This criterion aims to show the extent to which Australia's forests contribute to national and regional economies, benefit personal and community wellbeing, and support cultural values.
Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018
Criterion 6 of Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018 is available as an accessible PDF [8.8 MB]
This criterion reports on the role of Australia’s forests in the carbon cycle, including the amount of carbon stored in Australia’s forests, and the effects of natural disturbance, forest management and forest land-use change on forest carbon dynamics. It also reports the amount of carbon stored in wood products.
Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018
This criterion is concerned with two of the fundamental components of a forest ecosystem: soil and water. Forests are important for soil conservation because they contribute directly to soil production and maintenance, and prevent or reduce soil erosion. Forested catchments also provide and protect high-quality water supplies for a range of uses.
Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018
This criterion aims to cover the range of agents and processes that affect the health and vitality of native forests and commercial plantations, including the scale and impact of vertebrate and invertebrate pests, pathogens and weeds, environmental factors such as drought and extreme weather events, and the impacts of forest fire, including the area of forest burnt by planned fires and by unplanned fires.
Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018
This criterion aims to provide insights into whether Australia’s native forests and commercial plantations used to produce wood and non-wood products are managed in a way that maintains their capacity to continue to produce those products in the long term.
Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018
This criterion addresses aspects of the conservation of the biological diversity of forests, which is a key part of sustainable forest management. Biodiversity refers to the full range of plants, animals and microorganisms occurring in a given area, the genes they contain and the ecosystems they form.
Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018
Australia's State of the Forests Report 2013 (SOFR 2013) is the fourth in the series of State of the Forests Reports. Previous national reports were published in 2008, 2003 and 1998. The purpose of the report was to keep the public informed about Australia's forests, their management, use and conservation, and to provide information on how they are changing. It was also used to report on the state of Australia's forests to the world.
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.
Articulating the benefits of producing Australia's State of the Forests Reports (SOFRs) is an element of reviewing the production of the reports, as a way of ensuring that identified benefits are maintained through any change to how the reports are produced.
The state of Australia’s forests is reported across 44 indicators of sustainable forest management. These indicators and associated content are published as components of Australia’s State of the Forests Report, presenting comprehensive information on all of Australia's forests, including biophysical, conservation, social, cultural and economic aspects of forests.
Australia’s State of the Forests Report is now a web-based product via rolling updates to the 44 indicators based on the availability of new data.
