The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has released a comprehensive new policy proposal solution to the plantations crisis facing the national forest products industry.
Softwood and hardwood plantations provide more than 80% of the wood fibre and timber for our national forest product industries. However, investment in new plantations in Australia has effectively come to a standstill.
Mr Hampton said, “Although we have just experienced a record boom in construction, much of the growth has been filled by sawn softwood from as far afield as Europe. This is, in part, because we aren’t providing sufficient plantation resource in this country for our domestic sawmills.”
The New Policy Proposal produced by AFPA to re-boot plantations in Australia; “Plantations…the missing piece of the puzzle”, charts a course back to modest plantation growth within defined ’Strategic Plantation Hubs” around major processing or port sites.
Examples of priority infrastructure in the plantation hubs are available here.
Download PDF document here: Plantations- the Missing Piece of the Puzzle