In April 2004, I completed an extensive report on this topic for the Uniting Church in Australia. [http://vic.uca.org.au/jim/localissues/forests/forestryreport.htm] The 308 page report investigates many issues relating to forests, including timber harvesting and employment opportunities and how this relates to other forest values such as water, biodiversity and intrinsic values. Detail is given on a local level as well as in the broader context of global warming and species extinctions. Government policies such as the Regional Forest Agreements, National Forest Policy Statement, Plantations 2020 vision, Our Forests Our Future and the Ecological Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act have also been reviewed and summarised in an easily readable form.

Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management has been the long term goal of forest managers in Australia, and this report assesses how close we are getting to that goal.

To download the full document please click here (Please note: the report is almost 2 MB so the download process, depending on your connection speed, may take a couple of minutes.)