Mandate for the production of Australia’s State of the Forests Reports
In 1992, the Australian Government and state and territory governments issued a National Forest Policy Statement which set out a vision for Australia's forests and associated goals, objectives and policies. The National Forest Policy Statement commits governments, among other things, to publish a review of the state of the forests every five years.
The Commonwealth Regional Forest Agreements Act 2002 also commits the Commonwealth to creating a publicly available source of information on Australia’s forests.
The Australia's State of the Forests Report series gives effect to the reporting commitments of the National Forest Policy Statement and the Regional Forest Agreements Act 2002. Data compiled into the National Forest Inventory underpin this reporting.
Mandate for the use of the Montréal Process criteria and indicators framework for Australia’s State of the Forests reporting
The seven criteria for sustainable forest management used in the Australia's State of the Forests Report series were developed by the international-level Montréal Process Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests, of which Australia is a founding member. The former Ministerial Council on Forestry Fisheries and Aquaculture (MCFFA) endorsed the use of the Montréal Process criteria and indicators as a basis for assessing progress towards sustainable forest management at the national level, and led to development of Australia's current set of 44 national indicators that suit the reporting of Australia's unique forests under the seven Montréal Process criteria.
The full paper Mandates and drivers for Australia’s State of the Forests Report series and Montréal Process reporting is available for download in MSWord [30 KB].
Also available is a summary of the Benefits of producing Australia's State of the Forests Reports.