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Victoria’s State forests cover 3.4 million hectares, or about half of the public land in Victoria. These forests have important roles to play in protecting biodiversity and water catchments. They also contribute to the economic and social wellbeing of communities by providing jobs in timber, non-timber resources and eco-tourism as well as opportunities for recreation, camping and quiet enjoyment. Only twenty percent of Victoria's State forests is set aside for commercial harvesting of native hardwoods and approximately one percent of this area is set aside for commercial harvesting each year. It is then regenerated. This harvesting and regeneration will be VicForests’ responsibility, along with the sale of the timber. VicForests was declared a State business corporation in October 2003, and commenced operations on 1 August 2004. It is the result of many policy developments in forest management, regional development, national competition policy and ecologically sustainable development. In particular, the policy Our Forests Our Future heralded the need for the separation of land stewardship responsibilities from those of commercial harvesting and licensing of sawlog production. |
That separation is now transparent. The Department of Sustainability and Environment remains custodian of all public land, and is responsible for ensuring that all uses of our forests are sustainable. That includes managing the entire range of forest uses and values, including protecting forest ecosystems from wildfire, disease, pests and weeds, as well as managing forests for timber production. In the areas entrusted to it, VicForests will pursue the commercial operations of coupe preparation, harvesting and regeneration, and the commercial sales of the harvested forest timber. The Department of Sustainability and Environment is responsible for sustainable forest management, and VicForests is responsible for sustainable and commercial timber harvesting.
