28 July 2010

Although plantation forestry in Australia is still reeling from the hammer blow it took with the collapse of managed investment schemes (MIS) all over the country, the Queensland Government has announced a positive new strategy to grow more trees.

The release last week of a strategy to support expansion of the state’s $4 billion forest and timber industry signals a “new direction” according to primary industries and resources minister Tim Mulherin. Removing regulatory impediments should produce an investor-ready environment for a competitive, sustainable timber plantation sector.

Timber Queensland chief executive Rod McInnes says the 20/20 strategy is intended to create a planning environment that allows plantations to be a ‘code-assessable’ development rather than ‘impact assessable’. “Providing the plantation meets an agreed standard, local councils will approve them automatically, rather than have to go through longwinded processes as at present.”

Plantations 20/20 Vision national coordinator David Thompson told inwoodtoday that with the correct market incentives (e.g. markets for low grade wood, such as bioenergy and woodchip) to drive proper management, native forests could be the most sustainable primary production land use in Australia.

“However, public sentiment is not moving us in that direction, and plantations look likely to provide the majority of our wood in the future. The challenge, however, is how to make that happen and how to integrate commercial forestry into the landscape in a manner that is acceptable to other land uses.”

He also raises the matter of how to get more investment in new plantations, especially those aimed at sawlogs.

(In-Wood Australasia magazine will report fully on the future of plantations in Australia and New Zealand in the Aug/Sept edition.)

© In-Wood Australasia 2010