Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018

Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018 (SOFR 2018) is the fifth in the series of Australia's State of the Forests Reports. The purpose of the report is to keep the public informed about Australia's forests, their management, use and conservation, and to provide information on how they are changing. It is also used to report on the state of Australia's forests to the world. SOFR 2018 reports data for the five-year period from 2011-12 to 2015-16, unless otherwise stated. ABARES is in the process of updating indicators for SOFR with data up to or as at 2021, with the intention of publishing the updated indicators from mid to late 2023.

SOFR 2018 is a key source of comprehensive, current information on Australia's forests for use by industry, state, territory and Australian governments, and research and educational institutions. It also underpins a range of international reporting requirements.​

Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018 is available as an accessible PDF [27 MB].

An accessible PDF of SOFR 2018 [62 MB] with higher resolution maps and images is also available.

​​Executive summary​

Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018 – Executive summary draws together the material presented in SOFR 2018 into nine key themes. ​It is available as an accessible PDF [8.3 MB] and on the Executive summary​ page.

Criteria and indicators

Seven criteria and 44 indicators provide the framework and methodology for reporting on Australia's forests. The criteria also form the chapters of the report, as follows, with the data for each Criteria also available below:

• Beginning sections (Foreword, Acknowledgements, Acronyms and Abbreviations, Agency name changes, Executive summary, Introduction) – accessible PDF [5.5 MB]
• Criterion 1: Conservation of biological diversity​
• Criterion 2: Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems
• Criterion 3: Maintenance of ecosystem health and vitality
• Criterion 4: Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources
• Criterion 5: Maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles
• Criterion 6: Maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies
• Criterion 7: Legal, institutional and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management​
• Final sections (Appendix, Glossary, References, Index) – accessible PDF [3.2 MB]

This publication (and any material sourced from it) should be attributed as: Montreal Process Implementation Group for Australia and National Forest Inventory Steering Committee, 2018, Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2018, ABARES, Canberra, December. CC BY 4.0.

Maps​​ and other graphics​

Downloadable versions of the maps and other graphics published in SOFR 2018 are available at ​​​Maps and other graphics.​​​

Spatial datasets​

Downloadable versions of the spatial datasets underpinning key indicators in SOFR 2018 are available at ​​Forest spatial data.​​​​

Australia's native forest - data visualisation

Australia's native forest - data visualisation allows users to display data for Australia's native forest types by state or territory, tenure, crown cover, height and Indigenous ownership and management category. This visualisation of Australia's native forest data brings together data from three key national datasets used to prepare Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018.

Australia's forests and forestry glossary

Australia's forests and forestry glossary is a stand-alone publication developed from the glossary published in Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018 and contains definitions of terms related to forests and forestry at the national level in Australia.