Northern Rivers Private Forestry Development Committee Web Site

A PROFILE OF THE NORTHERN NSW PRIVATE FOREST RESOURCE AND THE PRIVATE NATIVE FOREST INDUSTRY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 1994 Northern NSW Forestry Services (Norfor) undertook a study of the north coast private native forest and plantation resource for the Northern Rivers Regional Development Board. In December 2002 Norfor completed a review and update of the 1994 study for Northern Rivers Private Forestry, under the auspices of Invest Northern Rivers.

In March 2005 Northern Rivers Private Forestry commissioned Norfor to review and update the 2002 study, particularly in light of changes to Local Government Area (LGA) boundaries and the hardwood plantation estate since 2002. Importantly, the 2005 review was to include a new section profiling the Private Native Forestry Timber Industry in northern NSW. This report presents the results of the 2005 review.

Private native forest areas and yield data from the 2002 report has been updated, as has the data relating to the area, age classes and species composition of both the public and private hardwood plantation resource. The latest situation with regulations and codes of practice governing private native forests and plantations has been reviewed and a summary provided.

The area covered in this update is the same as the 2002 report, although there have been some LGA amalgamations since 2002. The 2005 study area incorporates the LGAs of Ballina, Bellingen, Byron, Clarence Valley (incorporating the old LGAs of Copmanhurst, Grafton City, Maclean and Pristine Waters), Coffs Harbour City, Dumaresq, Guyra, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley, Severn, Tenterfield and Tweed.

Within these LGAs it is estimated that private native forests now cover a gross area of approximately 625,000 hectares. The net productive forest area, or area over which sustainable forest management practices, including harvesting might be carried out is estimated at approximately 359,000 hectares.

The total potential annual hardwood yield from these forests is estimated at about 818,000 cubic metres, of which about 460,000 cubic metres is pulpwood grade logs. Historically pulpwood production from private property has been minimal. Whilst the Regional Forest Agreement for north eastern NSW allows pulpwood production from private forest, distance from ports limits the economic viability of pulpwood operations.

The total potential annual yield of sawlogs, thinning logs, veneer logs, salvage logs and poles, piles and girders available to existing industry within the region is estimated at about 357,000 cubic metres.

The total hardwood plantation estate in the study area is about 41,700 hectares. Of this, about 30,600 hectares is under Forests NSW management, comprising 10,400 hectares either established on State Forest or purchased and converted to State Forest prior to 1994 and 20,200 hectares established on land purchased by Forests NSW or established by Forests NSW on private land under joint venture or annuity arrangements. About 1,000 hectares of this pre 1994 plantation area has been converted to National Park since 2002. The balance of the hardwood plantation area (about 10,000 hectares) has been established since 1999 by private plantation companies. Significantly, since 2002 about 7,000 hectares of additional plantation has been established by these private companies.

A total of 76 sawmills or timber processors were phone surveyed to obtain a profile of the private native forest timber industry in the study area. They included primary and secondary processing operations producing green sawn and value added sawn products pole, pile and girder producers and plywood or veneer manufacturers. 66% of those surveyed rely totally on the private native forest resource and a further 18% have a 50% or greater reliance on that resource. The 76 sawmills process about 260,000 cubic metres of logs per annum sourced from private native forests, about 248,000 cubic metres of which is sourced from private forests within the study area.

The survey revealed that for the 76 sawmills, a total of 476 employees rely totally on the private native forest resource. In addition, more than 180 forest harvesting and haulage jobs are reliant on the resource. No attempt has been made to apply an indirect employment multiplier to these figures.

In terms of direct value of production, the economic contribution of these 76 sawmills totals about $125 million per annum (and again no attempt has been made to apply a multiplier for indirect economic contribution), including:

$26.2 million in wages;
$14.9 million in royalty payments to private forest owners;
$20.4 million in value of green sawn production;
$48 million in value of value added production; and
$15.5 million in value of other production.

Private native forestry is currently regulated under the Native Vegetation Conservation Act (1997), with certain forestry operations allowed under an exemption for sustainable forestry and others requiring consent (mainly associated with logging on State Protected Land). The Native Vegetation Act (2003) allows for the establishment of a regulation for private native forestry. A Code of Practice is in the process of being developed and is likely to come into effect as the Regulation in early 2006.

The Plantations and Reafforestation Act (1999) was introduced to provide a single consent process for establishing and harvesting plantations in NSW. A Code of Practice was developed under the legislation (the Plantations and Reafforestation Regulation (Code) 2001) to guide landowners or plantation developers. Both the Act and the Code are currently under review.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background - The 1994 and 2002 Private Native Forest and Plantation Resource Studies

In 1994 the Northern Rivers Regional Development Board (NRRDB) commissioned a study of the north coast private native forest and plantation resource. The study provided the following information:

(a)An estimate of the volume and potential yield of the existing commercial hardwood resource on private property, principally within a 100 kilometre radius of Grafton, but also on a broader scale within a 250 kilometre radius.

(b)An assessment of the potential area available for the establishment of hardwood plantations within those two zones, including the viability and profitability of growing plantations, the potential yields and likely stumpages.

(c)An estimate of the potential volume of sawmill residues that might be available above and beyond the volume already committed to established end users.

(d)A discussion of the constraints or impediments to private forestry that may in the future limit productivity from existing native forests or impede the establishment and management of plantations, including thinning and clear falling operations.

The Executive Summary from the 1994 report is attached as Appendix 1.

In May 2002 Northern Rivers Private Forestry, under the auspices of Invest Northern Rivers, commissioned Northern NSW Forestry Services to update the 1994 study, specifically those sections that dealt with the private native forest areas and yields and the area of hardwood plantations.

The 2002 study refined the area covered by the 1994 study, mainly to exclude areas in the lower New England region that had been covered in a similar project undertaken by other consultants for the New England-North West Regional Development Board. The area covered in 2002 focused on the Local Government Areas from Tweed in the north to Bellingen in the south.

Within these LGAs it was estimated that private native forests cover a gross area of approximately 631,000 hectares. The net productive forest area, or area over which sustainable forest management practices, including harvesting might be carried out was estimated at approximately 363,000 hectares.

The total potential annual hardwood yield from these forests was estimated at about 825,000 cubic metres, of which about 465,000 cubic metres was in low grade or pulpwood logs. The potential annual yield of sawlogs, thinning logs, veneer logs, salvage logs and poles, piles and girders available to existing industry within the region was estimated at about 360,000 cubic metres.

In 2002 the total hardwood plantation estate in the study region was about 34,000 hectares, of which about 30,800 hectares was under Forests NSW management, established either on State Forest or on private land under joint venture or annuity arrangements. About 3,200 hectares of hardwood plantations had been established by private plantation companies.

The Executive Summary from the 2002 report is attached as Appendix 2.

1.2 Updating the 2002 Study

In April 2005 the NRRDB commissioned Northern NSW Forestry Services to review and update the 2002 study. The brief was as follows:

(a)Review and amend the forest area and yield data from the 2002 report to take into account changes to LGA boundaries, as well as private forest acquisitions by the NSW government since 2002 (namely purchases to add to the National Parks estate).

(b)Review and amend plantation data along the same grounds as (a), as well as updating area and species data for hardwood plantations established on private land by both Forests NSW and plantation companies since 2002.

(c)Incorporate a new section on the timber industry within the study area that relies in part or in total on the private native forest, the information to include the size and location of the industry, employment levels, annual log intakes, production and the value of production.

(d)Provide information on the latest legislative requirements relating to private forestry, particularly changes to the existing native vegetation legislation as it affects private native forest management.

This report presents the results of the review and update of the 2002 study.

Note that text from the 2002 report has been retained for this report where the 2002 information is still relevant to the private native hardwood and plantation resource in 2005.

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