Today is National Forestry Day – a time to celebrate the importance of Australia’s forest industries and the benefits they provide for our country and the rest of the world!
Without forestry, timber, wood-fibre – the jobs and products they create – and the communities they support – Australia would be poorer and our lives harder.
The 2024 National Forestry Day theme is Celebrating Nature’s Carbon Store. As trees grow, they absorb carbon from the atmosphere. When those trees are sustainably harvested, the timber and fibre is made into essential everyday items, like:
- House-frames
- Paper bags, magazines and books
- Cardboard packaging
- Home furnishings like furniture, floorboards and decks
- Mulches and garden products
- Wooden cutlery that replaces harmful plastics
- Tissue and toilet paper products
The list goes on and on.
Australia’s forest industries are responsible for some amazing things!
- The full supply chain (from tree growing and management, to harvest, transport and manufacturing different products) provides 80,000 direct and another 100,000 indirect jobs nationally – many in regional areas
- The sector contributes $24 billion to the Australian economy annually and is Australia’s 6th largest manufacturing sector
- All of the trees that makeup Australia’s plantation estate store the same amount of carbon emitted by 56 million cars driving for a year
- Our industry plants around 70 million new plantation trees every year – enough to cover 136,000 football fields
- A tiny fraction – the equivalent of 6 in every 10,000 trees are sustainably harvested from Australia’s native forests for timber annually – and are then replaced by law
Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) Chief Executive Officer, Diana Hallam said, “Today is a day to celebrate why Australia’s forest industries are so important for our lives and I commend everyone across the sector for marking National Forestry Day in their own way!
“Timber and fibre products are visible in almost every facet of our lives – if people look around for just a few minutes they are likely to spot several timber and fibre products, from hardwood flooring and kitchen benches to the desk at work or dining table and backyard deck at home, not to mention books and tissues.
“Forestry is a great Australian industry that we can all be proud of, now and into the future. Particularly, because forest industries also are a critical climate change solution for Australia and vital to ensuring we reach our net zero goals.
“Please take a moment to stop and think about how important we are!
“Happy National Forestry Day 2024!”