Forest Facts - Australian Forestry Sector

Hello and welcome to forestfacts.com.au

Who are we and why are we doing this?

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) is responsible for this website – and we represent the sector to stakeholders, politicians, the media and general public.

Our members expect us to tell the truth about the industry and while we are sometimes dismissed as a lobby group, those of us who work at AFPA love and appreciate Australian timber and wood products and we are proud of the thousands of people who work to produce quality and essential Australian products that we use in our homes and workplaces every day.

We're tired of people telling us that we should be ashamed of our industry and accusing us of all sorts of things that are either misleading or simply untrue – hence forestfacts.com.au was born.

While you're here we are not going to ask you to donate to a cause, sign a petition, sell you a book, write to a politician, frighten you or make you feel bad for wanting to learn more about forestry, timber and wood-fibre.

We created this website so we can overcome some of the misinformation and disinformation that's out there. All you'll find are Forest. Facts. Seriously.

Diana Hallam – AFPA, Chief Executive Officer.

What is Australia's forestry and forest products sector and supply chain?

The sector and supply chain is made up of all the businesses and organisations responsible for:

Sustainably growing, managing and harvesting production trees in plantations and native forests.
Processing and manufacturing the timber and wood-fibre from those trees into a range of essential products from house-framing, decking and home furnishings to cardboard, paper, tissue and other packaging items.
The transport and logistics operations required to move our timber, wood-fibre and manufactured products at various stages of the supply chain.

FAST FACTS

For the economy

The sector contributes $24 billion to Australia's economy annually, employs 80,000 Australians directly and another 100,000 indirectly across the supply chain.
Many of these jobs are in regional Australia, where the sector often underpins entire towns. Think places like Mount Gambier in South Australia, Tumut in NSW, Bunbury in Western Australia and Burnie in Tasmania.

For the climate

Like nothing else, trees have the ability to sequester carbon through photosynthesis. So when production trees are harvested, that carbon remains within our products. It's good for fighting climate change and good for the environment.
Australia's plantations store 258 million tonnes of CO²e and the average timber home stores between 9 and 25 tonnes of CO²e.

For daily living

The products Australia's forestry sector is responsible for creating are many and varied, including: structural timber for house-frames and home renovations, timber floorboards and home furnishings like staircases, benchtops and decking. Cardboard boxes, paper and tissue products including toilet paper!
When the timber and wood-fibre for these products is grown and manufactured locally, it's being done to world best environmental standards while making a stronger Australia.

Industry Snapshots

The supply chain is divided up into several parts so take a look at the snapshots below on each section.

Pulp, Paper & Bioproducts

Forestry Plantations

Native Timber Industries

Softwood Timber Industries

Storing Carbon