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 provide direction for tree planting projects. 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.

Radiata and maritime pine are softwood species that have been planted over many years to help reduce Australia’s reliance on imports. In addition, some private forestry companies support plantings of eucalypt sawlogs to complement the available supplies from native multiple-use forests.