“The statement the minister has made today is a positive one and we applaud the government for its efforts in implementing its election commitments on forestry.” said A3P CEO Richard Stanton. “In particular we welcome:

• The government’s acknowledgement of the importance of continued investment in plantations consistent with Plantations for Australia: the 2020 Vision;
• The continuation deployment of the $9 million Forest Industries Development Fund; and
• The development of a Regulatory Impact Statement assessing options for restricting the importation of illegally logged wood based products.

"We look forward to working with the government in the next phase of implementation of all of these initiatives.

“The minister quite rightly recognises the wood and paper industry’s increasing reliance on privately funded plantations being grown by managed investment schemes. It is important the government actively ensures the continuation of a policy and regulatory environment that encourages continuing investment and reinvestment in timber plantations to maintain the international competitiveness of the Australian plantation products and paper industry.

“In considering the reasons for the recent collapse of agribusiness managers, Timbercorp and Great Southern, the government should be doing all it can to ensure the investors’ plantations continue to be managed, to be harvested and replanted, for the benefit of investors, the wood and paper industry, and the regional communities that rely on the industry.

“With regard to the government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Production Scheme (CPRS), we support the inclusion of carbon sequestered in timber plantations on a “voluntary opt-in basis”. However, the reforestation rules detailed in the draft CPRS legislation are complex, restrictive and bureaucratic. They may well prove to be too difficult for small-scale growers, and too risky for commercial growers, to consider opting in. If this happens, the reforestation provision will not encourage substantial new investment in production plantations.

“Moreover, the rules favour permanent plantings over production plantations by only granting credit for carbon in the standing forest. Recognition of carbon stored in harvested wood products is the key to getting more production plantations in the ground under the CPRS.

“While we appreciate the government’s commitment to pushing for recognition of carbon stored in harvested wood products in international climate change frameworks, it is not necessary to have international agreement to begin doing this at home. Australia can set an example for the rest of the world by encouraging increased sustainable production of wood, paper and energy products in plantations. The best way to do this is to recognise carbon storage in wood products in the CPRS.

“A3P will continue to work closely with the government on all these issues,” Mr Stanton said.

Source: A3P media release