Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems

The five indicators in this criterion canvass the forests available for timber production, the volumes of timber harvested against the calculated sustainable yield, the volumes and types of non-timber forest products extracted, and the regeneration of harvested native forests and plantations. The indicators also consider the role of wood production in native forests and plantations and the sustainability of harvesting.

Key findings for native forests

• In 2005-06, 112.6 million hectares of native forest was in tenures in which timber harvesting is allowed, compared to 119.8 million hectares in 2000-01. While large, much of the available area currently contributes little to timber supply.
• The area of multiple-use public native forests declined from 11.4 million hectares in 2000-01 to 9.4 million hectares in 2005-06.
• With the exception of Tasmania, the sustainable level of harvest from multiple-use public native forests continued to decline, due to reductions in the area allocated to harvesting, further restrictions on harvesting, and revised downward estimates of sustainable yield.
• In Tasmania, the sustainable sawlog yield from multipleuse public native forest fluctuated slightly in line with forest management strategies in the short term, but without adversely affecting long-term sawlog availability.
• The volume of sawlogs harvested from multiple-use public native forests over the period from 1992-93 to 2005-06 was less than the prescribed sustainable level in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
• The success rate in regenerating multiple-use public native forests after harvesting was high (above 85%) in those states for which data were available; remedial action was taken in those areas where standards were not achieved.

Key findings for plantation forests

• The area of plantations increased from 1.63 million hectares in 2003 to 1.82 million hectares in 2006. Nearly all the increase was in hardwood (mostly pulpwood) plantations, from 503,000 hectares in 2000 to 807,000 hectares in 2006.
• Plantations produce about two-thirds of Australia's log supply, by volume.
• Based on current plantings, wood production from softwood plantations is expected to plateau by 2010, while production from hardwood plantations will increase substantially, to over 14 million cubic metres per year by 2010.
• The reported success rate in restocking harvested plantations with replacement seedlings was generally over 90%.

Key findings for non-wood forest products

• A number of non-wood native forest species are subject to commercial harvesting regimes, some of which are significant in terms of value, quantity or both.
• Indigenous Australians rely to varying degrees on the use of non-wood forest products for customary (e.g. food and medicine) and commercial (e.g. arts and crafts) purposes.
• Approaches to assessing the sustainability of the Australian non-wood forest product sector are being developed. Adaptive management plans are in place for native species subject to significant harvest to assist regulators in managing for sustainability.

Full report for Criterion 2 - Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems PDF [841kb]