Forests of Australia
Australia has many forests of importance due to significant features, despite being one of the driest continents. As of 2009[update], Australia has approximately 147 million hectares of native forest, which represents about 19% of Australia's land area. The majority of Australia's trees are hardwoods, typically eucalypts, rather than softwoods like pine. While softwoods dominate some native forests, their total area is judged insufficient to constitute a major forest type in Australia's National Forest Inventory. The Forests Australia website provides up-to-date information on Australia's forests. Detailed information on Australia's forests is available from Australia's State of the Forests Reports that are published every five years.
Forest types
There are 458 forest communities distributed across Australia. These have been grouped into the following seven native forest types, which are characterised by dominant species and the structure of the forest:
- Rainforests
- Melaleuca forests
- Eucalypt forests
- Casuarina forests
- Callitris forests
- Acacia forests
- Mangrove forests
Plantation forests (softwood and hardwood) have been defined as an eighth group that covers trees planted for commercial use.
Government
Policies
In Australia the states and territories are responsible for managing forests. Guidance is primarily provided by the 1992 National Forest Policy Statement (NFPS). The NFPS allows for the inclusion of Regional Forest Agreements, which are 20-year plans for the management of native forests.
Departments
- Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries in the Northern Territory
- Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
- Department of Primary Industries and its child agency Forests NSW
- South Australian Forestry Corporation (trading as Forestry SA)
- Forestry Tasmania
- Department of Environment and Primary Industries
- Department of Environment and Conservation
List of significant forests
Bushfires
Over the years, bushfires have destroyed a lot of trees and this in turn destroyed the habitat of many animals; most notably koalas numbers have decreased nearly 30% across Australia since 2018.
Gallery
Child standing under 92 metre mountain ash tree in Tasmania's Styx Valley
Karri forest near Cascades at Pemberton, Western Australia
Hopetoun Falls, beech forest, near Great Otway National Park, Victoria.
Toolangi State Forest near the Little Red Toolangi Treehouse
Old growth forest, near Errinundra National Park.
Rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge is considered a Gondwanan relic.
Brown Mountain old growth mountain ash
The buttressed roots of an Antarctic beech in Lamington National Park
Tasmania's "Big Tree" is one of the tallest remaining mountain ash.
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See also
- Deforestation in Australia
- List of old-growth forests in Australia
- National Reserve System
- Protected areas of Australia
- Forestry in Tasmania
- Woodchipping in Australia