Management of Victoria's Publicly-Owned Native Forests For

SUSTAINABILITY & RESOURCES

PROJECT NUMBER: PRC147-0809 FEBRUARY 2011 Management of Victoria’s Publicly-owned Native

Forests for Wood Production

This report can also be viewed on the FWPA website www.fwpa.com.au FWPA Level 4, 10-16 Queen Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia T +61 (0)3 9927 3200 F +61 (0)3 9927 3288 E [email protected] W www.fwpa.com.au

Management of Victoria’s Publicly-owned Native Forests for Wood Production: A Review of the Science Underpinning their Management.

Prepared for

Forest & Wood Products Australia

J. Turner, D. Flinn, M. Lambert, K. Wareing and S. Murphy

Publication: Management of Victoria’s Publicly-owned Native Forests for Wood Production: A Review of the Science Underpinning their Management.

Project No: PRC174-0809

Forest & Wood Products Australia Limited (FWPA) makes no warranties orr assurances with respect to this publication including merchantability, fitness for purpose or otherwise. FWPA and all persons associated with it exclude all liability (including liability for negligence) in relation to any opinion, advice or information contained in this publication or for any consequences arising from the use of such opinion, advice or information.

This work is copyright and protected under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). All material except the FWPA logo may be reproduced in whole or in part, provided that it is nott sold or used for commercial benefit and its source (Forest & Wood Products Australia Limited)) is acknowledged. Reproduction or copying for other purposes, which is strictly reserved onlyy for the owner or licensee of copyright under the Copyright Act, is prohibited without the prior wwritten consent of Forest & Wood Products Australia Limited.

This work is supported by funding provided to FWPA by the Department of Agrriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).

ISBN: 978-1-921763-12-0

Principal Researcher:

John Turner, David Flinn, Marcia Lambert Kevin Wareing Forsci Pty Ltd Kevin Wareing & Asssociates Pty Ltd [email protected] [email protected]

Simoon Murphy Department of Sustainability & Environment, Victoria [email protected]

Final report received by FWPA in November, 2010

Forest & Wood Products Australia Limited Level 4, 10-16 Queen St, Melbourne, Victooria, 3000 T +61 3 9927 3200 F +61 3 9927 3288 E [email protected] W www.fwpa.com.au

TABLE OF CONTENTS ______

Page No.

1. INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES 1

2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO VICTORIA’S NATIVE FORESTS 3

2.1 Forests Prior to European Settlement 3

2.2 Impacts of European Settlement 3 2.2.1 Clearing of Forests for Agriculture, Mining and Settlement 3 2.2.2 Forest Regulation 5 2.2.3 Fire Regimes 5 2.2.4 Timber Harvesting 6

2.3 Current Tenure of Native Forests 8

2.4 Discussion and Conclusions 9

3. NATIVE FOREST MANAGEMENT IN VICTORIA 10

3.1 Statutory, Institutional and Policy Framework 10

3.2 Forest Management Planning 11

3.3 Timber Harvesting 13 3.3.1 Introduction 13 3.3.2 Determination of Appropriate Sawlog Harvesting Levels 14 3.3.3 Establishment of VicForests 14 3.3.4 Separation of Commercial and Policy, Monitoring and Regulatory Roles 14

3.4 Victoria’s Timber industry Strategy 17

3.5 Towards Sustainable Forest Management in Victoria 18

3.6 Discussion and Conclusions 22

i 4. COMMERCIALLY IMPORTANT FOREST TYPES AND THEIR SILVICULTURAL 23 MANAGEMENT

4.1 Forest Types 23

4.2 Introduction to Silvicultu