Warwick RaggChief Executive

ImLal Biorich Demonstration Project Field Day

Friday, 3 June 2011

The national association representing and promoting private forestry and commercial treegrowing interests in Australia

Australian Forest Growers

Australian Forest Growers

- 26 Branches, 1200 members, 40 years old

- National and state policy focus

- CFI

- Illegal Logging

- House of Reps Forestry Inquiry

- Victorian Farm Forest Plan

The national association representing and promoting private forestry and commercial treegrowing interests in Australia

Australian Forest Growers

Resilience:      springing back, rebounding; power of ready recovery from sickness, depression or the like; buoyancy; cheerfulness. (Macquarie)

 Sustainable Agriculture:

farming systems which meet the needs of society now and into the future by maintaining or improving profitable food and fibre production whilst conserving natural resources. (Macquarie) Sustainable and Resilient Policy:

the capacity to develop and implement a policy that will survive a parliamentary test, and yet be able to be practically and logically implemented. (Raggometrics)

The national association representing and promoting private forestry and commercial treegrowing interests in Australia

Australian Forest Growers

NSW PNF environmental test ‘to maintain or improve the environmental condition’ EPBC ACT 1999 Objects:

(a) to provide for the protection of the environment, especially those aspects of the environment that are matters of national environmental significance; and

(b) to promote ecologically sustainable development through the conservation and ecologically sustainable use of natural resources; and

(c) to promote the conservation of biodiversity.

The national association representing and promoting private forestry and commercial treegrowing interests in Australia

Australian Forest Growers

A wood source dilemma:

- Processors are used to consistent supply of similar product, often from only one or two sources

- Commodity timber – straight, similar in size and quality, able to be efficiently harvested, within an acceptable haul distance to mill A farm forest grower dilemma:

- Wants multi-purpose outcome from his forest resource; shelter, diversity (income and biological); amenity; timber potential (sale and on farm use); shallow aquifer management; carbon; no deleterious impact on either farm or other commodity economics

The national association representing and promoting private forestry and commercial treegrowing interests in Australia

Australian Forest Growers

Recreating the Country

- Gives a range of options within a biorich paradigm;

- Will demonstrate that ecological and economic imperatives are not mutually exclusive;

- Lateral and sensible thinking, and demonstrable;

- Useful set of metrics.

The national association representing and promoting private forestry and commercial treegrowing interests in Australia

Australian Forest Growers

AFG challenge

- To get trees in the ground, this needs commitment and dollars

- To continue to try and convince the preservation lobby that trees can be sustainably utilised

- To use resources like the ImLal project as a demonstration of the multipurpose characteristics of forests

- To fight the fights that need fighting.

The national association representing and promoting private forestry and commercial treegrowing interests in Australia

Australian Forest Growers