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Australia's State of the Forests Report 2008
This report, like the first State of the Forests Report in 1998 and the second report in 2003, fulfils the obligation in the National Forest Policy Statement (1992) and the Ecologically Sustainable Development Strategy (1992) to provide a forest sustainability report to the Australian public every five years. Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2008 is structured on a nationally agreed framework based on the Montreal Process criteria and indicators. Seven broad criteria embrace the range of values the Australian community attaches to forests: biological diversity, productive capacity, ecosystem health, soil and water, carbon, socio-economic and management frameworks.
The 2008 report was prepared by the Montreal Process Implementation Group for Australia (MIG) on behalf of the Australian, state and territory governments. It is the result of a major collaborative effort co-ordinated by the jurisdictions and a wide variety of specialist input. Production of the report was co-ordinated by the Bureau of Rural Sciences on behalf of the MIG. Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2008 provides the most comprehensive factual information about forests currently available and presented it in a form that can be used primarily by the general public, but by specialists as well.
Some facts from the Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2008:
- 149 million hectares of forest Australia wide
- There is a 12 per cent in Australia’s plantation estate
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- million hectares of plantations in Australia
- 0.81 million hectares of hardwood plantations
- 1 million hectares of softwood plantations
- There is an increased contribution by forests and forest industries to offsetting Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions
- Despite increased timber production, there is a continuing trade deficit in timber products
- Sustainable levels of timber harvested in native public forests
- Rapid expansion of third-party forest certification and auditing in forest management
- 23 million hectares of Australia’s native forest is in formal nature conservation reserves which is an increase of about 1.5 million hectares since SOFR 2003
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- forest 33 per cent to 55 per cent
- Mangroves 13 per cent to 18 per cent
Australia’s State of the Forests Reports - 2003, 1998
Australia’s State of the Forests Report 1998 publication is no longer in print. To view a paper copy, please visit the National Library in Canberra, or your state library.