Forests in Australia

Forest products are an essential part of our lives: they are the newspapers we read; the timber our houses are built from; the honey on our bread and the wrapping around birthday presents. However, forests also provide us with places for recreation and relaxation; are homes to an incredibly diverse range of plants and animals; provide us with clean air and water; and some may even be the ancient grounds of spiritual beliefs for indigenous culture.

The forest industry aims to manage forests for all their values. It is the second largest manufacturing industry in Australia - using around 24.5 million cubic metres of wood every year. More than half of this wood (57%) is harvested from plantation forests, which are planted and grown specifically for timber production, and are often made up of introduced tree species. The remaining 43% of wood is harvested from our native forests.

Native forests cover about one-fifth of Australia’s landmass, or 164 million hectares. Some of this land is owned privately, but the majority is owned by the government. 26% of native forest is legally restricted from timber harvesting. Timber harvesting does not occur in a large proportion of the remaining 74% of forests due to economic and environmental restrictions. Much less that 1% of native forests in Australia are harvested each year.

Nicholson, 2000.

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