Australia could become one of the world’s top wood producing nations, according to forestry minister Wilson Tuckey.
Speaking at the launch of a report on plantations in Australia, he said the area devoted to plantations had risen by more than 500,000ha – or 42% – since the mid-1990s.
And he said Australia had a great opportunity to reduce its A$2.2bn trade deficit in timber products through plantation forestry and the development of local processing facilities.
The boom since 1995 has been driven by rapid growth in eucalyptus which rose by 354,500ha to more than 502,600ha over the period. Despite this, softwoods still account for 972,170ha – or almost two-thirds – of Australia’s total plantation area.
