Indicator 7.1a: Extent to which the legal framework supports the conservation and sustainable management of forests (2024)

• All states and territories and the Australian Government have legislation that supports the conservation and sustainable management of Australia’s forests.
• A total of 37.7 million hectares (28% of total forest area) were covered by management plans relating to their conservation and sustainable management in 2021.
• Forest management codes of practice are a legal requirement for prescribing standards for sustainable forest management practices in public and private plantation and native forests managed for wood production in some states and territories.

In Australia, state and territory governments have primary responsibility for land and forest management. In addition, the Australian Government has certain national-level powers and responsibilities, particularly through the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and Regional Forest Agreements.

All states and territories have legislation and dependent regulations designed to ensure the conservation and sustainable management of forests in their jurisdictions (Table 7.1a-1). Some of this legislation is administered jointly by, and requires coordination between, state or territory and local governments, statutory authorities and regional management authorities.

State and territory legislative provisions cover planning, review, and regulation of forest management activities in multiple-use public forests, public nature conservation reserves and, to a lesser extent, private and leasehold forests. Applying best practice standards to forest management activities is generally a legislative requirement. An effective legal and regulatory framework therefore promotes continuous improvement in the sustainable management of forests.

Table 7.1a-1: Current key legislation that supports conservation and sustainable management of Australia’s forests, by jurisdiction

Source: State, territory and Australian Government agencies.

A forest area with a management plan is an area for which there is a long-term, documented and periodically reviewed management plan containing defined management goals.

Australia’s publicly managed plantation forests and public native forests (including those in nature conservation reserves and those available for wood production) are governed and managed under state or territory regulatory frameworks and management plans that provide guidance for sustainable forest management practices. A small number of nature conservation reserves are governed and managed by the Australian Government under Commonwealth legislation and management plans prescribed in that legislation. Some privately owned or managed forests covered by a forest certification scheme also have formal management plans.

As at 2021, a total of 37.7 million hectares (28% of Australia’s forests) were covered by management plans relating to their conservation and sustainable management (Table 7.1a-2). Management plans are in place for 25.9 million hectares of forest in the National Reserve System, and 10.8 million hectares of multiple-use public forest and the Defence estate.

Click here for a Microsoft Excel workbook of the data for Table 7.1a-2.

The increase compared to Australia’s State of the Forest Report 2018 in the area of ‘Primarily conservation’ forest with a management plan is due to additional areas that now have a management plan, as well as consideration of additional types of conservation area (World Heritage areas, Ramsar wetlands, and informal reserves). The decrease in the area of ‘Multiple values including wood production’ forest with a management plan is mainly due to the area previously reported for Queensland (18.2 million hectares at 2016) now being considered anomalous as it results from certification then removal of largely non-forested areas from Queensland’s defined forest area.

Table 7.1a-3: Examples of management plans prescribed in legislation for the conservation and sustainable management of Australia’s forests

The New South Wales plans required under the Forestry Act 2012 include the ESFM Plan Riverina Region, ESFM Plan Western Region, Forest Management Plan Softwood Plantations Division, and Hardwood Forests Division – Forest Management Plan for the Coastal Forests of New South Wales.

Source: State, territory and Australian Government agencies.

Forest management codes of practice provide specific guidance for sustainable forest management practices in public and private plantations and native forests managed for wood production in each state and territory, as well as in nature conservation reserves in Tasmania. In production forests the codes cover a range of issues, such as forest planning; forest access and roads; forest harvesting; the conservation of non-wood values; pest, weed and fire management; and the harvesting of non-wood forest products. The codes vary in their legal status and coverage as summarised in Table 7.1a-4.

Table 7.1a-4: Forest management codes of practice, their legal status and coverage, by jurisdiction

Notes to Table 7.1a-4:

• Legal status is in relation to sustainable forest management. 
• Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOAs) are in place for the following regions: Coastal (which includes the previous IFOA regions of Upper North East, Lower North East, Eden, Southern), South Western Cypress, River Red Gum, and Brigalow-Nandewar.
• New Private Native Forestry Codes of Practice were released on 02 May 2022 for four regions in New South Wales (Northern NSW, Southern NSW, River Red Gum Forests, Cypress and Western Hardwood). 
• The Sustainable Forestry Practices – Guidelines for the Northern Territory (2021) is not a code of practice, and has no legal status, but is included because it was developed to provide public information on forestry best practice. The Sustainable Forestry Practices – Guidelines for the Northern Territory (2021) was developed because the Codes of Practice for Forestry Plantations (2004), which also has no legal status, was deemed to be no longer fit for purpose by the Northern Territory forestry industry. 
• Source: State and territory government agencies.