120,000 hectares for plantations
Baw Baw Shire has about 120,000 hectares of land suitable for plantations, according to a consultant's report for the Gippsland Forestry Hub, which notes that money from growing trees' ability to sequester carbon dioxide can greatly improve the income from plantations.
Of the land suitable for plantations in Baw Baw, 82,639ha is classed as ‘very high' and 36,609ha as ‘high'. Just 81 ha is ‘moderate' and 5 ha ‘poor'.
The report, prepared by PF Olsen, says the whole of Gippsland has more than one million hectares of land suitable for forest plantations, with Wellington and East Gippsland shires having the most and best land.
The land figures for the various local government areas are: Wellington 384,752ha, East Gippsland 337,818ha, South Gippsland 202,565ha, Baw Baw Shire 119,333ha, Latrobe City 93,621ha and Bass Coast 57,996ha.
Most of these areas' suitability are classed as ‘high' to ‘very high', with the exception of Wellington, where about half the land is classed as ‘moderate'.
“Although land costs are high, there is great potential to work with current landowners (including institutional agribusiness investors) to integrate plantations on their land,” the report says.
“The region is not homogenous. The forestry industry must engage with local groups to develop solutions that work with local communities and match local landscapes.”
The report warns that the Andrews Government's policy to end native logging – despite growing demand for the timber - is expected to continue to the reduction in local processing capacity.
“Loss of scale threatens the ability of manufacturers to compete in an open economy,” it says. “Plantation supply is insufficient to meet current demand. The supply gap will be around 1.2 million cubic metres by 2030 and 2.1Mm3 by 2050.”
The report is the latest stage in the Gippsland Forestry Hub's 30-year strategy to create a sustainable forestry industry. The hub, founded in 2020, is funded by the Federal Government and includes representatives from local processors through to education providers.
Hub chairman Simon Gatt said the hub's committee met monthly to discuss its various projects under way.
These include understanding the barriers and opportunities for industry innovation in Gippsland; training, education and skills development; assessing community support for forestry; developing a carbon guide for farmers; and farm forestry case studies.
Gippsland's current forest area is 1.43 million hectares of native forest, of which 2560ha were harvested in 2000 (0.002 per cent of the total); and 90,000ha of plantations – 80 per cent softwood and 20 per cent hardwood (mostly shortterm blue gum crops).
The report emphasises the role that carbon sequestration can lay in bringing forward the money that can be earned from plantations, particularly in Gippsland's rich soils, high rainfall and welcoming climate.
Plantations can be costly to establish, with this phase followed by long periods of management focussing on tending and protection. Next is thinning (for long-rotation softwoods) and the final harvest. Thinning brings in some income, but the main return comes at final harvest – about 30 years.