the size, distribution and tenure of the forest...

3The Size, Distribution andTenure of the Forest Estate

27

28 Australia’s State of the Forests Report 1998

The biogeography ofAustralia’s forestsThe availability of water and the suitability oftemperatures control the broad distribution offorests across the Australian continent. At thelocal scale, the distribution of soils, slope andaspect also helps determine whether forestsoccur and what type of forest predominates.Through time, the kind of forest present in anarea depends not only on the above factors,but also on others such as disturbance historyand the way the forest has responded to suchdisturbances. Human use of the forests or theirremoval of entire forests also impacts stronglyon the modern distribution of forests.

When viewed at the continental scale, theforests fall into two climatic categories: tropicaland temperate. The tropical region across thenorth of the continent has two broad gradientsthat affect the kinds of forests to be found: oneof increasing rainfall and slightly decreasingtemperatures from west to east, and another ofthe same factors from south to north. Oneresult of these gradients is that the tallest anddensest forests occur in north-east Queensland– including Australia’s main areas of tropicalrainforest.

The temperate regions of the central eastern,south-east and south-west coasts support agreat variety of forests that also respond toclimate. Cool climate forests occur in thetropical north-east, but there they are restrictedto the tops of mountains. In the south-east ofthe continent, cool climate forests are veryextensive, only disappearing wheretemperatures are too cold in winter, such as inthe alpine regions where a tree line determinedby cold temperatures can be found, or wherewater becomes limiting inland. The patterns ofrainfall are also generally more complex in thesouth-east, where relatively high mountainsinteract with winter rainfall from southerly

directions and summer rainfall from northerlydirections.

The Great Dividing Range of eastern Australiatends to mark a major divide between foresttypes, especially where the steep escarpmentmarks the eastern edge of the inland plateau.To the inland, the climate is distinctly drierand warmer than to the east and south-east ofthe divide and escarpment. This is partly dueto the effects of increased altitude, but also tothe general flow of rain-bearing weather. Thus,tall to very tall forests occur towards the coast,and low to medium height forests occurinland. A similar variation in forest typesoccurs in the south-west of the continent,where Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah) forestsoccur on the hills at the edge of the inlandplateau, giving way to a great diversity ofwoodland types on the generally flat inland.

The large stature of the mature E. marginataforests in the south-west appears out ofproportion to the duration of the summerdrought they experience. Forest trees nearKalgoorlie also have a much greater staturethan the climate of less than 250 millimetres ofannual rainfall would suggest. Both theseforested areas appear to depend on supplies ofwater from deep in the soil, rather than solelyon direct rainfall. Another biogeographicallynoteworthy forest is the E. camaldulensis (riverred gum) forest of the Murray and Darlingriver systems. Here again, the stature of theforests is greater than may be expected giventhe rainfall, but groundwater and periodicflooding maintain them.

Forests of considerable biogeographic interestare those bearing a strong resemblance to theirGondwanan predecessors. They are foundprimarily in the south-east, especially inTasmania and in scattered locations ingenerally cool sites on mountains along theeast coast, and in the tropical rainforests. Someof the plants and animals are moderndescendants of those that lived when these

The Size, Distribution and Tenure of the Forest Estate 29

The Size, Distribution and Tenureof the Forest Estate

forests were widespread and dominated thevegetation of Australia some 60 million yearsago. They are noteworthy in the primitivecharacteristics they have, compared to those ofmore recently evolved species.

Forest typesMost of Australia’s trees are hardwoods like theeucalypts, rather than softwoods (conifers).Araucaria cunninghamii (hoop pine), A.bidwillii (bunya pine) and Athrotaxisselaginoides (King Billy pine) dominate somenative forests (although the total area of suchforests is insufficient to constitute a majorforest type in this report) and there areextensive areas of slow-growing callitris forests,but the few conifers elsewhere are foundscattered through other forest types.

Specht and his co-authors produced aconservation atlas of Australian native plantcommunities in 1995. Using existingvegetation data at the time, they recognised910 plant communities defined by dominantspecies and structure across the entirecontinent; this probably underestimates thetotal number of communities because of theincompleteness of the information. Of these,457 are considered to be forest communitiesunder the current definition.

For the purposes of this report, thesecommunities have been grouped into eightbroad native forest types. The first seven areeucalypt, acacia, melaleuca, rainforest,casuarina, mangrove and callitris. There is along list of other forest types that are locallyimportant (and occasionally widespread),though none cover significantly large areas.Together with forests for which information islimited for a variety of reasons, such typesform the eighth native forest category – ‘otherforest’. Plantation forests are treated in twoadditional categories: hardwood and softwood.

This chapter examines the size, distributionand tenure of Australia’s forest estate as awhole, and then by each of the eight nativeforest types and two plantation types.

The size of the forestestate: summaryThe most recent inventory of the forest estate,undertaken for this report, shows thatAustralia has a total forest area of close to 157million hectares, made up of almost 156million hectares of native forests and just over1 million hectares of plantations. With a landarea of almost 769 million hectares, this meansthat about 20 per cent of the continent isforested. The estimate of forest cover givenhere is dramatically different from someprevious estimates, but well within others; thisis due almost entirely to the definition of forestused. As described in Chapter 1, a forest isdefined in this report as:

An area, incorporating all living and non-living components, that is dominated by treeshaving usually a single stem and a mature orpotentially mature stand height exceeding 2metres and with existing or potential crowncover of overstorey strata about equal to orgreater than 20 per cent. This definitionincludes Australia’s diverse native forests andplantations, regardless of age. It is alsosufficiently broad to encompass areas of treesthat are sometimes described as woodlands.

Table 1 and Figure 2 show the totaldistribution of native forests by State andTerritory. Queensland has the greatest area offorest, but the position of the NorthernTerritory as the second most forested regionmay come as a surprise. Almost 28 millionhectares of the Territory’s total forest area iswoodland that has not fallen within manyprevious definitions of forest.

Distribution by crown covercategoryCrown cover is determined by estimating ormeasuring the area of ground covered by treecanopies, ignoring overlap and gaps withinindividual canopies. A line around the outeredge defines the limits of an individual canopy,and all the area within is treated as ‘canopy’,irrespective of gaps and overlaps.

The native forests can be divided into threeclasses by the density of their crown cover.Thus, there are:



Table 1: The distribution of forest types, by State and Territory

(‘000 ha)

Forest type ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA Australia

Eucalypt 120 17 929 31 138 31 984 4 820 2 237 6 845 29 390 124 463tall 72 2 097 0 1 126 2 250 2 825 171 6 543medium 48 12 842 23 849 28 511 497 1 901 2 986 20 815 91 450low 0 1 163 7 288 2 340 316 86 76 3 431 14 700mallee 0 1 827 0 0 4 005 0 958 4 973 11 764unknown 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 6

Acacia 0 944 2 439 4 603 307 3 17 3 986 12 298Melaleuca 0 202 1 072 2 643 2 0 18 155 4 093Rainforest 0 209 252 2 567 0 545 3 7 3 583Casuarina 0 802 0 62 147 0 0 40 1 052Mangrove 0 7 442 398 20 0 5 173 1 045Callitris 0 382 0 309 139 0 37 0 867Other 0 312 43 6 490 63 118 360 1 048 8 435

Total native forest 120 20 787 35 385 49 056 5 499 2 904 7 285 34 800 155 835

Plantation(1) 15 270 4 170 103 134 215 131 1 043

Total forest 135 21 057 35 389 49 226 5 602 3 038 7 501 34 930 156 877

(% of land area) 56% 26% 26% 29% 6% 45% 33% 14% 20%Land area(2) 240 80 160 134 620 172 720 98 400 6 780 22 760 252 550 768 230

Note: Column or row total may not add up due to rounding.Sources: National Forest Inventory (1997).

(1) Australian Forest Products Statistics (September 1997).(2) Year Book Australia (1997).

Figure 2: The distribution of native forest, by State andTerritory

• 112 million hectares of woodland (treecrowns cover 20–50 per cent of the landarea when viewed from above), includingjust under 8 million hectares of woodlandmallee;

• 39 million hectares of open forest(51–80 per cent crown cover), made up of35 million hectares of what are commonlycalled wet and dry sclerophyll forests and 4million hectares of open forest mallee; and

• 4.6 million hectares of closed forest(81–100 per cent crown cover), made up of3.6 million hectares of rainforest and 1million hectares of mangroves.

Map 1 (see colour section in back of book)shows the distribution of these three broadcanopy cover categories across the country.There are a number of anomalies in these data,even though they represent the best that arecurrently available. For example, the largerareas of forest mapped in northern Australiaare known to be less extensive than shown. Inaddition, the sharp border across the south ofCape York is an artefact of mapping, ratherthan of forest distribution.

Tree heightCurrently there is no national standard usedfor mapping tree height: mapping compiledfor this report used nearly 150 different heightclasses. Height data have been grouped intothree categories, as follows:

• low: 2–10 metres

• medium: 11–30 metres

• tall: greater than 30 metres.

CompositionTable 2 shows the area of forest for each of theeight native forest types used in this report,subdivided by crown cover (Figure 3 showsthis graphically), and Table 1 shows thedistribution of native forest types by State andTerritory.

The distribution of forest types across thecontinent is given in Map 2 (see colour sectionin back of book).

Growth stagesFor some forest types it is possible to describethe growth stages of stands. Three stages aregenerally recognised: regrowth, mature and

senescent. Additionally, some categorisationssubdivide regrowth into establishment andjuvenile, and mature into early and latemature. Growth stages data are available forsome forests with multiple-use andconservation reserve tenure, and these arepresented in Table 4. Overall, data are availablefor more than 26 per cent of these tenurecategories, amounting to about 4 per cent ofall forests. The amount of information ongrowth stages will increase with completion ofthe regional forest agreement process (seeChapter 5).

The tenure ofAustralian nativeforestsLand tenure is crucial to our understanding ofthe state of the forests, since it determines theuses to which the forests may be put. Thisreport recognises five tenure categories:

• conservation reserves: publicly ownedforests reserved for conservation, includingnational parks and flora reserves;


Table 2: Areas of forest types within crown cover categories (’000 ha)

Crown cover category

Forest type Closed forest Open forest Woodland Total

Eucalypt nil 32 703 91 759 124 463tall nil 5 475 1 068 6 543medium nil 22 656 68 794 91 450low nil 385 14 315 14 700mallee nil 4 187 7 577 11 764unknown nil nil 6 6

Acacia nil 1 695 10 603 12 299Melaleuca nil 878 3 215 4 093Rainforest 3 583 nil nil 3 583Casuarina nil 83 968 1 052Mangrove 1 045 nil nil 1 045 Callitris nil 136 731 867Other nil 3 679 4 756 8 435

Total forest 4 628 39 174 112 032 155 835

Note: Column or row total may not add up due to rounding.Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).


Figure 3: Area of crown cover categories within each forest type

• multiple-use forests: publicly owned forestsset aside for timber production, includingState forest and timber reserves, in whichtimber production and mining arepermitted, together with a range of othercommercial and non-commercial activities;

• leasehold land: publicly owned forests onland leased from the crown;

• other crown land: forests on crown (public)land not covered by the previous threecategories – this grouping includes suchtenures as Aboriginal reserves, defenceland, mining reserves and sundry others;and

• private forests: forests owned privately.

The Native Title Act 1993 recognises thecustomary right to land of Indigenous peoples.The complex issues flowing from this Act arebeing worked through; at the time ofpublication of this report it was not possible togauge how much of Australia’s forests willcome under native title following applicationof the Act.

Table 5 shows the tenure of native forest bycrown cover category, and Map 3 (see coloursection in back of book) shows the distributionof native forests by tenure across the continent.The tenure of plantation forests is dealt withmore fully in another section of this chapter.

The ratio of public to private ownership fornative forests mirrors the general pattern ofland ownership in Australia. Approximately27 per cent of native forests are privatelyowned and 72 per cent are publicly owned.Just under 1 per cent are of unclear ownershipdue to shortcomings in the databases used forthis calculation.

The private forest category is the second largesttenure class: about 42 per cent of the nativeforest estate is on public land held under leaseby the private sector, predominantly thepastoral industry.

The right to use land conferred by a lease doesnot automatically confer a right to use foreston the land; nevertheless, the forest may beaffected by the uses to which the land is put,such as grazing. Relevant State and Territorygovernments set conditions for the use ofleasehold land, and these conditions vary. Forinstance, pastoral leases usually only conferrights for small-scale timber use such as

fencing and similar utilitarian purposes. Incontrast, some leaseholders in New SouthWales have entitlements similar to those ofprivate owners. A wide range of variousconditions relating to the use of forests onleasehold land also apply in other States andTerritories.

Taking private and leasehold native foreststogether, almost 70 per cent are on landmanaged by the private sector.

The remaining 30 per cent are public forests,which are defined in the National Forest PolicyStatement as any forest on crown land forwhich management responsibility has beendelegated to government agencies, localgovernments or other instrumentalities. Publicforests are divided fairly equally across threepublic tenure types – conservation reserves,multiple-use forests and other crown land.

About 11 per cent of the total native forestestate is in conservation reserves; 10 per cent ison other crown land; and about 9 per cent ison land with multiple-use tenure.

The influence of tenure on the managementregime imposed on any given forest isdiscussed in later chapters.

Tenure of native forestswithin States and TerritoriesTable 5 shows native forest tenure for eachState and Territory. Some significant variationsfrom the averages for the total native forestarea are:

• f o rests on leasehold land are concentrated inQueensland and the No rthern Te r r i t o ry,which between them have about 54 per centof all native forests in the country and 67 p e rcent of all native forests on leased land;

• most of the privately owned forests are inthe Northern Territory and Queensland;

• Western Australia has 22 per cent of thenative forest estate, of which less than 4 percent is owned privately;

• almost 85 per cent of native forests on othertypes of crown land are in Western Au s t r a l i a .Of these, more than 10 million hectares areon vacant public land and 2.5 m i l l i o nh e c t a res are on Aboriginal re s e rve s ;



Table 5: Forest area, by crown cover and tenure category, by State and Territory

State/Territory (’000 ha)

Crown coverand tenure class ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA Australia

Closed forest

Leasehold 0 0 61 451 0 0 0 20 532Private 0 41 417 945 15 17 1 4 1 439Conservation reserve 0 103 108 608 1 187 6 29 1 043Other 0 4 1 111 (1) 145 (2) 106 366Multiple-use 0 69 0 828 0 196 (4) 0 1 095Unresolved tenure 0 (4) 106 21 4 0 (1) 21 153

Total 0 217 693 2 964 20 545 8 180 4 627

Open forest

Leasehold 10 279 1 208 2 271 323 0 0 127 4 219Private 6 3 811 4 729 4 524 1 336 783 665 270 16 124Conservation reserve 80 1 768 750 729 613 336 2 179 870 7 324Other 1 333 57 289 5 151 118 350 1 304Multiple-use 5 2 166 0 2 161 24 1 088 3 054 1 385 9 883Unresolved tenure 0 7 276 15 8 (1) 14 (3) 320

Total 102 8 364 7 020 9 989 2 309 2 359 6 029 3 003 39 175

Woodland

Leasehold 3 5 687 18 967 21 274 1 543 0 0 13 877 61 352Private (3) 4 194 6 040 11 643 977 0 372 1 228 24 454Conservation reserve 13 1 189 1 851 1 532 638 0 525 3 465 9 214Other (4) 269 200 651 8 0 47 12 750 13 926Multiple-use (3) 859 0 994 2 0 291 226 2 373Unresolved tenure 0 8 613 8 2 0 13 69 713

Total 17 12 206 27 671 36 102 3 170 0 1 248 31 617 112 033

Plantation(5)

All tenures 15 270 4 170 103 134 215 131 1 043

All forest

Leasehold 13 5 966 20 236 23 996 1 866 0 0 14 025 66 103Private 7 8 046 11 187 17 111 2 327 801 1 038 1 502 42 018Conservation reserve 93 3 060 2 709 2 870 1 252 523 2 710 4 364 17 580Other 2 605 258 1 051 12 296 165 13 206 15 597Multiple-use 5 3 095 0 3 983 27 1 285 3 346 1 612 13 351Unresolved tenure 0 15 995 44 15 (1) 26 90 1 186Plantation(1) 15 270 4 170 103 134 215 131 1 043

Total 135 21 057 35 389 49 226 5 602 3 038 7 501 34 930 156 877

Note: Column or row total may not add up due to rounding.(1) Area smaller than 50 hectares.(2) Area of 51–100 hectares.(3) Area of 101–500 hectares.(4) Area of 501–999 hectares.Sources: National Forest Inventory (1997).

(5) Australian Forest Products Statistics (September 1997).

• almost 30 per cent of multiple-use nativeforests are in Queensland;

• Victoria, with less than 5 per cent of thetotal forest estate, has 25 per cent of allnative forests in the multiple-use category,but also by far the highest percentage inthe conservation reserve tenure category;and

• the Northern Territory has no multiple-usenative forests and the Australian CapitalTerritory and South Australia havenegligible areas in this tenure.

Tenure of native forests bycrown cover typeTable 5 also shows the amount of forest crowncover type in each tenure category. Points ofinterest include:

• woodlands make up almost 93 per cent ofall native forests held under lease, reflectingtheir extensive distribution across thepastoral lands of the Northern Territory,Queensland and Western Australia;

• about 8 per cent of all woodlands are in theconservation reserve tenure, compared to22 per cent of closed forests and nearly19 per cent of open forests. Nevertheless,because the woodland estate is much largerthan the closed and open forest estate, thegross area of woodland in conservationreserves constitutes almost 52 per cent ofthe total area of forest in conservationreserves;

• of the 4.4 million hectares of forest inconservation reserves in Western Australia,80 per cent are woodlands, reflecting thelarge areas of woodland in that State;

• open forests occur largely on private landor in the multiple-use or conservedcategories; and

• about 19 per cent of open forests are inconservation reserves, compared to 11 percent for the entire national forest area.

Closed forests are proportionally more highlyreserved for conservation purposes than is thenative forest estate nationally. Even so, thefigure does not represent the true level ofconservation of closed forest. Much of therainforest in the wet tropics of north-east

Queensland – representing about 31 per centof the national rainforest area – occurs withinthe multiple-use tenure but has fullconservation protection under legislation. Thetrue level of conservation of closed forests istherefore more than 40 per cent.

Tenure of major native forest typesTable 6 shows the tenure of the eight nativeforest types across Australia. About half the talleucalypt forests occur in multiple-use tenures,just over one-fifth in conservation reserves andnearly 30 per cent on private or leasehold land.In total, about two-thirds of all eucalypt forestsoccur on private or leasehold land. Over 90per cent of acacia forests, virtually all casuarinaforests and more than half of all mangrove andcallitris forests occur on private or leaseholdland. Just over half of all rainforests are foundon land designated as conservation reserve ormultiple-use; most of the rest (40 per cent)occur on private or leasehold land.

National andinternational listingsThere are several agreements and processes atthe international and national levels that serveto identify forests of particular merit for theconservation of natural or cultural values. Twosuch agreements and processes are discussedhere: World Heritage listing, and the Registerof the National Estate. Areas within thesecategories overlap.

World heritage areasThe World Heritage Convention encouragesthe protection and conservation ofinternationally important sites of natural andcultural heritage worldwide. One hundred andfifty countries including Australia have ratifiedthe Convention since it came into force in1975. More than 550 sites from 113 countriesare on the World Heritage list.

Under the terms of the convention, Australia isobligated to conserve and protect particularnatural and cultural sites of worldwideimportance. The Commonwealth’s World


Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983provides the legal basis for fulfilling thisinternational commitment.

Australia has 13 World Heritage sites. Sixcontain forest; forests were specificallymentioned in the listing purposes for several.Those containing forests are:

• Kakadu National Park (listed in threestages: 1981, 1987 and 1992);

• Lord Howe Island Group (1982);

• Tasmanian Wilderness (listed in two stages:1982 and 1989);

• Central Eastern Australian RainforestReserves (1987);

• Wet Tropics of Queensland (1988); and

• Fraser Island (1992).

Table 7 shows the area of native forest bycrown cover class occurring in World Heritagelisted places. Table 8 shows the tenure of thosenative forests, and Table 9 shows theproportion of the total native forest area (bycrown cover class) occurring in World Heritageor National Estate listed places. Table 10 showsthe percentage of each forest type occurring inWorld Heritage or National Estate listedplaces. Map 4 (see colour section in back ofbook) shows the location of forested WorldHeritage places.

The effects of listing

The Commonwealth has responsibility forfulfilling Australia’s international obligationsunder the World Heritage Convention. Inpractice, the Commonwealth and individualStates and Territories work jointly to manageWorld Heritage listed places. The nature of thejoint arrangements is periodically reviewed.

Register of the nationalestateThe Register of the National Estateencompasses natural and cultural places thathave aesthetic, historic, scientific or socialsignificance for the present community andfuture generations. It was established in 1975under the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975.

The Register lists both areas of forest and siteswithin them, including places of intrinsicaesthetic value, pre-colonial and currentIndigenous sites and early settler history.Currently, 71 per cent of National Estateplaces containing forests are within theconservation reserve tenure.

In 1994 there were over 2200 forest areas orforest sites on the Register of the NationalEstate. As can be seen in Tables 7, 8, 9 and 10,registered areas cover almost 16 million

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Table 6: Tenure of major native forest types

Tenure area (’000 ha) AustraliaForest type Private Leasehold Conserved Other Multiple No data (’000 ha)

Eucalypt 33 178 50 681 14 961 13 940 10 728 974 124 463tall 1 372 583 1 469 110 3 006 4 6 543medium 28 640 35 121 9 232 10 178 7 391 888 91 450low 988 12 056 658 787 139 72 14 700mallee 2 174 2 920 3 602 2 864 193 11 11 764unknown 5 (1) 0 (1) (1) 0 6

Acacia 2 784 8 525 276 608 99 7 12 298Melaleuca 949 2 560 424 86 45 29 4 093Rainforest 1 017 414 812 220 1 093 26 3 583Casuarina 81 919 39 6 6 (1) 1 052Mangrove 422 118 231 146 1 126 1 045Callitris 197 300 69 8 292 (1) 867Other 3 390 2 586 770 582 1 086 22 8 435

Total 42 018 66 103 17 580 15 597 13 351 1 186 155 835

Note: Column or row total may not add up due to rounding.(1) Area less than one thousand hectares.Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).


hectares of forest, about 10 per cent of thetotal native forest estate. These are largelymade up of 12 million hectares of eucalyptforest and 1 million hectares of rainforest. Map5 (see colour section in back of book) showsthe distribution of those forests occurringwithin places listed on the register.

The implications of listing

An entry in the register is public recognition ofthe importance of a place but does not give theCommonwealth or a State or Territory anyright to acquire the place or the public anyright to visit it if it is private property.Nevertheless, there may be practicalconsequences to listing. In Tasmania, forinstance, a consequence of listing some forestson the Register of the National Estate was areduction in the volume of wood producedfrom those forests.

Table 7: The area of native forest, by crown cover class, in World Heritage orNational Estate listed places(1)

Area (million ha)

Crown cover category Total forest area (million ha) World Heritage area National Estate

Closed forest 4.6 1.1 1.6Open forest 39.2 1.1 6.1Woodland 112.0 1.5 8.1

Total 155.8 3.7 15.8

(1) World Heritage areas and National Estate areas overlap.Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).

Table 8: The tenure of native forest inWorld heritage or NationalEstate listed places(1)

% of total forested listed area

World National Tenure class Heritage Estate

Private 4 10Leasehold 7 8Conservation reserve 75 71Other 1 4Multiple-use 14 6Unknown <1 <1

Note: Column or row may not add up due to rounding.(1) World Heritage areas and National Estate areas

overlap.Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).

Table 9: The proportion of eachcrown cover category of native forestoccurring in World Heritage orNational Estate listed places(1)

Crowncover World Heritage National category area (%) Estate (%)

Closed 23 34Open 3 15Woodland 1 7All native forest 2 10

(1) World Heritage areas and National Estate areasoverlap.

Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).

Table 10: The proportion of each forest type in World Heritage orNational Estate listed places(1)

World Heritage National Forest type area (%) Estate (%)

Eucalypt 2 10tall 2 19medium <1 9low <1 2mallee 0 20unknown 0 0

Acacia 0 2Melaleuca 2 13Rainforest 28 38Casuarina 4 7Mangrove 7 21Callitris 0 7Other 3 12

All forest 2 10

(1) Expressed as a percentage of total area of eachforest type. World Heritage areas and NationalEstate areas overlap.

Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).

Listing on the Register of the National Estateimposes no legal obligations on privateindividuals or bodies, or on local, State orTerritory governments. Commonwealthministers are required, under Section 30 of theAustralian Heritage Commission Act, torefrain from taking action that adversely affectsa site on the register unless there is ‘no feasibleand prudent alternative’ and the AustralianHeritage Commission has been given theopportunity to comment.

Classification of protected areasThe International Union for the Conservationof Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) hasdeveloped a simplified classification system forprotected areas to provide a basis forinternational comparison. There are six classesthat are distinguished by the degree ofprotection afforded to the site. They offer astandardised way of grouping conservationreserves in Australia (of which there are morethan 40 types). The six classes are:

1. strict protection (1a nature reserve; 1bwilderness area – protected areas managedeither mainly for science or wildernessprotection);

2. managed for ecosystem protection andrecreation (for example, national parks);

3. managed for conservation of specificnatural features (for example, naturalmonuments);

4. managed actively for conservation ofhabitat or species;

5. managed for conservation oflandscape/seascape; and

6. managed mainly for the sustainable use ofnatural ecosystems (managed resourceprotected area).

Within Australia there are divergent viewsabout what land should be included in Class 6.At issue is whether multiple-use forest that isreserved under legislation to protect andmaintain forests for harvesting andconservation should be included in this class.The total area reported for multiple-use forestsdesignated by States as falling within Class 6 is3.6 million hectares.

Table 11 shows forest area by forest typeagainst the six standard IUCN classes using anarrow definition of Class 6, and Table 12provides information for a wider application ofClass 6. Map 6 (see colour section in back ofbook) shows the location of forests classified asfalling within any of the six (narrowly defined)IUCN conservation reserve classes.

Size, distribution andtenure by forest type

Eucalypt forestEucalypts dominate 124 million hectares ofopen forest, woodland and mallee and sharethe canopy with other species in a further 10million hectares. According to the classificationby Specht and his co-authors, eucalypts are themost dominant species in 270 forestcommunities in Australia (these constitute theeucalypt forest type described here) and occuras co-dominants in a further 15 forestcommunities. Table 13 lists 101 commonforest-dominant eucalypt species and theregions in which they occur naturally.


Table 12: Extent of native forest in conservationreserves and in other classification systemswith conservation value using a broadapplication of IUCN Class 6(1)

Tenure Area (ha)

Conservation reserve 17 580 191Other crown land 2 595 146Multiple-use forest(2) 3 605 100

Total 23 780 437

(1) ‘Conservation reserve’ and ‘Other crown land’ categories show areas inIUCN Classes 1–6. Multiple-use forest category shows the area placed inClass 6 by some agencies.

(2) No data available for the ACT, NT, Qld or SA.Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).


Table 13: 101 common forest-dominant eucalypt species

Species Common name Range

E. accedens Powderbark wandoo Sw WA

E. acmenoides White mahogany, yellow stringybark (parts of Qld) Nth coast NSW, coastal Qld

E. agglomerata (Blue-leaved) stringybark Coastal NSW & ne Vic

E. alba White gum, poplar gum Nth WA, NT, east coast Nth Qld

E. albens White box Vic, NSW, sth Qld, SA

E. andrewsii New England blackbutt Ne NSW & se Qld, isolated occurrences in Qld

E. argophloia (Queensland western) white gum, lapunya, scrub gum Sth Qld

E. astringens Brown mallet Sw WA

E. baileyana Bailey’s stringybark Nth NSW & se Qld

E. baxteri Brown stringybark SA, NSW & Vic

E. blakelyi Blakely’s red gum East NSW, ACT, nth & se Vic

E. bosistoana Coast grey box, Gippsland grey box (Vic) Coastal east Vic & sth NSW

E. botryoides Southern mahogany, Bangalay Coastal se Vic to central NSW coast.

E. brevifolia Northern white gum WA, NT

E brevistylis Rates tingle Southern sw WA

E. calophylla = Marri, red gum WACorymbia calophylla

E. camaldulensis River red gum, red gum, Murray red gum, river gum (WA) WA, NSW, NT, Qld, Vic, ACT, SA

E. citriodora = Lemon-scented (iron) gum, spotted gum East QldCorymbia citriodora

E. cladocalyx Sugar gum Sth SA

E. coccifera Tasmanian snow gum Tas

E. consideniana Yerchuk East Vic, se NSW

E. crebra Narrow-leaved (red) ironbark, ironbark NSW, Qld

E. cypellocarpa (Spotted) mountain (grey) gum, monkey gum Vic, east NSW

E. dalrympleana Mountain gum, white gum, broad-leaved ribbon gum Sth Qld, se & ne NSW, parts of Vic & Tas

E dealbata Tumbledown red gum East NSW to se Qld

E. deanei Round-leaved gum, mountain blue gum, Deane’s gum East central NSW, nth NSW, sth Qld

E. decorticans Gum-top ironbark Se Qld

E. delegatensis Alpine ash (Vic, NSW), woollybutt (Vic), gum-topped stringybark (Tas), white-top (Tas), blue leaf (Tas) Vic, NSW, ACT, Tas

E. diversicolor Karri Sw WA

E. dives (Broad-leaved) peppermint, blue peppermint (Vic) East NSW, central & south Vic

E. drepanophylla Queensland grey ironbark Qld

E. dundasii Dundas blackbutt Sth WA

E. dunnii Dunn’s white gum, white gum Ne NSW, se Qld

E. elata River peppermint, river white gum Se NSW, east Vic

E. fastigata Brown barrel, cut-tail East NSW into ne Vic

E. fibrosa (Broad-leaved) (red) ironbark, blue-leaved ironbark Sth coast NSW to mid-coast Qld

E. ficifolia = Red flowering gum WACorymbia ficifolia


Table 13 (continued): 101 common forest-dominant eucalypt species


E. globoidea White stringybark Central & south NSW coast & east Vic

E. globulus Tasmanian blue gum, East coast of Tas, sth coast Vic(southern) blue gum

E. gomphocephala Tuart Sw WA

E. grandis Flooded gum (NSW), rose gum (Qld) Coastal NSW & Qld

E. guilfoylei Yellow tingle Southern sw WA

E. gummifera = Corymbia gummifera Red bloodwood Ne coastal Vic, NSW coast, Sth Qld

E. intermedia = Pink/red bloodwood Nth Coast NSW, coastal QldCorymbia intermedia

E. jacksonii Red tingle, red tingle tingle Southern sw WA

E. jensenii Wandii ironbark WA, NT

E. laevopinea Silvertop, stringybark East NSW to south Qld

E. largiflorens Black box NSW, south Qld, east SA & Vic

E. leptophleba Molloy red box Nth Qld

E. leucoxylon Yellow gum (Vic), Central west Vic, se SA, sth NSWSouth Australian blue gum (SA), water gum (Eyre Peninsula, SA), white ironbark

E. macrocarpa Mottlecah WA

E. macrorhyncha Red stringybark Vic, NSW, isolated patch in se SA

E. maculata = Spotted gum Coastal NSW, isolated in VicCorymbia maculata

E. mannifera Brittle gum Central & sth NSW, east Vic

E. marginata Jarrah Sw WA

E. melanophloia Silver-leaved ironbark Inland NSW & Qld, coastal sth & central Qld

E. melliodora Yellow box, honey box (Qld), Vic, NSW, se Qldyellow ironbark (Qld)

E. microcarpa Grey box, narrow-leaved box, Vic, NSW & Qld wheatbelt areainland grey box

E. microcorys Tallowwood Coastal nth NSW & se Qld

E. miniata Darwin woollybutt, woollybutt Nth WA, NT & Qld

E. moluccana Grey box, gum-topped box (Qld) Central & nth coastal NSW, east Qld

E. muelleriana Yellow stringybark Se NSW & coastal east Vic

E. nitens Shining gum, silvertop (NSW) Scattered distribution in NSW & Vic

E. nitida Smithton peppermint, peppermint (Tas) Tas, sth Vic, se SA

E. obliqua Messmate stringybark, messmate, stringybark Vic, Tas, east NSW just into Qld, se SA

E. oreades Blue mountains ash, smooth-barked East NSW & se Qldmountain ash, white ash

E. ovata Swamp gum, black gum (southern Tas), Tas, sth SA, sth Vic, se NSWwhite gum

E. paniculata Grey ironbark Coastal NSW

E. pauciflora Snow gum, cabbage gum (Tas), Mountainous & tableland areas of NSW,weeping gum (Tas), white salee Vic, Tas & se Qld, (Australian standard name for the timber) some coastal areas of SA, NSW & Tas

E. phoenicea Scarlet gum, Ngainggar Nth NT, WA, ne Qld

E. pilularis Blackbutt Coastal NSW, se Qld coast

E. polyanthemos Red box Vic & NSW

E. polycarpa = Long-fruited bloodwood Nth NSW, Qld, nth NT, nth WACorymbia polycarpa


Table 13 (continued): 101 common forest-dominant eucalypt species


E. populnea Poplar box, bimble box Qld, NSW

E. propinqua Grey gum, small-fruited grey gum Coastal nth NSW & sth Qld

E. pulchella White peppermint Tas

E. punctata Grey gum East NSW, se Qld

E. radiata Narrow-leaved peppermint, peppermint East Vic & NSW

E. regnans Mountain ash, swamp gum (Tas), Vic & Tasstringy gum (Nth Tas)

E. resinifera Red mahogany East NSW, se Qld, ne Qld (coastal)

E. robusta Swamp mahogany, swamp messmate (Qld) Sth coast of Qld to sth coast of NSW

E. rossii Scribbly gum, snappy gum, white gum Inland east NSW

E. rubida Candlebark, ribbon gum, white gum Inland east NSW, Vic, east Tas, isolated in sth SA

E. saligna Sydney blue gum, blue gum Coastal NSW & sth Qld, few isolated in central coastal Qld

E. salmonophloia Salmon gum Sth WA

E. sideroxylon Red ironbark, mugga, mugga ironbark Nth Vic, NSW, se Qld

E. sieberi Silvertop ash, coastash (NSW, Vic), East Vic, sth coast NSW, ne Tasironbark (Tas), silvertop, black ash (NSW)

E. similis Yellow jacket Qld

E. smithii Gully gum, gully peppermint (NSW), East Vic, coastal sth NSWblackbutt peppermint (NSW)

E. staigeriana Lemon-scented ironbark Nth Qld

E. stellulata Black sally East NSW, east Vic

E. tereticornis Forest red gum, blue gum (Qld), Coastal se Vic, NSW & Qldred iron gum (Qld)

E. terminalis = Desert bloodwood Nth WA, NT, Qld & nth NSW & SACorymbia terminalis

E. tessellaris = Carbeen, Moreton Bay ash East & nth Qld, ne NSWCorymbia tessellaris

E. tetrodonta Darwin stringybark, stringybark (NT & WA), Nth WA, NT & Qldmessmate (Nth Qld & WA)

E. torelliana = Cadaga, Cadaghi East coast nth QldCorymbia torelliana

E. torquata Coral gum Sth WA

E. viminalis Manna gum, ribbon gum (NSW), Tas, Vic, se SA, east NSW, se Qldwhite gum (NSW & Tas)

E. viminalis Boomsma (formerly E. huberana) Parts of SA & sw Vicsubsp. cygnetensis

E. wandoo Wandoo Sw WAE. woodwardii Lemon-flowered mallee Sth WA

Source: Bureau of Resource Sciences, unpublished data (1997).


Distribution

Some eucalypts have highly specificenvironmental conditions that control theirdistribution, while others are less sensitive andoccur over a wide range of environmentalgradients. Many of the widely distributedspecies may also occur in different forms,depending on the environment. An example ofthis is E. microcarpa (known as grey box inVictoria, narrow-leaved box in New SouthWales and inland grey box in Queensland),which occurs as a tree of medium height in thecore of its range and as a multi-stemmedmallee in harsher environments. Figure 4shows the broad distribution of eucalyptforests across the continent.

To briefly describe the distribution ofAustralia’s more common eucalypt forests inthis report, they have been divided into threeheight groups – tall, medium and low. Mallees,which occur as both medium and low forests,are considered separately. The data referred tobelow are contained in Table 1; Map 7 (seecolour section in back of book) shows thedistribution of eucalypt forest by structure.

The genus Eucalyptus was named in 1788 byCharles-Louis L’Heritier de Brutelle, aFrenchman living in London, who named aspecimen collected in 1777 as Eucalyptusobliqua (messmate stringybark). Since thenover 700 eucalypt species have beenrecognised, most of which are trees and onlyfour of which are not endemic to Australia.

Three closely related genera exhibit Eucalyptus-like qualities: Eucalyptus, Corymbia andAngophora. The genus Corymbia has beenidentified recently by taxonomists; it includesa number of species, broadly known as thebloodwoods, which were previously classifiedas Eucalyptus species. Most State agenciesaccept this division of the eucalypts into threedistinct genera. The Department ofConservation and Land Management inWestern Australia uses the alternativeclassification, which does not recognise

Corymbia. In this report, ‘eucalypt forest’encompasses the genera Eucalyptus andCorymbia (communities dominated byAngophora species fall into the ‘other forest’type).

Some groups of eucalypt species arecharacterised by their bark and their commonnames derive from this attribute – gum(smooth bark), box (bark fragmented intosmall patches), stringybark (bark fissured intolong strips), ironbark (similar to stringybarkbut very hard) and minniritchi (raised hairyappearance). Bloodwoods are named for thepresence of red kino in veins or pockets in thetimber. Some names derive from the similarityof the timber to overseas timbers (ash,mahogany and oak), from leaf colour (bluegum) or the oils in the leaves (peppermints,lemon-scented gum).

Box 1: The genus Eucalyptus

Tall eucalypt forests

Tall eucalypt forests are those that exceed 30metres in height. There are 6.5 millionhectares of these forests, constituting 4 percent of the total native forest estate. Most ofthem occur in Victoria, New South Wales,Queensland and Tasmania, although there aresmall areas in all other States and Territoriesexcept the Northern Territory.

These forests are often referred to as wetsclerophyll forests: ‘wet’ reflecting the moist,lush understorey vegetation that generallyoccurs in them, ‘sclerophyll’ from the botanicalterm for the tough leaves characteristic ofeucalypts. In some areas the understoreycontains conspicuous tree ferns, or palms inthe tropics and sub-tropics. The best examplesof these forests are the E. diversicolor (karri)forests of south-western Australia and the E.regnans (mountain ash or swamp gum) forestsof Victoria and Tasmania. Specimens of E.

regnans have been known to reach heights inexcess of 100 metres, making them the tallestflowering plants in the world.

A distinctive characteristic of many talleucalypt forests is the predominantly even ageof the canopy trees. This may be due to thesuppression of new growth by the mature trees,to wildfires that in moist forests tend to be lessfrequent but occasionally are severe enough towipe out the mature stand and stimulateregrowth of an even age, or a combination ofthe two. In the prolonged absence of fire, someunderstorey plants in the tall eucalypt forestsmay live as long as the eucalypts or longer.

The crown cover densities of tall eucalyptforests are predominantly classified as openforest or woodland (Table 2). Those classifiedas woodland often occur in relict stands thatare in transition to rainforest. In such forests,widely spaced individual eucalypt trees emergeabove the lower rainforest canopy, and arecalled emergents. There is debate as to whether


Figure 4: Thumbprint of regions in which eucalypt forests occur

such forest should be classified as eucalypt withrainforest understorey or rainforest witheucalypt emergents, or as dynamic ecotonesbetween the eucalypt forest and rainforest. InTasmania, for instance, such forests are oftencalled ‘mixed forests’, unless eucalypts make upless than 5 per cent of the crown cover, inwhich case they are called rainforests.

Apart from the transitional forests justmentioned, there are three principal forms oftall eucalypt forest, all characterised by theunderstorey:

• the E. diversicolor forests of WesternAustralia, with their understorey ofsclerophyllous shrubs and small trees;

• the temperate east coast forests, where theunderstorey is often taller than 10 metresand may include tree ferns; and

• the warmer northern tall forests, where theunderstorey consists of palms, vines andsmall trees.

Medium height eucalypt forests

Medium height eucalypt forests are thoseranging between 11 metres and 30 metres inheight. There are 91 million hectares of suchforests, excluding mallee, amounting to morethan half (58 per cent) of the country’s totalnative forest cover. These forests constitute81 per cent of all non-mallee eucalypt forestsand occur in every State and Territory,although most are in the Northern Territory,Queensland and Western Australia, which eachhave 20 million hectares or more. New SouthWales has comparatively less and theAustralian Capital Territory, South Australia,Tasmania and Victoria collectively have justover 5 million hectares.

The boundary between open forest andwoodland is sometimes difficult to distinguishand these forests often share the sameoverstorey species. About three-quarters of themedium height eucalypt forests are woodland:in some cases, such as in the E. melliodora(yellow box) woodlands, this may be due topartial clearing. They constitute close to half ofAustralia’s total native forest cover, containabout 80 per cent of all eucalypt species, andoccur in a variety of forms in transitional zonesbetween humid and arid regions. They can bedivided into three subgroups, depending ontheir understorey:

• Medium height eucalypt woodlands with tallunderstorey extend across northern Australiaand occur inland in the east and south-eastof the continent. Depending on whetherthe forests are in the northern or temperateregions, the understorey includes palmsand cycads or sclerophyllous shrubs such asbanksias, acacias and casuarinas. In thetemperate regions, the natural distributionof these woodlands coincides with the coreof Australia’s agricultural regions: as aconsequence, most exist as remnantpatches in an agricultural landscape. Insouthern Queensland, central New SouthWales and northern Victoria, suchwoodlands occur in dry areas (400–600millimetres of annual rainfall). They areoften referred to as box and ironbarkwoodlands and contain species such asCorymbia polycarpa (bloodwood), E.populnea (poplar box), E. crebra (narrow-leaf iron bark), E. melanophloia (silver-leafironbark), E. microcarpa (grey box) and, inWestern Australia, E. gomphocephala(tuart).

• Medium height eucalypt woodlands with lowunderstorey occur in the wheatbelt ofWestern Australia, where the E. marginata(jarrah) forest gives way to E. wandoo(wandoo) and E. salmonophloia (salmongum) woodlands. This latter species maygrow up to 30 metres in height in areasthat receive little more than 200–300millimetres of rainfall annually. Anotherexample of this category of forests occurson the eastern side of the continent, whereE. largiflorens (black box) often dominatesthe areas bordering the floodplains of theMurray-Darling Basin. Box and ironbarkwoodlands similar to those referred to as‘medium height woodlands with tallunderstorey’ also occur with a lowunderstorey. Medium height eucalyptwoodlands with low understoreys oftenhave a succulent understorey ofChenopodiaceae (bluebush, saltbush), inaddition to sclerophyllous shrubs.

• Medium height eucalypt woodlands withgrassy understorey such as the E. albens(white box) and E. melliodora woodlandsare found on the fertile western slopes ofQueensland, New South Wales andVictoria. They also occur as stands


dominated by E. similis (yellow jacket),E. brevifolia (northern white gum) andE. jensenii (wandi ironbark) in low rainfall,relatively infertile regions of northernAustralia, with hummock grasses such asTriodia mitchellii in the understorey.Communities of this type only reachheights greater than 10 metres underfavourable conditions.

About one-quarter of the medium heightforests are classed as open forest. Like theirwoodland counterparts, these forests occur inthree types, depending on the height andnature of the understorey:

• Medium height open eucalypt forests with atall sclerophyllous understorey occur whereannual rainfall is 600–1000 millimetres,often adjacent to taller forests but on lessfertile soils. Some of the more dominantspecies in the temperate zone include C.maculata (spotted gum) and C. gummifera(bloodwood) in Queensland and easternNew South Wales, E. radiata (narrow-leaved peppermint) and E. sieberi (silver-top ash) in southern New South Wales andVictoria, E. viminalis (manna gum) and E.obliqua (browntop or messmatestringybark) in Tasmania, Victoria andNew South Wales, and C. calophylla(marri) and E. marginata in WesternAustralia. About 100 000 hectares of theseforests also occur in South Australia, wherethey are dominated by species such as E.viminalis, E. baxteri (brown stringybark),E. obliqua and E. camaldulensis (river redgum). In the tropics of north Queenslandand the Northern Territory, such forests aredominated by E. tetrodonta (Darwinstringybark or messmate) and E. miniata(Darwin woollybutt), with understoreys ofLivistona (palms) and Cycas (cycads), alongwith dense grasses.

• Medium height open eucalypt forests with alow understorey (often called dry sclerophyllto differentiate them from wetter, tallerforests) usually occur in areas receiving lessthan 600 millimetres of rain a year or onvery infertile soils in wetter regions. Theseforests are widespread throughouttemperate South Australia, Victoria, NewSouth Wales and south-easternQueensland. Common species include

C. intermedia (pink bloodwood) in south-eastern Queensland, E. crebra andC. gummifera in northern New SouthWales, E. macrorhyncha (red stringybark)and E. mannifera (brittle gum) in southernNew South Wales and Victoria, and E.baxteri and E. leucoxylon (South Australianblue gum or yellow gum) in SouthAustralia and Victoria. Small areas of thistype of forest dominated by E. tetrodontaalso occur in the tropics.

• Medium height open eucalypt forests with agrassy understorey occur predominantly innorth-east New South Wales and easternQueensland, where the dominant speciesinclude E. tereticornis (forest red gum), C.intermedia and E. drepanophylla(Queensland grey ironbark). Patches occurin Tasmania, where E. delegatensis (alpineash) often occurs with a grassy understorey,and in tropical Australia, where large areasof E. tetrodonta and E. miniata forests havean understorey consisting of grasses likeannual sorghum. Medium height openforests also occur on the flood plains of theMurray River in New South Wales andVictoria, where E. camaldulensis formslarge stands.

Low height eucalypt forests

About 15 million hectares, or 9 per cent, oftotal native forest cover is non-mallee eucalyptopen forest and woodland less than 10 metrestall. Most of these forests occur in semi-aridregions in association with Acacia species.Generally they contain a range of eucalyptspecies similar to that in adjacent mediumheight forests: species include E. baxteri inSouth Australia, E. populnea and E. largiflorensin western New South Wales, E. populnea insouthern Queensland, and E. tetrodonta, E.miniata, E. alba (white or poplar gum) and E.brevifolia in northern Queensland, theNorthern Territory and the Kimberley regionof Western Australia.

Low eucalypt forests also occur in the sub-alpine regions of New South Wales, Tasmaniaand Victoria. The best known of these are thesnow-gum forests of Tasmania’s sub-alpineareas (E. coccifera) and the Snowy Mountainsof south-east Australia (E. pauciflora).


Mallee forest

Mallee trees are low-growing eucalyptsdistinguished from non-mallee eucalypts bythe occurrence of multiple stems arising atground level from a large, bulbous woodystructure called a lignotuber or ‘mallee root’.Over 100 species of eucalypt have a malleeform. Not all are forest; non-forest malleevegetation is not included in this report.

Mallee forests are generally 2–10 metres tallbut can reach 18 metres. Maps compiled forthis report establish that about 12 millionhectares or almost 8 per cent of Australia’snative forests are mallee. These forests occuracross the south of the continent, primarily inregions with 250–400 millimetres of annualrainfall. In more arid areas mallee forest isusually replaced by acacias and at the upperrainfall limit by single-stemmed forms,sometimes of the same species. Map 7 showsthe distribution of mallee forest across thecontinent.

Western Australia has 42 per cent of Australia’smallee forests (Table 1). A further 34 per centare found in southern South Australia and theremainder occur in south-west New SouthWales and north-west Victoria. Although Table1 shows no mallee forests in the NorthernTerritory, Queensland and Tasmania, mallee-form tree eucalypts are known from each:current records do not show whether theyform open forest or woodland. In other areas,such as parts of the high sub-alpine E.pauciflora forests, the trees are, in fact, malleeform, but are not mapped as such.

Tenure

The 124 million hectares of eucalypt forest inAustralia are divided by tenure (Table 14) asfollows:

• multiple-use forests: 9 per cent;

• conservation reserves: 12 per cent;

• ‘other’ crown land: 11 per cent;

• leasehold land: 41 per cent;

• private: 27 per cent.

Tenure varies significantly from State to Stateand Territory to Territory. In Victoria, forexample, 48 per cent of eucalypt forests aremultiple-use, 38 per cent are designated asconservation reserves, and 12 per cent areprivately owned. This contrasts withQueensland, where about 6 per cent aremultiple-use forests, 4 per cent are withinconservation reserves, 55 per cent are


Box 2: Large river red gum

One of the largest specimens of E.camaldulensis (river red gum) known is onprivate property in the Mount Gambierarea of South Australia. The tree isestimated to be at least 800 years old, isabout 50 metres high and has acircumference of 11.6 metres at 1.3 metres above the ground.

Table 14: Tenure of eucalypt forests, by State and Territory

Tenure area (’000 ha)

State/ Lease- Conservation Multiple Un-Territory Private hold reserve Other -use resolved Total

ACT 7 13 93 2 5 0 120NSW 7 714 4 039 2 824 564 2 776 12 17 929NT 10 037 17 525 2 483 241 0 852 31 138Qld 10 315 17 590 1 393 644 2 029 12 31 984SA 2 271 1 279 1 222 11 27 11 4 820Tas 779 0 306 135 1 016 (1) 2 237Vic 825 0 2 577 148 3 279 18 6 845WA 1 231 10 236 4 063 12 195 1 597 69 29 390

Australia 33 178 50 681 14 961 13 940 10 728 974 124 463

Note: Column or row total may not add up due to rounding.(1) Area less than 1000 ha.Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).

designated leasehold and 32 per cent areprivately owned. There are also significantvariations in the ownership and level ofconservation of different eucalypt forest types(Table 5).

Acacia forestAcacias occur on all continents exceptAntarctica, predominantly in tropical andwarm temperate regions. Worldwide, there aremore than 1200 species. In Australia, they arealmost as important as eucalypts in creatingthe character of the landscape, forming thesecond most extensive forest type. As witheucalypts, acacias occur as open forests andwoodlands. According to the classification bySpecht and his co-authors, acacias are the mostdominant species in 36 Australian forestcommunities (these constitute the acacia foresttype described here) and are co-dominants in afurther 11 communities.

There are 12 million hectares of acacia forestsin Australia (8 per cent of the total nativeforest area) and a further 9 million hectares(6 per cent of the total native forest area) inwhich Acacia species occur in the canopy butare not the dominant species. Fifty-four Acaciaspecies are known to occur as dominant orsub-dominant forest canopy species.

Acacia forests may occur in pure standsdominated by a single canopy species – theAcacia harpophylla (brigalow) forests of westernQueensland are an example of this – or standsin which the canopy is shared by eucalypts,casuarinas or other acacias. A. shirleyii(lancewood), for example, may occur as asingle species forest or in association witheucalypts.

Other extensive acacia forests are A. cambagei(gidgee), A. aneura (mulga), A. pendula (myall)and A. papyrocarpa (western myall). The tallestforest-forming acacia, A. melanoxylon(blackwood), can grow to more than 30 metresin height.

Some Acacia species may occur as either treesor shrubs, depending on the site. For instance,A. aneura is a medium-sized, forest-formingtree on favourable sites; such occurrences aretherefore included in the forest inventory. Inarid areas where it is a low-growing shrub, ithas been excluded.

Distribution

Acacia forests occur in all States and theNorthern Territory (Table 15). In northernAustralia, acacia forests are generally found inregions with less than 750 millimetres of rain ayear and most occur in areas with less than 500millimetres a year. In the wetter end of theirrange they form medium-to-tall open forests;as aridity increases, the density of trees andtheir height decrease and they form lowwoodlands. Figure 5 shows the regions of thecontinent in which acacia forests are found.

Both A. shirleyii and A. harpophylla forestsoccur in regions with 500–700 millimetres ofannual rainfall, the former on sandstone soils,the latter on clay soil plains.

Lancewood is the most widespread of thenorthern acacia forests; the largest occurrenceis in the central north of the NorthernTerritory. A. shirleyii forms low woodland inthe drier parts of its range. As available waterincreases, it forms tall, open forest.

A. harpophylla forests are found mainly fromnorthern Queensland through to northernNew South Wales, the species growing as tall as20 metres, depending on rainfall and other siteconditions. These forests have largely beencleared in recent years to make way foragriculture.

In either woodland or open forest form, A.pendula and A. aneura forests are found fromsouthern Queensland through New SouthWales to South Australia; A. aneura forestscontinue westwards into Western Australia.These forests occur in regions generallyreceiving 350–500 millimetres of rain per year.

Tenure

Table 15 shows tenure for acacia forests acrossall States and Territories. Nationally, less than1 per cent are found within multiple-useforests, about 2 per cent fall withinconservation reserves, 5 per cent are on othercrown land, 69 per cent are on leasehold land,and 23 per cent are privately owned. There is asimilar division by tenure at the State andTerritory level: most occur on private andleasehold land, although about 85 per cent ofthe tall, dense, A. melanoxylon-dominatedforests of Victoria and Tasmania have amultiple-use tenure and 5 per cent are inconservation reserves.



Table 15: Tenure of acacia forests, by State and Territory



ACT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0NSW 27 897 4 4 11 (1) 944NT 313 2 108 2 10 0 6 2 439Qld 2 269 2 103 118 46 66 (1) 4 603SA 6 296 5 (1) 0 0 307Tas 3 0 0 0 0 0 3Vic 4 0 2 (1) 10 (1) 17WA 162 3 120 144 547 12 0 3 986

Australia 2 784 8 525 276 608 99 7 12 298


Figure 5: Thumbprint of regions in which acacia forests occur

Melaleuca forestThe genus Melaleuca is predominantlyAustralian, although some species occur inIndonesia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, NewGuinea and the Pacific Islands. In Australia,Specht and his co-authors identified 51Melaleuca plant communities. Of these, 15form forests in which Melaleuca species areconsidered the most dominant canopy species;

these constitute the melaleuca forests describedbelow. The most extensive melaleuca forests aredominated by M. dealbata (blue-leavedpaperbark), M. leucadendra (long-leavedpaperbark), M. minutifolia and M. viridiflora(broad-leaved paperbark).

Distribution

To date, more than 4 million hectares ofmelaleuca forests have been mapped. About90 per cent of these (more than 3.7 millionhectares) occur in the Northern Territory andnorthern Queensland (Table 16). Melaleucasoccur as a sub-dominant canopy species in afurther 3.7 million hectares of forest.

Melaleuca forests occur on a wide range of sitesthroughout non-arid Australia. Generally,these are damp or wet sites such as coastal orsub-coastal areas that dry out seasonally. Oftenthese forests are narrow strips of dense purestands, tens of metres wide, along streams andswamps. About 75 per cent of the melaleucaforests in northern Australia are large tracts oflow woodland spread across estuarine plainsand seasonal swamps. Figure 6 shows theregions of the continent in which this foresttype is found.

Tenure

Nationally, over 85 per cent of melaleucaforests occur on leasehold or private land,which are generally used for cattle production(Table 16), and about 10 per cent are locatedin conservation reserves.


Box 3: More on the acacias

Acacias are commonly referred to aswattles, a term coined by early settlerswho recognised the similarity between theacacia twigs and branches and thematerials used in England for wattle-and-daub construction of ancient buildingsand roofs. In England, these materialswere cut from coppiced stands of oak,chestnut or hazel.

Acacias are so widespread and some flowerso spectacularly that one species, A.pycnantha (golden wattle), is the nationalfloral emblem, forming part of theAustralian coat of arms. Wattles arecommon to both natural landscapes andurban gardens, and some Australianscelebrate national wattle day.

Table 16: Tenure of melaleuca forests, by State and Territory



ACT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0NSW 91 0 79 22 8 2 202NT 382 543 115 6 0 27 1 072Qld 470 1 916 211 11 35 (1) 2 643SA 2 (1) (1) 0 0 0 2Tas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Vic 3 0 12 (1) 2 (1) 18WA (1) 102 6 47 0 0 155

Australia 949 2 560 424 86 45 29 4 093

Note: Column or row total may not add up due to rounding.(1) Area less than 1000 ha. Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).


RainforestSpecht and his co-authors identified 104rainforest communities (including what theycall vine forest and vine thicket). In this report,Australian rainforests have been divided intothree types: cool temperate, warm temperateand tropical, defined more by geography thanby botanical association. Thus, tropicalrainforest is defined here as all rainforestoccurring north of the Tropic of Capricorn:the data presented may therefore includerainforest elements, particularly those ataltitude in the Great Dividing Range, that mayfit a botanical definition of warm temperaterainforest. Cool temperate rainforest is madeup of all rainforests in Tasmania plus those inNew South Wales and Victoria dominated byNothofagus species, and the remainder isdesignated as warm temperate.

Box 4: Melaleuca –the paperbark

The common name for a number ofMelaleuca species is paperbark, an aptdescription of the papery bark consistingof thin layers of cork. The leaves of a fewMelaleuca species supply the raw materialfor an expanding tea tree oil industry: teatree oil is used as an antimicrobialantiseptic oil or formulated into creams,shampoos, soaps, mouthwashes andtoothpastes.

Figure 6: Thumbprint of regions in which melaleuca forests occur


Table 17: Tenure of rainforests, by State and Territory



ACT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0NSW 36 0 101 2 69 (1) 209NT 157 21 60 (1) 0 12 252Qld 807 392 459 68 827 13 2 567SA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Tas 17 0 187 145 196 0 545Vic 0 0 2 (1) (1) 0 3WA (1) (1) 2 4 0 (1) 7

Australia 1 017 414 812 220 1 093 26 3 583


Rainforests are highly valued for the richnessof their biodiversity, the aesthetics of theirstructure and their finequality timbers. Abouthalf of the north-east Queensland tropicalrainforests had been logged or cleared foragriculture by the 1980s, when most werelisted as World Heritage sites. While thedeclaration of World Heritage status did notchange the tenure of these forests, those withinthe multiple-use tenure category (about 495000 hectares) were progressively excluded fromlogging. Rainforests in the World Heritagelisted areas owned privately are not bound bythe ‘no-logging’ policy.

Currently, tourism is the main economic useof tropical rainforests. The Wet TropicsManagement Authority estimated that thewhole of the wet tropical rainforests of north-east Queensland earned $750 million for theregion in 1997.

The tropical rainforests of north-eastQueensland contain highly diverse flora,constituting a genetic resource for plantationtrees and ornamental plants. Some species –Castanospermum australe (blackbean), forexample – are potentially important sources of

pharmaceuticals. Indigenous peoples have puttropical rainforest plants to a variety of uses,including food and medicines, ornamentation,string and wooden implements.

Logging of cool temperate rainforests inTasmania has been limited for reasons such asinaccessibility, generally low sawlog yields, andformal and informal reservation forconservation purposes. About 6 per cent isdesignated for selective harvesting withinSpecial Timbers Management Units, on cyclesof up to 200 years, for small quantities ofspeciality timbers. Following an assessmentprocess, some areas of rainforest on privateland in north-west Tasmania are currentlybeing converted to eucalypt plantations.

Tourism is an important industry in someTasmanian rainforests, such as those in thevicinity of the Gordon River. Anothereconomically important use of cool temperaterainforests in Tasmania is the production ofhoney from the blossom of leatherwood trees.More than 500 tonnes of Eucryphia lucida(leatherwood) honey can be produced inTasmania in a good season.

Box 5: More on rainforests

These definitions are arbitrary. Comprehensivemapping of rainforest types has not beencompleted nationally, but broad estimates ofthe areas, based on the above definitions, canbe given. Thus, there are 0.9 million hectaresof tropical rainforest, 2.1 million hectares ofwarm temperate rainforest and 0.6 millionhectares of cool temperate rainforest. In all,there are about 3.6 million hectares ofrainforest in Australia, which is about 2 percent of the forest estate.

Tropical rainforests

Tropical rainforests occur in many countries;collectively, these forests house an estimated50 per cent or more of all species on earth.Australia’s tropical rainforests constitute lessthan 1 per cent of the world’s total area.Nevertheless, these forests are particularlysignificant because parts of them are the onlyremaining relicts of forest that once dominatedAustralia when areas of high rainfall were farmore widespread than they are today.

Regional differences in tropical rainforestsresult from differing rainfall patterns andamounts: areas that receive rain for most of theyear have ‘wet’ rainforests, whereas those thatget most of their rain during the monsoonseason are classed as ‘dry’ or ‘monsoonal’rainforests. The latter are commonly calledvine thickets and scrubs.

Warm temperate rainforests

Warm temperate rainforests, sometimes calledsub-tropical rainforests, display a high diversityof tree species, including Ceratopetalumapetalum (coachwood), Schizomeria ovata (crabapple) and Sloanea woollsii (yellow carabeen).Palms are often present, as are various climbingplants, epiphytes and ferns.

Cool temperate rainforests

Cool temperate rainforests are found only inAustralia, New Zealand, southern SouthAmerica and the north-east coasts of North


Figure 7: Thumbprint of regions in which rainforests occur

America. Australia’s cool temperate rainforestsare often dominated by Nothofaguscunninghamii (myrtle), with conifers such asLagarostrobos franklinii (huon pine),Phyllocladus aspleniifolius (celery top pine) andAthrotaxis selaginoides (King Billy pine) alsoforming part of the tree layer in Tasmania. Ineastern Victoria, dominant canopy speciesinclude Atherosperma moschatum (southernsassafras) and Elaeocarpus holopetalus(mountain quandong). Nothofagus gunnii(deciduous beech) becomes important at highaltitudes in Tasmania.

Distribution

Table 17 shows the distribution of rainforest inAustralia by State and Territory, and Figure 7shows the regions of the continent in whichrainforest is found.

Tenure

The nature of the available data on rainforestdistribution does not allow a breakdown bytenure category for the three rainforests typesof tropical, warm temperate and cooltemperate. Table 17 shows the tenure of allrainforest in Australia. About 28 per centoccurs on private land, 23 per cent inconservation reserves and 31 per cent asmultiple-use forest.

Casuarina forestCasuarinas are common in the Australianlandscape, with approximately 60 speciesoccurring throughout Australia. The family iscollectively called casuarina or sheoak andincludes the genera Casuarina, Allocasuarinaand Gymnostoma; species of the family are alsofound in New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysiaand the Pacific Islands.

In Australia, Specht and his co-authorsidentified 13 casuarina plant communities. Ofthese, three form forests in which casuarinaspecies are considered the dominant canopyspecies; these constitute the casuarina forestsdescribed below.

Distribution

Table 18 shows that there are about 1 millionhectares of casuarina forests, mostly in NewSouth Wales. Figure 8 shows the regions of thecontinent in which this forest type is found. Afurther 8 million hectares of forest containcasuarinas as a sub-dominant canopy species(three communities – these are not treated ascasuarina forests in this report).

Nationally, forests of C. cristata (belah or blackoak) have the widest distribution, rangingfrom southern Queensland through westernNew South Wales and north-west Victoria to


Table 18: Tenure of casuarina forests by State and Territory



ACT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0NSW 4 781 9 4 3 (1) 802NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0QLD 56 (1) 0 1 3 0 62SA 20 114 13 0 0 0 147TAS (1) 0 0 0 0 0 1VIC (1) 0 (1) 0 0 0 0WA (1) 23 16 (1) (1) 0 40

Australia 81 919 39 6 6 0 1 052

Notes: Column or row total may not add up due to rounding.(1) Area less than 1000 ha.Source: National Forest Inventory (1997).


Casuarinas are characterised by their leafstructure, which at first glance resembles thatof conifers. The drooping, needle-like foliage isactually composed of photosyntheticbranchlets with tiny leaves, only the tips ofwhich can be seen by the naked eye. The name‘casuarina’ comes from the perceived similarityof the drooping branches to the feathers of thecassowary bird, for which the Malay word isKasuari.

Casuarinas are used occasionally in themanufacture of timber products. For example,Allocasuarina fraseriana (Western Australiansheoak) has been used in the WesternAustralian furniture industry for many years.The quantities used are very small because theresource is small, but the product is keenlysought after and very expensive. Species suchas C. cristata (belah or black oak) are oftenused for fence posts and firewood, and aswindbreaks on agricultural land.

Box 6: Some facts about casuarinas

Figure 8: Thumbprint of regions in which casuarina forests occur

central southern South Australia and across tocentral southern Western Australia.

C. cristata grows on substrates varying fromstony slopes and shallow calcareous loams overcalcrete to heavy clay soils, in average rainfallsranging from 200–600 millimetres annually. Ittends to grow in groves, originating from theproduction of root suckers, the normal methodof propagation for this species. The forests varyin height up to 30 metres and form woodlandor open forests, depending on site quality. Themost dense stands are usually found indepressions, where C. cristata forest is oftenone of a mosaic of forest types that mayinclude acacias such as Acacia harpophylla(brigalow) and A. pendula (myall), and otherspecies such as Atalaya hemiglauca(whitewood), Geijera parviflora (wilga) orHeterodendrum oleifolium (inland rosewood).

C. cunninghamiana, often referred to as riveroak, sheoak or creek oak, commonly occurs asopen forest up to 35 metres in height alongwatercourses throughout eastern Australia,only being replaced by C. glauca (swamp oak)in saline coastal swamps.

Tenure

Table 18 shows the tenure of casuarina forestsin Australia. About 76 per cent of casuarinaforests occur within New South Wales; ofthese, more than 95 per cent are found onleasehold land. Nationally, less than 4 per centof this forest type is found within conservationreserves.

Mangrove forestMangroves are usually small, robust treesranging from 3 to 8 metres in height.However, certain species in northern Australiacan reach 30 metres; conversely, in morehostile environments the plants may not growas tall as 2 metres, in which case they are notconsidered forest in this report. Specht and hisco-authors identified eight mangrovecommunities.

Mangrove forests are woody communities,often of dense pure stands, that develop onsediments in sheltered estuaries, inlets andbays. These areas are subject to periodic tidalinundation; mangroves have evolved variousmechanisms to persist in this environment.Such adaptations include ways of excluding orsecreting salts and a shallow spreading rootsystem with various root adaptations to assistin gaseous exchange associated withmetabolism.

Distribution

Australia’s 1 million hectares of mangroveforests represent less than 1 per cent of thetotal native forest area. They are founddiscontinuously along the warmer coasts, fromthe Pilbara and Kimberley in the west to southof Sydney in the east, and in small areas ofcoastal Victoria and South Australia. Table 19shows the area of mangrove forests occurringin each State and Territory. Figure 9 shows theregions of the continent in which mangroveforests are found. High-quality mapping of the


Table 19: Tenure of mangrove forests, by State and Territory



ACT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0NSW 4 0 1 1 (1) (1) 7NT 260 40 48 (1) 0 94 442Qld 138 58 149 43 1 8 398SA 15 0 1 (1) 0 4 20Tas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Vic 1 0 4 (1) 0 (1) 5WA 4 20 27 102 0 20 173

Australia 422 118 231 146 1 126 1 045



occurrence of mangrove forests remains asignificant need in many places.

Mangrove forests around the tropical north-west, north and north-east coasts are the mostspecies-diverse. The mangrove forests furthersouth, along the south coast of Victoria andthe South Australian gulfs, are much less richin species and are dominated by one species,Avicennia marina (white mangrove), the mostwidespread and common of all mangrovespecies. A small outlier of mangrove forestoccurs in the Lechenault Inlet near Bunbury,south of Perth. No mangroves occur inTasmania.

TenureNationally, 40 per cent of mangrove forests arein private ownership, 22 per cent withinconservation reserves and 12 per cent withinleasehold (Table 19). Tenure attribution formangrove forest is not of a high quality. Mostoccur below the high-water spring tidal level: itis unclear how this relates to ownership.

Box 7: The usefulness of mangroves

Mangrove forests fulfil a useful role asfood sources for humans and animals;they stabilise the shoreline and providehabitat and breeding sites for birds andother wildlife. There is also an increasingawareness of the importance of suchenvironments as fish ‘nurseries’.

Mangrove plants are an importantresource for Indigenous peoples in theNorthern Territory – they yield pleasanthoney and fruits that can be cooked andeaten. They are also a source of medicinesand implements, and the timber can beused for firewood and construction. Theleaves are palatable for stock. Many fishand shellfish are common in mangroveswamps and are used by both Indigenousand non-Indigenous urban populations.

Figure 9: Thumbprint of regions in which mangrove forests occur

Callitris forestThe Australian cypress pine genus Callitris isone of a number of Gondwanan conifer generathat still survive. Specht and his co-authorsidentified 21 Callitris plant communities. Ofthese, seven form forest in which Callitrisspecies are considered the most dominantcanopy species; these constitute the callitrisforests described below. Callitris species occurin a further 10 forest communities as sub-dominants.

There are 14 species of Callitris, of which themost significant forest-forming species isCallitris glaucophylla (white cypress). This has astraight trunk and can grow to a height of 30metres, but typically grows to 15–20 metres.

Fuel modification through grazing has reducedfire frequency and intensity, allowing thespread of Callitris species, principally C.glaucophylla. Other common species include C.

endlicheri (black cypress), C. intratropica(northern cypress), C. verrucosa (Murray pine)and C. columellaris (coastal cypress).

Previous estimates of the area of callitris foresthave been in the range of about 4 millionhectares. The estimated area reported here isabout 0.9 million hectares (Table 20). Thereason for this change is one of classification.Callitris species often occur in association witha range of eucalypt species and were previouslyclassified as callitris forest because of thecommercial significance of this species.However, in most cases, Callitris species areactually sub-dominant in the canopy. Suchmixed forests are correctly classified as eucalyptforests.

Recent work done by the National ForestInventory has estimated that, although lessthan 1 million hectares of callitris-dominant


Figure 10: Thumbprint of regions in which callitris forests occur


forest has been identified through newmapping, there are at least another 6.5 millionhectares of forest which have Callitris speciesoccurring in the canopy. In total, this is anincrease of approximately 85 per cent in areaover previous knowledge. Thus, pure Callitrisstands make up about 0.5 per cent ofAustralia’s native forest estate, and Callitrisspecies occur in the canopy of about 4 per centof Australia’s native forests.

Distribution

Callitris forests are generally drought-resistantand many are frost-tolerant. They are usuallyfound in areas with a rainfall of 300–650millimetres a year, from the arid tropics aroundthe Hamersley Ranges and through the coastaleucalypt forests of the Northern Territory torain-shadow areas in the Snowy Mountains.The largest tracts of callitris forests occur ineastern Australia, where they are founddiscontinuously from the Murray River to theGreat Dividing Range north of Injune inQueensland. Figure 10 shows the regions ofthe continent in which this forest type isfound; Table 20 shows the area occurring ineach State and Territory.

Callitris forest (mostly C. glaucophylla) occurspredominantly in Queensland, New SouthWales and South Australia. In New SouthWales, it includes the Pilliga region north ofCoonabarabran, known as the Pilliga Scrub,which is the largest area of native forest in NewSouth Wales west of the Great Dividing Range.Elsewhere in that State, the medium heightwoodland cypress forests have been extensivelycleared for agriculture, leaving small stands inmultiple-use forests and corridors along roadsand travelling stock routes.

C. glaucophylla forests occur in the FlindersRanges of South Australia; further south,remnants of C. preissii (Murray pine, malleepine, southern cypress pine) forest occur in thelargely cleared agricultural regions of that St a t e .

Tenure

Table 20 shows the tenure of callitris forests byState and Territory. Nationally, about 35 percent occur on leasehold land, 34 per cent inmultiple-use forests, around 23 per cent onprivate lands and 8 per cent in conservationreserves.

Table 20: Tenure of callitris forests, by State and Territory



NSW 97 20 35 4 226 0 382NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Qld 95 142 2 4 66 (1) 309SA 0 139 0 0 0 0 139Tas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Vic 5 0 32 (1) (1) (1) 37WA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Australia 197 300 69 8 292 (1) 867



Table 21: Tenure of ‘other forest’, by State and Territory



ACT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0NSW 71 230 5 4 2 (1) 312NT 39 0 0 0 0 4 43Qld 2 960 1 793 537 234 956 10 6 490SA 14 38 11 (1) 0 0 63Tas (1) 0 30 16 72 0 118Vic 201 0 81 17 54 8 360WA 105 524 106 311 3 (1) 1 048

Australia 3 390 2 586 770 582 1 086 22 8 435


Figure 11: Thumbprint of regions in which ‘other forest’ occurs

Forests of unknown type

There is limited information about the speciescomposition of the canopy for 1.9 millionhectares or 1 per cent of native forests. Satelliteinformation makes it possible to map smallpatches of forest in grassland and agriculturalregions that previously were ignored byvegetation mappers or were only referred to asexisting in a mosaic. There is good informationabout the location and size of many suchpatches, but it is not yet known for certainwhat species dominate the canopy. Thesepatches are called ‘forests of unknown type’ inthis report.

Forests dominated by minorgenera

A small proportion of the forest estate is madeup of forests dominated by genera other thanthose already mentioned. About 0.5 millionhectares of forest are dominated by genera suchas Adansonia, Angophora, Atalaya, Banksia,Brachychiton, Flindersia, Heterodendrum,Leptospermum and Lysiphyllum.

Distribution

Figure 11 indicates the regions in which ‘otherforest’ occurs; Table 21 shows that nearly77 per cent of the 8.4 million hectaresclassified as ‘other forest’ are in Queensland.About 12 per cent are in Western Australia andthe remainder is made up of relatively smallpatches in the other States and the NorthernTerritory.

Tenure

Table 21 shows the tenure of ‘other forest’. Offorests in this category, 40 per cent are privateand 31 per cent are leasehold. About 12 percent fall into the multiple-use tenure categoryand 9 per cent are in conservation reserves.

Plantation forestsAustralia has just over 1 million hectares ofplantations, or about 0.7 per cent of thecountry’s total forested area. The distributionof plantations by National PlantationInventory region (see Map 8) is given in Table 22.


Other forestsFor this report, about 8.4 million hectares orjust over 5 per cent of Australia’s native forestsare classified as ‘other forest’. Within thisclassification are three groups: ‘mixed’,‘unknown type’ and ‘minor genera’. It shouldbe noted that in this context the term ‘mixed’indicates a number of genera, not a number ofspecies. Fourteen of the forest communitiesrecognised by Specht and his co-authors fallinto this forest type.

Mixed forests

There are 6 million hectares of mixed forests,or about 4 per cent of the entire native forestestate. They fall into three groups:

• forests for which the dominant canopygenera were not included in the database;

• forests in which there are a number ofgenera in the canopy but no singledominant genus (rainforests, althoughoften matching this criterion, are notincluded here); and

• forests in which communities occur insmall patches and have not been mapped ata level detailed enough to distinguish thedifferent communities. This has occurred,for example, where forest dominated byAngophora species is found along a creek-line within an area dominated by otherspecies.

Box 8: The use of cypress timber

Cypress timber and products have beenwidely used by Indigenous peoples andalso constitute an important part ofAustralia’s forestry heritage. Cypress pineis a versatile, durable, termite-resistanttimber; it is used in housing constructionand for flooring, cladding and fence posts.In New South Wales and Queensland,large quantities of Callitris glaucophylla(white cypress) sawlogs are milled eachyear, and extensive areas are managed forlong-term timber production. In theNorthern Territory, C. intratropica(northern cypress) has been used forsimilar purposes.

Softwood plantations

There are nearly 0.9 million hectares ofsoftwood plantations, representing about80 per cent of the plantation estate (Table 23).At least 90 per cent of softwood plantationscontain exotic conifers, mostly Pinus radiata(radiata or Monterey pine). The only nativeconifer used in plantations on a significantscale is Araucaria cunninghamii (hoop pine),although Araucaria bidwillii (bunya pine) hasalso been tried in New South Wales.

The area of softwood plantations established ineach five-year period between 1940 and 1994is shown in Figure 12. Most of the plantationsestablished before 1960 have been harvested,and some of the more recent plantings are onthose harvested areas.

The most extensive softwood plantings are inthe upper Murray Valley region around theNew South Wales towns of Tumut, Batlow andTumbarumba and in north-eastern Victoria,the south-east Queensland region, and theGreen Triangle region, which straddles theSouth Australian–Victorian border.

Hardwood plantations

Australia has about 160 000 hectares ofhardwood plantations (Table 23), in whicheucalypt species are predominant (theremainder consists largely of tropical rainforestspecies). Only a few eucalypt species are usedwidely in plantations: these include Eucalyptusglobulus (Tasmanian or southern blue gum), E.nitens (shining gum), E. pilularis (blackbutt)and E. grandis (flooded or rose gum). The areaof hardwood plantations established in eachfive-year period between 1940 and 1994 isshown in Figure 12.

The majority of hardwood plantations occur infour regions: Tasmania, Western Australia, thenorth coast of New South Wales and CentralGippsland in Victoria. The Tasmanianhardwood plantation estate is the largest inAustralia. In 1997 hardwood plantations wereexpanding at a rate of about 5000 hectares ayear in that State. There are plans to furtherexpand plantation establishment in New SouthWales and Victoria, while in Western Australia20 000 and 25 000 hectares of mainly E.globulus plantation were established in 1996and 1997 respectively. Small plantationsspecialising in high-quality cabinet woodspecies are being established in north-eastQueensland.

Both public and private growers have recentlyreported significant increases in the rate ofestablishment of hardwood plantations.Current planting plans suggest that about80 per cent of new plantings will be ofhardwood species.


Table 22: Distribution of hardwood and softwoodplantations, by National Plantation Inventoryr e g i o n

Distribution (ha)

Region Hardwood Softwood

Western Australia 42 040 88 800Tasmania 62 020 71 970Green Triangle 390 139 060Lofty Block 650 16 160Central Victoria 10 25 620Murray Valley 230 162 540Central Gippsland 19 040 59 180East Gippsland/Bombala 260 32 130Southern Tablelands 270 20 000Central Tablelands 0 73 110Northern Tablelands 50 13 040North Coast 32 320 11 260South East Queensland 1 120 147 370North Queensland 170 19 530Northern Territory 0 4 220

Source: National Plantation Inventory (1997).


Plantation tenure

Table 24 shows the tenure of plantations byState and Territory. The data are presented aspercentages because tenure was not reported inthe 1997 National Plantation Inventory.Percentages given are based on a range ofinformation sources. More than two-thirds ofthe total plantation estate is publicly ownedand the remainder is private. The majority ofsoftwood plantations are publicly owned, butmore hardwood plantations are on private landthan on publicly owned land. Of the Statesand Territories, New South Wales, Victoria andQueensland contain the most plantations.

Figure 12: Area of plantation established in each five-year period from 1940 to1994: softwoods and hardwoods

Table 23: Plantation area, by species

Softwood Area (ha)

Pinus radiata 642 110P. elliottii 72 880P. caribaea 54 160Araucaria species 45 300P. pinaster 28 880Minor softwood species 13 020Unidentified softwood species 27 630Total softwood plantation area 883 980

Hardwood

Eucalyptus globulus 41 260E. pilularis/E.grandis mix(1) 22 210E. nitens 12 230E. regnans 5 980Minor hardwood species 11 310Unidentified hardwood(2) 65 580Total hardwood plantation area 158 570

Total 1 042 600(3)

(1) Approximately 60 per cent E. grandis.(2) An estimated 70 per cent is a mix of E. nitens and

E. globulus.(3) Column total has been rounded to the

nearest 10 ha.Source: National Plantation Inventory (1997).


Table 24: Plantation tenure and type, by State and Territory(1)

Multiple-use (%) Private (%)

State/Territory Softwood Hardwood Softwood Hardwood Total (%)

ACT 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3NSW 18.0 2.4 5.9 0.2 26.5NT 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.4Qld 15.5 0.1 1.1 0.0 16.7SA 6.8 0.1 2.6 0.1 9.6Tas 4.3 1.1 2.9 4.1 12.4Vic 9.7 0.7 9.6 1.0 21.0WA 6.5 1.3 1.5 2.7 12.0

Australia 62.1 5.7 24.0 8.1 100.0

Source: derived from Quarterly Forest Products Statistics (March 1996).(1) As a proportion of total plantation area.

the size, distribution and tenure of the forest...

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