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  4. Australia's forests – overview

Secondary Forests Australia

  • Forests Australia
    • Australia's forests
      • Forest profiles
        • Australia's forests-overview
        • Acacia forest
        • Callitris forest
        • Casuarina forest
        • Eucalypt forest
        • Mangrove forest
        • Melaleuca forest
        • Rainforest
        • Commercial plantations
    • Forest facts
    • Australia's State of the Forests Report
      • Synthesis 2023
      • Criterion 1: Conservation of biological diversity
        • 1.1a.i Forest area by type
          • 1.1a.i Supporting information
        • 1.1a.ii Forest area by tenure
          • 1.1a.ii Supporting information
        • 1.1a.iii Forest area in RFA regions
          • 1.1a.iii Supporting information
        • 1.1a.iv Forest area change over time
          • 1.1a.iv Supporting information
        • 1.1c: Area of forest protected for conservation
          • 1.1c: supporting information
        • 1.2a: Forest dwelling species
          • 1.2a: supporting information
        • 1.2b: Threatened forest dwelling species
          • 1.2b: supporting information
        • 1.3a: Species at risk from loss of genetic variation
          • 1.3a: supporting information
        • 1.3b: Genetic resource conservation
          • 1.3b: supporting information
      • Criterion 2: Productive capacity of forest ecosystems
        • 2.1a: Native forest available for wood production and the area harvested
        • 2.1b: Age class and growing stock of plantations
        • 2.1c: Annual removal of wood products compared to sustainable volumes
          • 2.1c.i Sustainable yield and harvest levels (2024)
          • 2.1c.ii Removals by log type (2024)
          • 2.1c.iii Forecast national log availability (2024)
        • 2.1e: Harvested area regenerated or re-established
      • Criterion 3: Ecosystem health and vitality
        • 3.1a: Forest health and vitality
          • 3.1a Supporting information
        • 3.1b: Area of forest burnt
          • 3.1b: supporting Information
      • Criterion 4: Soil and water resources
        • 4.1a: Area of forest managed for protective functions
      • Criterion 5: Forest contribution to global carbon cycles
        • 5.1a: Carbon in forests and forest products
      • Criterion 6: Socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies
        • 6.1a: Value and volume of wood and wood products
          • 6.1a: supporting information
        • 6.1d: Production, consumption, import/export of wood and non-wood products
        • 6.2b: Investment in research and development
          • 6.2b: supporting information
        • 6.4a: Indigenous forest estate
        • 6.5a: Direct and indirect employment
          • 6.5a: supporting information
        • 6.5b: Wage rates and injury rates
          • 6.5b: supporting information
        • 6.5c: Resilience of forest dependent communities
          • 6.5c: supporting information
        • 6.5d: Resilience of forest dependent Indigenous communities
          • 6.5d: supporting information
      • Criterion 7: Legal, institutional and economic framework for conservation and sustainable management
        • 7.1a: Legal framework
          • 7.1a: supporting information
        • 7.1b: Institutional framework
          • 7.1b: supporting information
        • 7.1e: Capacity to conduct and apply research and development
          • 7.1e supporting information
      • About Australia’s State of the Forests Report
      • Past reporting
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018
          • Executive summary
            • Data
          • Criterion 1 Conservation of biological diversity
          • Criterion 2: Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems
          • Criterion 3: Maintenance of ecosystem health and vitality
          • Criterion 4: Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources
          • Criterion 5: Maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles
          • Criterion 6: Maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies
          • Criterion 7: Legal, institutional and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management
          • Maps and other graphics
          • Data
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 2013
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 2008
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 2003
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 1998
      • Mandates and drivers for Australia's State of the Forests Report
      • Benefits of producing Australia's State of the Forests Reports
    • Criteria and Indicators for reporting
      • Alignment of Australia's indicators with Montreal Process indicators
      • Review
    • National Forest Inventory
      • National Forest Inventory Steering Committee
    • Forests, land and Australia’s Indigenous peoples
    • Forest and wood products statistics
    • Plantation inventory and statistics
    • Data, maps and tools
      • Data by topic
        • Area of forest
        • Fire in forests
        • Forest species and ecological communities
        • Indigenous land and forest
        • Native forests
        • Plantation forests
        • Regional Forest Agreements
        • Regional forestry profiles
        • Regional Forestry Hubs boundaries
        • Tenure of forests
        • Wood products statistics
      • Spatial data
        • Forests of Australia
        • Tenure of Australia's forests
        • Australia's Indigenous land and forest estate
        • Fires in Australia's forests
        • Regional Forestry Hubs boundaries
        • Australia's plantations
      • Data visualisations
        • Forestry regional profiles - data visualisation
        • Australia's native forest types - data visualisation
      • Maps
      • Tools
    • Publications
    • Forest agencies and organisations
    • Australia's forests and forestry glossary

Australia's forests – overview

This overview has been superseded by the 2019 version. 

View the complete Australian forest profiles series.

Information for this overview ​is drawn from Australia's State of the Forests Report 2013.

Eucalypt forest, New England National Park, New South Wales
Rohan Jacobson

Australia has 125 million hectares of forest, which is 16 per cent of Australia’s land area. This is about 3 per cent of the world’s forest area, and the seventh-largest reported forest area worldwide.

Australia’s forests are recognised and valued for their diverse ecosystems and unique biodiversity and for their provision of products such as wood. They perform important environmental functions, including storing carbon and protecting soil and water. Forests are also places with cultural, aesthetic and heritage values and provide recreational opportunities.

However, Australia’s forests are subject to many pressures, including extreme weather; drought; climate change; invasive weeds, pests and diseases; changed fire regimes; urban development; mining; agricultural management practices such as grazing; and the legacy of previous land management practices.

Distribution

Forests extend across Australia’s northern tropical regions, east coast subtropical regions, and warm and cool temperate zones in the south-east (Map 1). They are also found in Mediterranean climate zones in the south-east and south-west. In some regions, forests extend from the wetter coastal and sub-coastal areas into drier parts of the continent, and into sub-alpine and alpine zones. They grow on a range of soils, from ancient, fragile and infertile soils, to more recent, fertile soils of volcanic origin.


Open a high-resolution version of Map 1 that can be saved as a PNG file

Queensland has the largest proportion of Australia’s total forest area (41 per cent), followed by New South Wales (18 per cent) (Table 1).

Australia’s National Forest Inventory

ABARES, through the National Forest Inventory (NFI), provides comprehensive information and reporting on Australia’s forests. The NFI is also the repository for a range of data about Australia’s forests compiled from state, territory and Australian government agencies.

How a forest is defined in Australia

A forest is an area of land dominated by trees that have a height of at least two metres and a crown cover of at least 20 per cent. Crown cover is the area of ground covered by tree canopies, ignoring any overlaps and gaps.

Large expanses of tropical Australia where trees are spread out in the landscape are forest, as are many of areas of multi-stemmed eucalypt mallee. What many people would typically think of as forests—stands of tall, closely spaced trees—comprise a relatively small part of the country’s total forest area.

Table 1: Area of forest by state and territory, 2015
  Total forest area Proportion of total
forest area
(%)
(’000 hectares)
ACT 138 0.1
NSW 22 679 18
NT 15 219 12
Qld 51 038 41
SA 4 565 4
Tas. 3 706 3
Vic. 8 190 7
WA 19 201 15
Total 124 734 100

Note: Totals may not tally due to rounding.
Source: ABARES (2015)

Download Table 1 data as an Excel workbook

Rainforest canopy, Barron River, Queensland
Claire Howell

Forest definition in Australia's National Forest Inventory

In Australia, a forest is defined as an area, incorporating all living and non-living components, that is dominated by trees having usually a single stem and a mature or potentially mature stand height exceeding 2 metres and with existing or potential crown cover of overstorey strata about equal to or greater than 20 per cent. This includes Australia's diverse native forests and plantations, regardless of age. It is also sufficiently broad to encompass areas of trees that are sometimes described as woodlands.

Forest types

Australia’s native forests are grouped into eight types:

  • Acacia
  • Callitris
  • Casuarina
  • Eucalypt
  • Mangrove
  • Melaleuca
  • Rainforest
  • Other native forest.

More than 80 per cent of Australia’s native forest area is dominated by Eucalypt forest and Acacia forest (Table 2).

Industrial plantations are plantations grown on a commercial scale for wood production. ‘Other forest’ comprises non-industrial plantations and planted forest of various types.

Australia’s forests are classified in the National Forest Inventory into three categories: ‘Native forest’, ‘Industrial plantations’ and ‘Other forest’.

Table 2 Australia’s forest area by forest type, 2015
Forest type Total forest area Proportion of
total forest area
(%)
(’000 hectares)
Acacia 9 807 8
Callitris 2 136 2
Casuarina 1 288 1
Eucalypt 91 989 74
Mangrove  913 1
Melaleuca 6 302 5
Rainforest 3 598 3
Other native forest 6 547 5
Total native forest 122 581 98
Industrial plantation 1 999 2
Other forest  153 0.1
Total forest 124 734 100

Note: Totals may not tally due to rounding.
Source: ABARES (2015)

Download Table 2 data as an Excel workbook

Forest structure

Australia’s native forests are divided into three classes based on their crown cover and three classes based on mature tree height. Crown cover is the area of ground covered by tree canopies, ignoring any overlaps and gaps.

The crown cover classes are:

  • woodland forest (20 to 50 per cent crown cover)
  • open forest (>50 to 80 per cent crown cover)
  • closed forest (>80 to 100 per cent crown cover).

The height classes are:

  • low (2 to 10 metres)
  • medium (>10 to 30 metres)
  • tall (>30 metres).

Distribution of Australia’s native forest by crown cover class is shown in Map 2. A total of 81.7 million hectares (67 per cent) of Australia’s native forest area is woodland forest (Table 3). Open forests comprise 33.9 million hectares (28 per cent) and closed forests comprise 3.8 million hectares (3 per cent).

Open a high-resolution version of Map 2 that can be saved as a PNG file

The Eucalypt forest type is the largest component of both woodland forests (64.2 million hectares) and open forests (27.3 million hectares) (Table 3). The Rainforest forest type is the largest component of closed forests (2.6 million hectares).

Table 3 Area of native forest by crown cover, 2013 (’000 hectares)
Native forest type Woodland Open Closed Unknown Total
Acacia 7 387 2 385  35  0 9 807
Callitris  971 1 164  0  0 2 136
Casuarina 1 105  165  17  0 1 288
Eucalypt 64 229 27 333  426  0 91 989
Mangrove  107  373  432  0  913
Melaleuca 5 357  907  38  0 6 302
Rainforest  0 1 008 2 590  0 3 598
Other native forest 2 531  591  273 3 152 6 547
Total native forest 81 688 33 926 3 812 3 152 122 581

Totals may not tally due to rounding.

Download Table 3 data as an Excel workbook

Ownership

The ownership of a forest (or tenure), especially native forest, has a major bearing on its management. Six tenure categories are recognised nationally:

  • leasehold—Crown land that is privately managed
  • multiple-use public forest—publicly owned state forests and timber reserves
  • nature conservation reserve—land formally reserved for environmental, conservation and recreational purposes, including national parks, nature reserves, and state and territory recreational and conservation reserves
  • other Crown land—Crown land reserved for a variety of purposes, including utilities, scientific research, education, stock routes, mining, defence, and protection of water-supply catchments
  • private—land held under freehold title and privately owned
  • unresolved tenure—land for which data are insufficient to determine ownership status.

Distribution of Australia’s native forest by tenure is shown in Map 3. A total of 81.9 million hectares (67 per cent) of Australia’s native forest is privately managed on leasehold land and private land (Table 4), while 21.5 million hectares (18 per cent) are in formal nature conservation reserves.


Open a high-resolution version of Map 3 that can be saved as a PNG file

Table 4 Area of native forest by tenure, 2013
Tenure class Total forest
area
(’000 hectares)
Proportion of
total forest area
(%)
Leasehold  48 534 40
Multiple-use public forest 10 160 8
Nature conservation reserve 21 479 18
Other Crown land 8 146 7
Private  33 395 27
Unresolved tenure  871 1
Total forest 122 581 100

Note: Totals may not tally due to rounding.
Source: ABARES (2016)

Download Table 4 data as an Excel workbook

Forest and forest products certification

Certification of forests and forest products assures Australian and international buyers that the forest products they purchase come from sustainably managed and legally harvested native forests and plantations. Several private, accredited bodies conduct forest and supply chain certification in Australia. They use standards developed under the Australian Forest Certification Scheme or the Forest Stewardship Council. A total of 10.5 million hectares of native forests and plantations are certified under these standards.

Australia’s State of the Forests Report series

Australia's State of the Forests Report 2013

Data on Australia’s forests are compiled in the National Forest Inventory. These data are used to complete the Australia’s State of the Forests Report series​. A report is produced every five years through a collaboration between the Australian, state and territory governments, led by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. This Australian forest profiles series is based on information in Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2013, and will be updated with information from Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018​ in the near future.

Criteria for sustainable forest management

Australia is a member of the Montreal Process, which provides a framework for describing, monitoring and assessing forests. The framework uses seven broad criteria to characterise the essential components of sustainable forest management:

  • conservation of biological diversity
  • maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems
  • maintenance of ecosystem health and vitality
  • conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources
  • maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles
  • maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies
  • legal, institutional and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management.

Each criterion has a set of quantitative and qualitative indicators that are designed to measure progress and trends. A set of 44 indicators for use in Australia was adapted from the broader list to suit the specific characteristics of Australian forests, the products and environmental benefits they provide, and the people who depend on or use them. These criteria and indicators are used in the Australia’s State of the Forests Report series.

Bibliography

ABARES 2015, Australia’s forests at a glance 2015, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.

ABARES 2016, Forests of Australia (2013) v2.0, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

Boland, D, Brooker, M, Chippendale, G, Hall, N, Hyland, B, Johnston, R, Kleinig, D, McDonald, M & Turner, J 2006, Forest trees of Australia, 5th edn, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Montreal Process Implementation Group for Australia & National Forest Inventory Steering Committee 2013, Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2013, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.

The Montreal Process Working Group 2009, Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests, The Montreal Process, 4th ed.

​

This profile is also available in PDF format [5MB]

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Page last updated: 16 February 2023

We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia. We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Artwork: Protecting our Country, Growing our Future
© Amy Allerton, contemporary Aboriginal Artist of the Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Gamilaroi nations.

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