Plantations, Farm Forestry and Timber Industries

The Greens (WA) believe that plantations and farm forestry can meet all of our current and future timber needs, and will underpin future prosperity and diversification of our regional economies. Farm forestry has a vital role to play in restoring degraded landscapes and providing ecosystem services such as soils and water catchment protection, carbon sequestration¹ and biodiversity protection and creating new bio-technology industries. 

Goals

The Greens (WA) want: 

• vibrant, prosperous and sustainable farming communities based on integrated farm forestry and good water catchment management
• a Plantations and Farm Forestry Timber Industry Strategy that aims to make Western Australian, as far as is practical, self-reliant for sawn timber and other timber products
• a full, fair and immediate shift from native forest logging to plantations and farm forestry
• financial incentives for tree farming for timber production and for biodiversity plantings
• a review of the sustainability of existing and future plantations in response to a drying climate in southern Western Australia. 

Initiatives

The Greens (WA) will initiate and support legislation and actions that: 

• assign the functions of Forest Products Commission to the Department of Agriculture and Food WA under a fully funded Plantation and Farm Forestry Directorate
• develop and fund a comprehensive Plantation and Farm Forestry Industry plan
• establish an industry adjustment fund to support the transition from native forest to plantation and farm forestry
• clearly link farm forestry to land and stream salinity abatement and natural resource management objectives
• develop a comprehensive Statement of Planning Policy for farm forestry to guide the Western Australian Planning Commission
• establish favourable funding strategies for farm forestry, including targeted taxation relief to achieve both timber production and landcare objectives
• promote the use of Carbon Trading arrangements and Renewable Energy Certificates to drive investment tree farming
• promote the compulsory inclusion of plantations and farm forestry  in state and federal greenhouse gas Emissions Trading Schemes
• develop a system of biodiversity credits to drive investment in tree farming
• fund research, development and extension services to support farm forestry across all rainfall and soil regions
• expand the mallee planting in the Wheatbelt to achieve 20% by 2025
• expand and extend trials of Western Australian native forest species suited to specialty high value timber production, and extend planting of karri and marri on private land
• establish Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for all Western Australian plantation and farm forestry wood products
• allow importation only of timber that is both FSC certified and non old growth native timber for processing and/or re-sale in Western Australia
• promote highest value adding for timber produced in Western Australia
• investigate appropriate means to meet the needs of the high value fine woodcraft industry.

Glossary
1. carbon sequestration - a biological or artificial process that stores carbon 'captured' out of the atmosphere, usually as carbon dioxide (CO2) gas, in a semi-permanent form.