THE national forest sustainability regulator has dismissed fears regional foresters are “abusing” the plantation estate through over-harvesting.
Australian Forestry Standard Ltd – trading as Responsible Wood – has revealed no forestry owners were identified as over-cutting the forestry estate during its intensive audit process.
Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell – who attended the briefing by Responsible Wood in Mount Gambier – questioned the sustainability of the forestry estate given the upswing in harvesting rates and export boon out of the Port of Portland.
“One of the concerns from the community is there is over-cutting going on in the forests and in 50 to 60 years time that volume will not be there for processors,” Mr Bell told the forum.
Responsible Wood chief executive officer Simon Dorries said he was not aware of any companies in the region that had been identified in the auditing process of over-cutting their estates.
He said all forestry companies had to calculate their “sustainable yield” and this was audited.
“Over time they have to show they are not taking more wood than the forests can deliver,” Mr Dorries said.
Mr Dorries said there appeared to be “a lot of misunderstanding”.
“One of the challenges is a lot of what is being exported are log sizes and quality of grades that are very difficult for local processors to use,” Mr Dorries told The Border Watch.
He said the audit process ensured the foresters were not “taking more wood than the forests can give”.
“The forest is not being abused, they (companies) are not dropping the rotational age substantially. It has gone back a little bit, but probably to a more normal level compared with other parts of Australia.
“The other extreme is everybody making huge losses. I do not think anybody wants to see that.”
While conceding A-grade log was being exported in recent years, he said OneFortyOne had now stopped exporting those grades.
“The fact is as a grower they would much rather have a successful local customer rather than going through the hassle of putting wood on a boat and ship it to China,” Mr Dorries said.
“Some of these things are lucrative and they are not selling the top grades to China. Most of what is exported are grades that have limited use in Australia.”
Responsible Wood – which was invited to the region by OneFortyOne – writes the Australian standards for sustainable forest management.
This includes all wood products through the supply chain and the certification of forests.
