Active management of forests requires removing a suitable portion of the trees that have reached or are beyond their potential, leaving behind predominately adolescent and some mature-aged trees for the ongoing sustainability of your forest. The harvested areas are also subject to planned regeneration and reforestation, which through our reforestation program, we aim to regrow over 50,000 trees each year.
The Protection of Native Forests
Forty per cent of NSW’s native forest is privately owned, meaning it is the landowner’s responsibility to manage their forests for the future sustainably. There are over 3.4 million hectares of private native forest in Northern NSW alone. Without active management, the future health of Australia’s forests is uncertain.
Around one million cubic metres of hardwood is harvested from NSW and QLD native forests each year. For perspective, this accounts for 3% of Australia’s yearly timber harvesting. It is a vastly underutilised resource. Department of Primary Industries
Sustainable Forest Management supports landowners across the East Coast of Australia with the long-term management of their forest to ensure the forest’s potential is harnessed as a renewable resource. This forms part of a sustainable approach to the health and protection of Australia’s forests for the future.
Carbon Offsetting
‘Wood is the ultimate renewable resource. Unlike any other mainstream building material, wood can be planted, grown and harvested, thus reducing the resource depletion of our planet, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere and stored in wood and lowering the environmental impact of construction through lower embodied energy.
It has been projected that actively managing our forests over the coming decades may reduce well over 50 gigatonnes (50,000,000,000 tonnes) of carbon emissions that would otherwise enter the atmosphere. Maintaining Australia’s forests will make a real difference in reducing climate change.
Growing trees absorb carbon dioxide and store it as carbon. They do this so efficiently that carbon accounts for about half of the dry weight of wood. This carbon remains in the wood for its lifetime, regardless of its use in construction or furniture.
Choosing wood instead of other materials has other advantages too. ‘The production of wood products uses less energy (usually sourced from finite fossil fuels) than other building materials that can be used in its place’.
The Future of the Timber Industry
Our forests are amazing places, and Australians use products made from wood every single day. The Australian state forestry industry is committed to a future of sustainable growth where every tree we use is regrown and replaced (Forestry Corporation). At Sustainable Forest Management, we will be doing the same – perhaps the first of any private forest management business to do so.
Find out more about our reforestation program here.
Ready to start managing your forest? Get in contact with us today at 1300 FOREST. Alternatively, use our Contact Us form; we’d love to hear from you.