Benefits of producing Australia's State of the Forests Reports
Articulating the benefits of producing Australia's State of the Forests Reports (SOFRs) is an element of reviewing the production of the reports, as a way of ensuring that identified benefits are maintained through any change to how the reports are produced. A 'SOFR benefits paper' was therefore prepared by ABARES on behalf of the National Forest Inventory Steering Committee and the Montréal Process Implementation Group for Australia, and was endorsed for publication by the Forestry and Forest Products Committee, which reports to the Australian Agriculture Ministers Forum.
The comprehensive and consistent nature of the SOFR series, and the wide range of users, leads to the following benefits of producing the series:
- Informed policy and decision-making
- Informed industry development and improved capacity to inform decision-making, regionally, nationally and internationally
- Improved trade and market access from the reassurance and confidence provided to communities about the sustainable management of Australia's forests
- Informed research and analysis by consultants and academics
- An informed community.
Other outcomes from the preparation and production of the SOFR series include:
- Fulfilling national legislative and policy obligations
- Efficient compilation of data facilitated by the formal structure of the Montréal Process framework of criteria and indicators
- Efficient input into national and international reporting
- Efficient state and regional reporting
- Compatibility with certification frameworks
The full paper Benefits of producing Australia's State of the Forests Reports is available for download in PDF [0.4 MB] and MSWord [<0.1 MB] formats.
Also available is a summary of the Mandates and drivers for Australia's State of the Forests Report.