This indicator measures and monitors management regimes for non-Indigenous cultural values, such as historical, research, education, aesthetic, and social heritage values. Maintaining these values is integral to the protection of non-Indigenous peoples values associated with forests.
This is the Key information for Indicator 6.4b, published April 2026.
- A total of 10.3 million hectares of Australia’s forests are on non-Indigenous heritage-listed sites. This represents 8% of the total area of Australia’s 134 million hectares of forest.
- The total forest area on non-Indigenous heritage-listed sites includes all natural, cultural and historic sites of significance held in national and state and territory heritage registers.
Australia’s forested landscapes are deeply valued for their natural value and the sense of connection to nature that they provide to all people.
Heritage includes the diverse range of tangible places of significant natural, cultural or historical value, and the intangible connections that people have with places and history. For example, forests cover much of the parks and reserves of the Australian Alps, which is recognised on the National Heritage List for the intangible connections people have to its distinctive landscapes, and the tangible connections to the endemic wildlife, significant geology and colonial history; and the Bundaleer Forest Reserve, listed on the South Australian Heritage Register for its significant contribution in the development of forest management practices and cited as the birthplace of Australia’s forest industry.
The understanding, identifying and conserving of heritage of value is an important component that contributes to national identity and connects the past with the present and future. Heritage may have value at local, state, national or international scales.
Management of recognised heritage places in Australia is undertaken at different levels of government often in co-operation with individuals, groups and organisations. Commonwealth and state and territory legislation exists to protect sites that are recognised to hold significant heritage value. At the national scale, the National Heritage List recognises natural, cultural and historic places of outstanding value to the nation, and the Commonwealth Heritage List recognises sites with heritage value on Commonwealth land. Heritage places on both lists are protected by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Heritage places in Australia listed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage List are also protected under the EPBC Act. Reporting on forests in Australia’s World Heritage places is in Indicator 1.1c Area of forest in protected area categories.
Information on forest on Indigenous heritage sites is reported in Indicator 6.4a Area of forest to which Indigenous people have use and rights that protect their special values and are recognised through formal and informal management regimes.
A total of 10.3 million hectares of forest on non-Indigenous heritage-listed sites occur across Australia (Figure 6.4b-1). This includes forest on all sites in the National Heritage List, Commonwealth Heritage List, and state and territory heritage registers current to 2025.
Figure 6.4b-1: Forest on non-Indigenous heritage-listed sites
Click here for a higher resolution copy of Figure 6.4b-1.
The 10.3 million hectares of forest on non-Indigenous heritage sites is 0.7 million hectares less than the area reported for 2016 in Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2018. Differences are due primarily to the net change in the area of forest on sites added and removed from heritages lists since 2016. For example, the Murray Mallee–Calperum Station and Taylorville Station heritage site in South Australia was delisted from the Commonwealth Heritage List in 2022, which reduced the area of forest on heritage sites by 0.3 million hectares. Additional differences occur due to the updated forest extent in existing heritage sites and the variability of completeness of data on heritage sites supplied by states and territories.
Click here for a Microsoft Excel workbook of the data for Table 6.4b-1.
Of Australia’s total forest area of 134 million hectares, 7.7% is on non-Indigenous heritage listed sites (Table 6.4b-1). By jurisdiction, the Australian Capital Territory has the highest proportion of forest that is heritage listed (75%) owing to the heritage-listed Namadgi National Park, which covers most of the territory.
Non-Indigenous heritage sites occur across all tenure classes; however, most forest on non-Indigenous heritage-listed sites is on public land tenures of nature conservation reserves and other Crown land (Table 6.4b-1). The management approach for the protection and preservation of heritage values of listed sites is dependent on the land ownership, heritage register and law under which is it listed, and the type of heritage asset. For example, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, sites on the Commonwealth Heritage List that are owned or controlled by Australian Government agencies are required to develop heritage strategies and management plans for the protection of heritage values.
For sites on the National Heritage List that occur on state or territory land the Australian Government must endeavour to ensure that a management plan is prepared and implemented in cooperation with the relevant state or territory government. Each state and territory heritage register applies similar principles for the establishment of strategies and instruments that provide for the protection and preservation of heritage values. Information on the various international, national, and state and territory heritage registers and relevant jurisdictional Acts are provided in the Supporting Information for Indicator 6.4b.
Further information
- Heritage registers for non-Indigenous heritage sites.