Public State Forests in New South Wales are managed by Forestry Corporation. They manage around two million hectares of multiple use public native forests, including coastal native forests, cypress forests and red gum forests, approximately 225,000 hectares of softwood timber plantations in the central west, south and north of NSW and just under 35,000 hectares of hardwood timber plantations in north east NSW.

NSW has 20 million ha of forested area, of which 8.3 million ha is managed by the NSW Government. The rest is privately managed.

Of the forested area managed by the NSW Government:

• 67% (5.6 million ha) is set aside for nature conservation with no timber harvesting (these areas are primarily under the control of National Parks & Wildlife Services).
• 24% (2.15 million ha) is managed by Forestry Corporation (of this, 1.997 million ha is dedicated state forest).
• Of the 2.15 million ha of forested area managed by Forestry Corporation, 50% is unavailable for forestry activity (slope, ecological protections, buffers etc).
• Of the remaining 50% of forested area managed by Forestry Corporation, only a maximum of 30,000 ha is harvested per annum on a 30-year rotation, which is 0.1% of the total 20 million ha of forested area in NSW.

Private Native Forestry, the management of native vegetation on privately owned land to obtain forest products – including sawlogs, veneer logs, poles, girders, piles and pulp logs – on a sustainable basis, is also a significant part of the estate contributing approx. 30 percent of supply.

Primary Activities of state forests in NSW
Forestry Corporation supplies around 750,000 cubic metres of sawlog, specialty timbers and lower grade timbers supplied annually to more than 100 customers in regional NSW.

One million hectares managed for environmental conservation and other values.

Over 100 free visitor sites, an expansive road and trail network, and a variety of facilities managed by tourism providers and community groups under permit.

Permits issued to facilitate a range of primary production activities including apiary, grazing and quarrying.

Demand and use of native hardwood timber products
Hardwood timber products include high quality sawlogs used for structural applications including bridge decking, flooring, power poles, marine grade timbers used for wharf piles, veneer and appearance grade timbers and a range of lower grade products from pallets for goods transport to landscaping timbers, paper products and firewood for affordable home heating.

(Includes both hardwood and softwoods)

Australia has a $4 billion deficit in timber products. The nation imports $6.9 million of imported wood products, exporting $2.8 million of wood products. That deficit is increasing by approximately 20 percent per annum.

The value of hardwood native logs harvested increased in 2021-22 by 8.1% in real terms. Hardwood native log harvest volume remained relatively constant, with a slight uptick in pulplog harvest counteracting a slight decline in sawlog harvest volume.

The figure above shows the volume of hardwood harvested in Australia in the past decade to 2021-22. It includes volumes by wood type including native pulplogs, sawn and veneer logs, plantation sawn and veneer logs and plantation pulplogs.

New South Wales harvested 826,000 cubic meters of native hardwoods and plantations. That volume is down from 2,000,000 cubic meters 20 years ago. There has been a long-term trend in the decline in native timber harvested over the last two decades as more state forests are converted to national park.

Type of hardwood logs harvested
In New South Wales, for the latest reportable year 2021-22, 515,000 cubic meters of native sawn and veneer logs were harvested while 170,000 cubic meters of native pulplog was harvested.

Examples of native timber species and their use:

1. Blackbutt: Used for flooring, decking, cladding, and furniture.
2. Spotted Gum: Popular for decking, flooring, cladding, and structural applications.
3. Ironbark: Known for its durability and used for decking, fencing, and outdoor furniture, often used in heavy construction for beams, posts, and bridge building, railway sleepers, fencing.
4. Sydney Blue Gum: Used for flooring, decking, and furniture.
5. Victorian Ash: Widely used for flooring, furniture, cabinetry, and interior joinery.
6. Tallowwood: Suitable for decking, flooring, cladding, and outdoor furniture.
7. River Red Gum: Used for flooring, decking, outdoor furniture, and structural applications.
8. Brush Box: Popular for flooring, decking, and outdoor furniture.

Blackbutt forests account for around 70 percent of the long-term sustainable timber yield on the north coast. Blackbutt is among the most prolific and fastest growing commercial timber species on the north coast, the trees are quite resilient to fire and many timber plantations are stocked with young growing Blackbutt that also were less impacted by the 2019-20 fires.

Spotted Gum, which is among the slower growing species and was also impacted to a greater extent by the Black Summer Fires. The volume of Spotted Gum that can be produced has been modelled to decline by around 20% in the short term.

Overall supply of high-quality logs by species group for the north coast post black summer fires is approximately 225,000 m3. Just over 40 percent of the species mix is Blackbutt. Spotted Gum contributes around seven percent of the mix, down from nine percent in the 2019 review due to fire losses.

The Big 3 group (Sydney Blue Gum, Tallowwood and Brush Box makes up just under 15 percent of the total high-quality species mix in the long term.

However, it is likely this species group will be harvested at slightly higher levels post fires to help balance reductions in the Spotted Gum resource due to the impact of fires. Yields from the Other Hardwoods group contribute just over 20 percent of the total species mix.

(Source: 2019-20 NSW Coastal Hardwood Forests Sustainable Yield Review – Forestry Corporation 2020).

Despite the widespread impact of fires on the north coast, the long-term sustainable timber yield has declined by only four percent.

This information has been provided by AFPA in conjunction with REEF Research Foundation – Director Noel D Atkins FCA
Contact: noel@reefreserach.foundation