All Australians regard forest products - timber, paper, furniture, wood panels, tissues, newsprint, etc. - as essential to their lives. That is why the forest industries as a group make up one of Australia's largest resource industries. They also make up Australia's second largest manufacturing industry, processing raw materials into finished products, and have a yearly sales turnover of around $10 billion.
The forest products industries in broad terms are sawmilling, veneers and panelboards, pulp and paper, and woodchips. In addition, there are a number of related manufacturing activities including joinery, wooden structural components, wood and fibreboard containers, and paper manufacturers.
These industries and activities directly provide jobs for about 82,500 people. This number includes about 57,000 jobs in the manufacturing component of the wood and wood based industries (for example, sawmilling, veneers, joinery, paper and paper products) and in forestry and logging operations.
In NSW, management of our forests is the responsibility of Forests NSW. Forests NSW is a Public Trading Enterprise responsible for sustainably managing more than 2 million hectares of public native forests and an expanding estate of hardwood and softwood planted forests
The forests are managed by qualified Foresters with input from other government agencies such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Conservation and Land Management. Foresters adopt the principles of sustained yield to produce a renewable resource while catering for a range of forest values.
Management plans are prepared by foresters to ensure that harvesting is well managed and that other forest values are protected. The forest is permanently conserved by an active sustainable harvesting and regeneration programme.
Further information is available from Forests NSW. For information regarding other states it is recommended that you contact the relevant State Government Authority or the Timber Association in that state.
A Review of Forest Certification in Australia (PDF, 0.9 MB) FWPRDC An examination of the forest certification standards currently operational in Australia (the FSC accredited Woodmark and SmartWood standards and the Australian Forestry Standard offered by the Australian Forestry Certification Scheme).
Forest Stewardship Council The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international network to promote responsible management of the world's forests.
National Forest Inventory Australia The National Forest Inventory (NFI) collects and communicates information on Australia's forests. It aims to provide a single authoritative source of data at the national level.
Plantations 2020 Plantations for Australia: The 2020 Vision is a strategic partnership between the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments and the plantation timber growing and processing industry.
Australian Forestry Standard This Standard has been developed to provide a basis for voluntary, independent third-party certification against auditable forest management performance criteria that support sustainable management of forests for wood production.
Forests NSW The Forests NSW web site has a wealth of information about the New South Wales forest industry. This includes a section for schoolchildren and their teachers.
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