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  4. Australia's State of the Forests Report
  5. Criterion 1
  6. 1.1a.iii Forest in RFA regions

Secondary Forests Australia

  • 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

1.1a.iii Forest area in Regional Forest Agreement regions (2023)

This indicator (Indicator 1.1a) uses the area for each forest type over time as a broad measure of the extent to which forest ecosystems and their diversity are being maintained. Reporting on forest tenure aids our understanding of how different land management regimes may impact on forest biodiversity.

This part of Indicator 1.1a Area of forest by forest type and tenure, published December 2023, presents the area of Australia’s forests in Regional Forest Agreement regions by forest category, type and tenure.

  • Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) are long-term Commonwealth–state agreements for the conservation and sustainable management of specific regions of Australia’s native and plantation forests.
  • Ten RFAs across eleven regions cover 21.7 million hectares of forest in south-eastern and south-western Australia.
  • RFAs cover 5% of Australia’s land area, contain 16% of Australia’s total forest area and account for 61% of the total area of multiple-use public native forest.ge

Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) are long-term Commonwealth–state agreements for the conservation and sustainable management of specific regions of Australia’s native and plantation forests.

A key outcome of the National Forest Policy Statement was the negotiation of RFAs between the Australian Government and four state governments. The origins and development of Australia’s RFAs are described in Davey (2018). The RFAs were designed to balance the competing values placed on forests and provide certainty for forest-based industries, and were informed by science-based methodologies and Comprehensive Regional Assessments (CRAs) that determined forest allocation for different uses and underpinned forest management strategies.

Between 1997 and 2001 ten RFAs covering 11 regions were signed between the Australian Government and the New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia state governments (Figure 1.1a.iii-1). The Upper North East and Lower North East RFA regions of New South Wales are covered by a single RFA. The Australian and Queensland governments completed a CRA for south-east Queensland, however an RFA was not signed and is not reported herein. Between 2017 and 2020 all ten RFAs were varied and extended. RFAs in New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia were extended on a 20-year rolling agreement, and RFAs in Victoria were extended to 2030.

Core objectives of RFAs were the promotion of ecologically sustainable forest management and sustainable yield of wood products, and the development of a comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) reserve system on public and private land. The scientific framework behind the CAR reserve system underpins the National Reserve System, Australia’s network of protected areas. Information on forests in protected area categories is reported in Indicator 1.1c. A compilation of data on reservation and resource availability outcomes for all RFA regions is reported in Jacobsen et al. (2020) using the forest ecosystems mapped at the time the RFAs were signed.

Figure 1.1a.iii-1: Regional Forest Agreement and related regions, and current forest cover. Download a high-resolution image from the link below the image.

Click here to download a high-resolution version of Figure 1.1a.iii-1.

The ten RFAs across eleven RFA regions cover 39.2 million hectares of south-eastern and south-western Australia (Figure 1.1a.iii-1, Table 1.1a.iii-1), and include 21.7 million hectares of Australia’s forests (55% of the total area of RFA regions, and 16% of Australia’s total forest area).

The total forest area in RFA regions of 21.7 million hectares comprises: 20.5 million hectares of native forests (94% of all forest in RFA regions); 1.1 million hectares of commercial plantations (5.2%); and 0.1 million hectares of other forests (0.4%). The 1.1 million hectares of commercial plantations in RFA regions is 62% of the total area of Australia’s commercial plantations.

The largest areas of forest in RFA regions are found in: New South Wales (42% of total forest in RFA regions); Victoria (28%); Tasmania (17%); and Western Australia (13%).

The largest areas of forest by individual RFA regions (Table 1.1a.iii-1) are in the: Tasmanian RFA region (3.7 million hectares of forest); Lower North East New South Wales region (3.4 million hectares); and South West Forest Region of Western Australia (2.8 million hectares).

Table 1.1a.iii-1: Area of forest in Regional Forest Agreement Regions, by state. Download the table as a Microsoft Excel file from the link below the image.

Click here for a Microsoft Excel workbook of the data for Table 1.1a.iii-1.

Forest in RFA regions occurs mostly across the three tenure classes of Nature conservation reserve, Multiple-use public forest and Private forest (Table 1.1a.iii-2):

  • 7.9 million hectares of forest in RFA regions is on Nature conservation reserve (37% of all forest in RFA regions)
  • 6.5 million hectares are on Multiple-use public forest tenure (30%)
  • 6.5 million hectares are on Private tenure (30%).

RFA regions contain a significant portion of Australia’s total native forest area on Multiple-use public forest tenure. RFA regions cover 5.1% of Australia’s land area, but contain 16% of Australia’s total forest area, and account for 61% of the total area of Multiple-use public native forest.

RFA regions also contain 36% of Australia’s total native forest area on Nature conservation reserve tenure.

The tenure of forest land in RFAs varies across regions. Three RFA regions in New South Wales (Southern, Upper North East and Lower North East) contain smaller proportions of their forest area as Multiple-use public forest (15%, 18% and 14%, respectively), and larger proportions of their forest areas as either on Nature conservation reserve tenure (Southern, 48%) and Private forest tenure (Upper North East and Lower North East, 52% and 44% respectively). This contrasts with four RFA regions in Victoria (Central Highlands, East Gippsland, Gippsland and North East), which contain larger proportions of their forest area on Multiple-use public forest tenure (55%, 52%, 55% and 57%, respectively) and smaller proportions of their forest area on Private forest tenure (17%, 6%, 13% and 13% respectively).

Table 1.1a.iii-2: Area of forest by tenure in Regional Forest Agreement Regions, by state. Download the table as a Microsoft Excel file from the link below the image.

Click here for a Microsoft Excel workbook of the data for Table 1.1a.iii-2.

Davey SM (2018). Regional forest agreements: origins, development and contributions, Australian Forestry 81: 64–88. 

Jacobsen R, Davey SM, Read SM (2020). Regional forest agreements: compilation of reservation and resource availability outcomes, ABARES Technical report 20.11, Canberra, December.

Further information

Click here for Supporting information on 1.1a.iii Forest area by Regional Forest Agreement regions

  • Forest types in RFA regions
  • Differences in forest areas in RFA regions in 2018 and 2023
  • Difference in forest areas in RFA regions in other reporting

Downloads

  • Indicator 1.1a.iii Forest area in Regional Forest Agreement regions - pdf
  • Tabular data for Indicator 1.1a.iii - Microsoft Excel workbook

This publication (and any material sourced from it) should be attributed as Montreal Process Implementation Group for Australia (MIG) and National Forest Inventory Steering Committee (NFISC) 2023, Indicator 1.1a.iii Forest area in Regional Forest Agreement regions, Australia’s State of the Forests Report, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra, December. CC BY 4.0.

Downloadable version of 1.1a.iii Forest area in Regional Forest Agreement regions

Access the other three parts of Indicator 1.1a here, or via the left menu.

Context

Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) were established to provide a framework for sustainable forest management and conservation in regions containing substantial forestry activities. There are 10 RFAs across New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.

Definition

Regional Forest Agreement: an agreement between the Australian Government and a state government about the long-term management and use of forests in a region, and that meets the requirements listed in the Commonwealth Regional Forest Agreements Act 2002.

Other terms used here can be found in Australia’s forests and forestry glossary.

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Page last updated: 25 October 2024

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