Practices, trends and needs in forests 'down under'

Over the past decade, Australia's publicly managed forests have been subjected to detailed reviews and assessments that have subsequently led to numerous changes to the industry, its resource and operations.

This process began with the implementation of the National Forest Policy Statement (NFPS) in 1992, a federal initiative which stemmed from Australia's responsibility as a signatory to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. The NFPS aimed to balance the competing demands for conservation and industry (Commonwealth of Australia, 1992) and was essentially the federal government's vision for the ecologically sustainable management of Australia's forests.

The NFPS provided for a Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA), a joint assessment of all forest values by the commonwealth and state - resource, economic, social, conservation and heritage (Commonwealth of Australia, 1995) - leading to the establishment of a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative (CAR) system of reserves across the major timber production areas of the country. The nationally agreed criteria for this system of reserves took into account social and economic values as well as the following three broad criteria for biodiversity, old-growth forests and wilderness:
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a benchmark of 15 percent of the pre-1750's distribution of each forest community to be protected within conservation reserves.
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retention in reserves of at least 60 percent of existing old growth, increasing to 100 percent for rare forest community old growth.
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protection of 90 percent or more, wherever practicable, of high-quality wilderness (Commonwealth of Australia, 1995).

The final step in this lengthy process is the signing of a Regional Forest Agreement (RFA), an agreement between the commonwealth and state government about the long-term management and use of forests in a particular region. These agreements intended to address conservation concerns through the CAR system of reserves, provide resource security and industry stability for a 20-year period, as well as to reduce uncertainty, duplication and fragmentation in government decision-making.