sustainable forest management - Forestry Tasmania

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o verview: FORESTRY TASMANIA Our organisation Tasmania is an island of 68,331 square kilometres and outstanding natural beauty located 240 kilometres below the south-east corner of the Australian mainland. It is Australia’s southernmost State. Tasmania has a population of 497,312 people (ABS, Sept 2008), and benefits from a temperate climate. Tasmania is rich in natural assets, including forests and is the most forested state in Australia. Its relatively unspoilt beauty attracts visitors from all over the world. Forestry Tasmania holds a very special position in the Tasmanian community as the people, through the Parliament, have entrusted the care of 1.5 million hectares (40 per cent of Tasmania’s forests) of state forest to Forestry Tasmania. This is a responsibility that we accept with great pride. On behalf of the Tasmanian people, we seek to optimise the environmental, social and economic benefits from the forest asset that we manage. Most importantly, we seek to hand on to the next generation of Tasmanians a forest asset in even better health and value than the forest this generation inherited. Of the state forest area managed by Forestry Tasmania, 87 per cent is forested and includes 592,700 hectares of native forest that is available for wood production, 293,400 hectares of native forest outside production areas, 105,900 hectares of plantations (53,200 hectares of softwood and 52,700 hectares of hardwood). A portion of the plantation estate is in joint venture with private investors or customers, including buyers of finished forest products. The rest of the area is protected in either formal reserves (222,200 hectares) or informal reserves (295,600 hectares). Many agencies and landowners manage the other 60 per cent of Tasmania’s forests. The national parks are managed by the Parks and Wildlife Service division of the Department of Tourism, Art and the Environment. Private individuals and companies manage the rest for commercial and conservation purposes. Approximately 3.8 million cubic metres of sawlog and pulpwood were harvested from state forest in 2007/08, generating around $252 million based on the price paid by our customers for logs delivered “at the mill door”. Forestry Tasmania directly employs 519 staff and approximately 1274 contract employees. 39% 20% 3% 4% Forestry Tasmania’s sustainable forest management performance is independently audited against three certification standards: namely the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) (AS4708); Environmental Management Standard (ISO 14001); and the Occupational Health and Safety Standard (AS4801). The AFS is endorsed through the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC). PEFC is a global umbrella organisation for the assessment and mutual recognition of national forest certification schemes developed through a multistakeholder process. 15% Find out more about forest certification at: www.forestrystandard.org.au www.pefc.org 19% Hardwood Plantations Softwood Plantations Formal Reserves Native Forest Outside Wood Production Areas Informal Reserves Native Forest Wood Production Areas (The above percentages are based on areas as at 30th June 2008 that include Buckland Military Training Area and exclude Forestry Tasmania managed plantations on private land).
eporting scope & structure This is our eighth Sustainable Forest Management Report and we believe that this is one of the most effective mechanisms through which we can communicate our forest management performance with our internal and external stakeholders in an open and transparent manner. Through the contents of this report, we aim to highlight the areas where we have been successful in improving our performance and acknowledge those areas where more focus and improvement is required. We recognise that sustainable forest management is not the achievement of a certain status or performance level, but rather a continuing journey of improving our understanding of ecological functioning and ensuring that this knowledge is used to underpin our operational practices. The scope of this report covers all the processes and activities involved in the management of state forests by Forestry Tasmania. This includes forest land management, road establishment and maintenance, plantation and native forest timber establishment and maintenance, timber harvesting and sales, tourism and recreation management and development. In the case where Forestry Tasmania is a joint venture partner, eg. Taswood Growers, (joint venture between Forestry Tasmania and GMO Renewable Resources), Forestry Tasmania’s share of its contribution or benefits is reported. The performance summary section of this report provides a summary of Forestry Tasmania’s overall performance. This summary is a subset of our overall performance against our set sustainable forest management objectives, targets and indicators. Supporting the text contained within each of the five main forest management sections making up this report are a number of case studies, which provide an overview of specific forest management topics. In order not to make the report too technical, a number of tables containing long-term trend data have been placed at the end of this report (Appendix one). The ‘tell us what you think’ section has been produced in an easy to remove format in order to encourage feedback and comments that will assist in the further improvement of this report. The ‘where to from here’ section provides an overview of Forestry Tasmania’s challenges and priorities for 2008/09. The relationship of this report with our new Sustainability Charter Forestry Tasmania has prepared a Forest Management Plan in accordance with the Forestry Act. Previously, 10-year District Forest Management Plans (DFMPs) were prepared for each of our districts and annual progress against these were reported through individual District Forest Management Plan Reports. With the imminent expiry of these DFMPs, we have been developing our new Forest Management Plan. In line with our objective of seeking alignment and simplification of our forest management systems and reporting requirements, a decision was taken to prepare one plan that would address all of state forest. This new plan has been titled The Sustainability Charter: Forest Management Plan 2008 and came in force from 1 November 2008. The Sustainability Charter is a more high level document than the previous DFMPs and reflects the increased requirements of managing Tasmania’s state forests for all values - economic, social and environmental. With the 2007/08 reporting year being the final year for preparing District Forest Management Plan Reports, our new reporting framework (effective from 2008/09) will be to use this report to communicate the progress made against the objectives and management aims contained in the Sustainability Charter. View our Sustainability Charter at: www.forestrytas.com.au 5
Page 1 and 2: 2008 REPORT sustainable forest mana
Page 3: contents Forestry Tasmania GPO Box
Page 7 and 8: economy, employment and regional ar
Page 9 and 10: X As a result of 18 recorded fuel a
Page 11 and 12: Case Study - Biodiversity responses
Page 13 and 14: In response to this, the Tasmanian
Page 15 and 16: Oldgrowth The Tasmanian Community F
Page 17 and 18: International science panel In addi
Page 19 and 20: forests now and into the future Pro
Page 21 and 22: Wood quality The Forestry Act conta
Page 23 and 24: Successful plantation establishment
Page 25 and 26: During 2007/08, 21,703 m 3 of high
Page 27 and 28: Seed and sowing Forestry Tasmania c
Page 29 and 30: Non-timber values Honey production
Page 31 and 32: The ongoing issue of defoliation ca
Page 33 and 34: Chemical pesticides Forestry Tasman
Page 35 and 36: Pesticide Impact Rating Index PIRI
Page 37 and 38: The Tasmanian position Tasmania’s
Page 39 and 40: working with our stakeholders Deliv
Page 41 and 42: Community Access Bus In order to en
Page 43 and 44: Provision of tourism and recreation
Page 45 and 46: Figure 33. Members of the naming ex
Page 47 and 48: Forest estate value Through sustain
Page 49 and 50: egulatory environmenT Continuous im
Page 51 and 52: Other legislation Auspine launched
Page 53 and 54: where to from here? With the Sustai
Page 55 and 56:
Table 2.2. Merchantable residue ass
Page 57 and 58:
3. Ecosystem health and services Ta
Page 59 and 60:
Table 3.6. Days on which the Tasman
Page 61 and 62:
Table 4.3. Visitor numbers to speci
Page 63 and 64:
Table 4.5. Forest estate value summ
Page 65:
Tell us what you think In line with
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