PLANTATIONS AND FARM FORESTRY
Plantation and farm forestry timbers are a renewable resource, which provide the added benefit of delivering positive and long-lasting social, environmental and economic benefits to the Western Australian community. The State Government pioneered the development of plantations and tree crops in WA, and the Forest Products Commission (FPC) now has more than 100,000 ha of plantations and tree farms under its management.
Since the mid-1990s, plantings by the private sector have rapidly expanded, and the continued expansion of these activities and opportunities within Western Australia forms an integral part of ensuring the State's continued sustainable development.
The forestry industry is well placed to continue its positive contributions to the State and in that context the Government of Western Australia has consulted with a range of industry and community stakeholders to deliver the Action Plan for Tree Farming in Western Australia (2002) and Western Australia’s Strategy for Plantations and Farm Forestry: 2008 – 2012.
The FPC supports the key actions of the strategy through its long standing industry development plans, which clarify our tree planting goals and direction. These plans take into account local conditions and regional opportunities, the use of trees to tackle priority natural resource management (NRM) issues such as climate change, wind erosion, salinity and waterlogging, and the provision of wood and biomass for industry to create sustainable, long term employment and diversify rural economies.
Tree farming options from the FPC are designed to suit varied social, economic and environmental conditions throughout agricultural areas of Western Australia. These options support the establishment of a tree farm estate and associated new industries, and also help to mitigate the impacts of land degradation, particularly erosion and salinity. Tree farming is undertaken in partnership with land owners, which provides viable options for the integration of commercial trees within existing agricultural enterprises. The establishment, harvesting and marketing is undertaken by the FPC, and farmers are encouraged to become actively involved in the management and maintenance of the trees, which can also help them derive additional on-farm income. Current commercial species include pines, eucalypts and sandalwood and commercial packages are available for each.
Radiata and maritime pine are softwood species that have been planted over many years to help reduce Australia’s reliance on imports. In addition, the FPC and some private forestry companies support plantings of eucalypt sawlogs to complement the available supplies from native multiple-use forests. The FPC is the major player in the WA sandalwood industry, and is the largest exporter of sandalwood in the world. The FPC also plants carbon eucalypts to sequester carbon.
