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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 May 2002 Northern Rivers Private Forestry, under the auspices of Invest Northern Rivers, commissioned Norfor to review and update the 1994 study. This report presents the results of that review. Private native forest areas, broad forest types and yield data from the original study have been updated and the size, age classes and species composition of both the public and private hardwood plantation resource has been documented. The latest regulations and codes of practice for private native forests and plantations have been reviewed and a summary provided. The area covered in this update is slightly smaller than the 1994 study and in particular excises those areas in the lower New England region that have been covered in a similar study undertaken for the New England-North West Regional Development Board. This report focuses on the Local Government Areas from Tweed in the north to Bellingen in the south and includes Ballina, Bellingen, Byron, Coffs Harbour City, Copmanhurst, Dumaresq, Grafton City, Guyra, Kyogle, Lismore Municipal, Maclean, Pristine Waters, Richmond Valley, Severn, Tenterfield and Tweed LGAs. Within these LGAs it is 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 is estimated at approximately 363,000 hectares. The total potential annual hardwood yield from these forests is estimated at about 825,000 cubic metres, of which about 465,000 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 360,000 cubic metres. The total hardwood plantation estate in the study region is about 34,000 hectares. Of this, about 30,800 hectares is under State Forest Management, comprising 11,400 hectares either established on State Forest or purchased and converted to State Forest prior to 1994 and 19,400 hectares established on land purchased by State Forests or established by State Forests on private land under joint venture or annuity arrangements. The balance of the hardwood plantation area (about 3,200 hectares) has been established in the last few years by private plantation companies. 1. Introduction 1.1 The 1994 North Coast Forest and Plantation Resource Study In 1994 the Northern Rivers Regional Development Board (NRRDB) commissioned a study of the north coast private native forest and plantation resource. The brief for the study was as follows: a) To determine 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, and on a broader scale within a 250 kilometre radius. b) To determine an estimate of the potential area available for the establishment of hardwood plantations within the two zones, including an assessment of the viability and profitability of growing plantations, the potential yields and likely stumpages. c) To determine an estimate of the volume of sawmill residues that might be available above and beyond the volume already committed to established end users. d) To identify 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 study estimated that there was a net productive private forest area (or area over which forest harvesting practices might occur) of approximately 465,000 hectares within a 250 kilometre radius of Grafton. The total potential annual hardwood yield for private forests was estimated at 1,064,000 cubic metres. About 55% of this was in pulp grade logs and the remainder was sawlogs, veneer logs, salvage logs and poles, piles and girders. The study broadly mapped the area of private land that, on the basis of climate and soils, would potentially be the most suitable for hardwood plantations. At the time of the study, State Forests of New South Wales, through their Joint Venture Hardwood Plantation Program, were negotiating the establishment of approximately 1,800 hectares of hardwood plantations. As a result of surveys undertaken during the study, private landowners expressed interest in the establishment of approximately 3,800 hectares of private plantations. The study determined that there were 271 licensed sawmills in the study area. In 1994 only a small percentage of these sawmills had wood chipping facilities and approximately 90,000 tonnes of sawmill residues from private property log sources was not committed to markets. The 1994 study also concluded that some of the regulatory and legislative controls on private forestry were having a negative impact on the ability of private forest owners to effectively manage their forests. The Executive Summary from the 1994 report is attached as Appendix 1. 1.2 The Private Native Forest and Plantation Resource of the NSW North Coast in 2002 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 plantation. The update covers a reduced area in comparison to the 1994 study (see below). The brief for the 2002 update was as follows: 1. Review the 1994 report to determine what information and data would need to be re-evaluated for the following Local Government Areas (LGAs):
3. As necessary, consult with State Forests of NSW North East Region to refine area estimates based on their GIS data sets and possibly identify the broad location and extent of private native forests that have been mapped in the CRA process as having high conservation significance (eg HCVOG). 4. As necessary, consult with the Department of Land and Water Conservation in relation to any changes to the private forest areas, recent logging histories and latest information on potential impacts of the Native Vegetation Conservation Act and the relevant Regional Vegetation Management Plans (RVMPs). 5. Consult with State Forests of NSW Future Forests Division and plantation companies in relation to the location, size and age classes of the private and joint venture hardwood plantation resource. In addition, obtain estimates of the likely area of new plantation establishment over the next 2 to 5 years. 6. Contract State Forests of NSW to provide GIS mapping relevant to the project. 7. Review the latest regulations and codes of practice for private native forests and plantations, including the RVMP process and provide a brief summary in the report. Note that some of the text from the 1994 report has been incorporated into this update where it is relevant to the context in which this report has been written. 2. The 2002 Study Area As a result of the CRA process and the signing of RFA’s, the State Forest areas in northern NSW were divided into six (6) Timber Catchments. This updated report covers private forests and plantations in Timber Catchment 1, most of Catchment 2 (except Uralla Shire), Bellingen Shire in Catchment 3 and Dumaresq Shire in Catchment 6. Catchment 1 comprises Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Tweed Shires, Lismore City Council, most of Tenterfield Shire and parts of Severn, Maclean and Copmanhurst Shires. Catchment 2 comprises Guyra and Pristine Waters Shires, Grafton and Coffs Harbour City Councils, most of Severn Shire and parts of Tenterfield, Copmanhurst and Maclean Shires. Map 1 shows the area covered by this updated report. Individual LGAs, showing forest cover (Crown and private), are illustrated in Maps 2 to 13 in Appendix 2. 
3. The Existing Private Hardwood Resource 3.1 Historical Aspects Historically, private property has been a major source of timber to the north coast forest industry since the second part of the 19th century. For many years about one third of the annual input to industry has been supplied from private property. Many of the larger sawmills and processing plants in northern NSW obtain some proportion of their log supply from private property and for the Crown sawmills this supply supplements their allocation from State Forests of NSW. Most of the smaller ‘bush’ sawmills rely totally on the private forest resource. There has been a decline in sawmilling activity on the New England Tablelands since the mid 1990’s, with the closure of large mills at Tenterfield, Glen Innes and Drake. Smaller ‘bush’ sawmills are now the main processors of private resource on the tablelands, although some resource from the northern area (Tenterfield) and eastern area (around Walcha) is still sold to sawmills on the coast. The other notable change to the way the private resource is being utilised in northern NSW is the increasing interest from State Forests of NSW in either land purchase or the acquisition of management rights over private forests. Private forests acquired in this way are being used to supplement supplies from State Forest and satisfy contractual arrangements State Forests has with its Crown customers. 3.2 Hardwood Timber Yields from Private Forests The private hardwood forests of northern NSW yield the same wide range of products as Crown forests. As stated above, many of the larger sawmills and processing plants rely on private forests to supplement their log supply from State Forests. Whilst most of the smaller sawmills purchase mainly sawlogs and salvage logs, the larger mills and processing plants are increasingly relying on private forests for high quality sawlogs, poles, girders and veneer logs. Products sourced from private forests include: Sawlogs, generally with a minimum centre diameter under bark (cdub) of 30 centimetres. Maximum internal and external defects are normally specified. Sawlogs produce a wide range of sawn timber products, including heavy construction and general building timbers and flooring. Salvage sawlogs are logs that do not meet the quality specifications for large and small sawlogs but have recoverable timber in them. They are in demand for the production of lower grade timber such as pallets and palings, although the better quality salvage logs do produce building grade timber and other products. Veneer or Peeler Logs are high quality logs that meet strict species, defect and size specifications for veneer or ply manufacture. Poles, Piles and Girders are logs that meet the strength, durability, species and defect specifications for electricity and communications transmission in the case of poles, driven wharf and bridge timber in the case of piles, and round and hewn wharf, culvert and bridge timber in the case of girders. Pulpwood refers to logs that do not meet the specifications of any of the above categories, although there would generally be minimum diameter requirements and some species may not be acceptable. Although the term implies paper production, it also refers to logs suitable for the manufacture of reconstituted wood products such as medium density fibreboard. A major consideration is often the amount of useable fibre, and other things being equal young thinnings type timber is sought after because of its relatively high fibre yield. Pulpwood has never been produced in any quantity from private property within the study area, originally because of the regulatory controls on exports of woodchip sourced from private property and the limited markets. More recently the Regional Forest Agreement for north eastern NSW allows pulpwood production from private forest, however distance from ports limits the economic viability of pulpwood operations. Data is no longer kept by State Forests of NSW on the annual volume of logs produced from private forests. Data from the 1994 study concluded that an annual volume of approximately 170,000m3 was yielded from private forests within Timber Catchments 1 and 2 and Bellingen Shire. Based on the authors’ experience with private forestry in northern NSW, approximately 110,000 to 130,000m3 per annum is produced from private forests in the Clarence and Richmond River catchments. Adding Tenterfield, Guyra, Severn, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen LGA’s to this area, it is reasonable to speculate that the current annual yield from private forests in Timber Catchments 1 and 2 and Bellingen Shire is at least 160,000m3. 3.3 Management Practices Historically native forest management practices on most private land in the study area have been demand driven, largely reflecting the value of timber as supplementary income for landowners who are primarily graziers. However some landowners (including sawmillers) have properties that are maintained solely for timber production (in the case of sawmillers to supplement supplies obtained from other sources). On partly timbered properties where grazing is the main activity, the usual forest management practice has been to sell timber when the demand arises, either as a result of industry interest in the resource or as an owner driven decision to realise additional income. Nearly all of the private forest areas in northern NSW have a long logging history. By and large there has been a pattern of initial exploitation of the resource many years ago followed by a number of subsequent selective loggings, with the result that many of the current stands are dominated by young to semi-mature regrowth timber. There is also a fairly consistent pattern of late winter and spring burning to control undergrowth and promote native pasture for cattle grazing. The end result of this management history is that the private timber resource is often characterised by younger, more open stands than those commonly seen on State Forest. As a result of age and stand structure individual stems are probably growing faster on many private properties than is the average on State Forests. However because of such factors as the retention of higher numbers of unmerchantable stems, low stocking rates, site factors and the limited protection provided, volume production would be lower than might be expected. 3.4 Applications for Young Regrowth and Plantation Hardwoods Changes in Government forest policy in recent years have seen a move towards the utilisation of smaller, faster growing trees from our regrowth forests and plantations. To meet the challenge of a changing resource, the native timber industry has restructured to accommodate smaller log sizes, with a significant increase in investment in value adding technology. High value products such as flooring, panelling and furniture components are now being produced from this younger resource. Some examples of products resulting from this technology are illustrated in Appendix 7. Go to the TOP of the Page Go to the NEXT Section |
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