neutral, or negative.

“Forestry Australia claims that substituting timber for steel and concrete can reduce embodied carbon by up to 75 percent.

“It also says… wildfires drive Australia’s forest emissions, with the 2019–20 bushfires accounting for approximately 35 percent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.

“Strategic fuel-reduction burning and silvicultural practices, such as thinning, can reduce carbon losses from high-risk wildfires while improving forest resilience to drought and climate change.”

Forestry Australia says the findings reinforce the need for policy settings that protect forests from deforestation and high-severity wildfire, expand forest cover through new biodiverse plantings and plantation development on cleared land, promote the sustainable use of locally sourced wood products, and reduce reliance on imports from jurisdictions with higher emissions profiles.

“The evidence is clear,” Dr Freeman said.

“Well-managed forests are essential to delivering genuine, long-term climate benefits for Australia.”

Dailan Pugh from the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) said, “Natural native forests are multiaged, comprised of large trees centuries old, with a succession of ages down to young regrowth where old veterans have died.

“Numerous studies have proven that by removing the older trees that store most carbon, logging has more than halved the carbon stored in forests, releasing hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the process.”

Mr Pugh said that when a tree is logged, most of its biomass is left in the forest to rot, more is made into sawdust in milling, and much is converted into short lived products such as woodchips – meaning that as little as 6-13 percent of a tree’s carbon is made into wood products that may last a decade or more.

He said the dense regrowth of small trees following logging dries the forest and increases their vulnerability to burning.

“Allowing degraded forests to grow old and regain their lost carbon is the most effective means of removing carbon from the atmosphere, reducing the risk of wildfires, increasing stream flows and saving a multitude of species from extinction,” Mr Pugh said.

“Australia already obtains 91 percent of its timber from plantations because it is cheaper to produce, it is time to complete the transition rather than taxpayers paying a fortune to log native forests.”

Another organisation, Forest and Wood Communities Australia (FAWCA), has accused proponents of the Great Koala National Park of “hypocrisy”.

Steve Dobbyns, Chair and Director of FAWCA, said, “Environmental groups have long told Australians that plantations would replace native forests.

“Now, just as these trees are ready to supply homes, these same groups are pushing to lock them away.

“The best time to plant a plantation for sawlogs was 50–60 years ago.

“The second-best time is today.”

Mr Dobbyns says that including plantations in the GKNP will drive up timber prices, making homes more expensive and increase reliance on timber from countries with lower environmental and social standards.

Dr Tim Cadman has an alternative view.

“Environment groups such as the National Parks Association ruled out including plantations in the GKNP.

“While the original boundaries included only native forest, there has been a realisation that the Park needs to include actual koala habitat, which includes plantations.

“The more important issue is that some native forest areas are now included with plantations and will be available for logging.

“The plantation areas will actually expand, at the expense of native forests that were originally in the Park.”

By Andrew VIVIAN