Green Triangle Winter Newsletter

The latest newsletter from the Green Triangle is available on the internet. Click on the link to read the Winter Newsletter. It is only 260 KB, but you'll need Adobe Acrobat to read it.

South Australian Tree Farmers of the Year

Nick and Rosalie Hunt are the 2008 Australian Forest Growers South Australian Tree Farmers of the Year.

The Hunt family have owned the Winteriga property at Kalangadoo in the South East since Nick’s great grandfather cleared the red gums to provide pasture for his stock. He did this quite successfully and in 1983 after the Ash Wednesday fires there were only 96 pre-settlement trees remaining on the 360ha property. Around this time Nick and Rosalie took over management of the property and have undertaken extensive windbreak and corridor establishment, rehabilitated two wetlands, and planted numerous woodlots to create the best environmental effect. Trees now number between a quarter and half a million – with encouraged natural regeneration adding to the extensive tree plantings.

Winteriga is a mixed business property with around 520 head of cattle and 8ha of apple trees.  Forestry species planted include Eucalyptus globulus, E. saligna, Corymbia maculata, Acacia melanoxylon and Saltgrow E. camaldulensis hybrids as well as mixed plantings in a South Australian Farm Tree Improvement Project species/provenance trial. Winteriga has 7.2 kms of shelterbelts and corridors, 8 ha of biodiversity plantings, 15 ha of remnant vegetation and 18.6 ha of timber production plantings and coppice. There are also large remnant red gums scattered throughout the pastures and within plantations. With 124 bird species and 5 frog species recorded on the farm and these numbers slowly increasing, it is an indication of a healthy farm.

The AFG Tree Farmer of the Year Award honours and acknowledges landowners or private forest managers who, by their personal efforts, have demonstrably managed to establish or maintain areas of forest on their property for the purposes of sustainable commerce in the products attainable from trees, protection for either catchments or crops, or for reasons of conserving biodiversity or a particular forest ecosystem. The award is presented at the regional AFG grouop level, winners are then eligible for the state award and the state winner goes into the national final which will be presented at the AFG Conference in Albury in October.

The winner of the South Australian award receives a cash bursary to assist with costs associated with attending the conference. For further information on the award go to http://www.afg.asn.au/awards/tree_farmer_of_the_year.html

Summit addresses foresters shortage

A full house of 70 representatives attended the Tertiary Forestry Education Summit hosted by the Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA) in Canberra on 20 May 2008 to address the shortage of professional foresters brought about by the lack of student enrolments in forestry
tertiary courses.

Read the IFA's media release (10 June 2008) 

Australian forest report card: plantations and reserves growing

Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2008 shows Australia’s forest plantations now produce two-thirds of the nation’s log supply and our forests and plantations offset around 9% of our greenhouse emissions.

See the Australian Government's Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry' media release (21 May 2008)

Proposed changes to planning rules for commercial forestry

The State Government is proposing changes to the planning policies applying to commercial forestry development in seven council areas across the Mount Lofty Ranges region.

The proposed changes introduce consistency in policy that will apply across existing zones which already envisage commercial forestry as a potential activity within those seven councils to ensure:

• commercial forests are established in the most appropriate locations to limit their impact on the environment, including on valued existing vegetation and water courses (with their impact on water quality, in particular in the Fleurieu, a key consideration)
• commercial forests are appropriately set back from dwellings and powerlines and that bushfire protection measures are followed, including firebreaks and vehicle access
• designate commercial forestry as a Category 2 form of development in areas that have been recognised as being appropriate for such development

The proposed changes are contained in a Development Plan Amendment (DPA) document, released for public consultation until 21 April 2008. Further information: www.planning.sa.gov.au/go/ForestryDPA

Rann announces nation’s first carbon neutral Cabinet  

See the Premier's media release (January 23 2008)

Parliament gives go ahead for Penola Pulp Mill

See the Minister for Forests' media release (18 October 2007)

River Murray forest launched

See the Premier's media release (16 August 2007)

Timber industry claims unfounded

See the Minister for Forests' media release (7 August 2007)

Groundwater extraction in the Lower South East

See the Minister for Environment and Conservation's media release (31 July 2007)

Forestry opportunities are growing

The South Australian Parliament has recently amended the Forest Property Act 2000 to provide new business opportunities for plantation owners and farm foresters.

The amended act enables separate ownership of land, forest vegetation and the carbon rights in that vegetation.

The act provides for two forms of Forest Property Agreement (for vegetation and carbon rights) that can be registered on the Lands Title register. Both forms of agreement bind the future owners of the land.

Once agreements are established, private landowners will be able to sell their forests and/or carbon rights to provide additional income without selling their land. 

This versatility helps set up a framework to realise the greenhouse gas abatement benefits from forest growing and means that South Australia will be well-placed if carbon trading schemes are developed in the future. This will be of most benefit to those growing trees for harvest but also enables the carbon within vegetation planted for biodiversity to be sold.

Prior to the development of this legislation, landholders did not have the opportunity to sell their forests or carbon rights without selling their land.