Sustainable Forestry
VicForests harvests on average 5 500 hectares of native forest per year. This equates to 0.07% of the total 7.84 million hectares of Victoria's native forests.1
To harvest sustainably, we:
Ensure that the rate we harvest is less than the rate that the forest grows back
By harvesting only 0.07% of forest each year we are leaving 99.93% to continue growing.
Follow strict environmental guidelines that ensure special areas and values are protected
VicForests is legislated by the Victorian Government's Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004. We are regularly audited by independent auditors to check that we are complying with these standards. We have been certified to the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS), which is aligned to the global Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the largest certification system in the world.
Replant every area we harvest with the same trees that we remove.
VicForests replants all the areas that are harvested. VicForests uses seed local to the area, and regularly monitors to ensure all the tree species that were present before harvesting, return. We can not return the land to the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), until we have passed strict standards.
Monitor changes to our forests such as fire and modify our practices to reflect these changes.
VicForests continues to work with DSE to develop our understanding of forest behaviour. After each large fire, we review the areas burnt and adjust our sustainable harvest yields accordingly. An example of this planning process is the JOSHL document.
Comply with all aspects of the Victorian Government's Sustainability Charter
VicForests reports on its compliance with the Sustainability Charter annually in our Annual and Sustainability Report.
1 Australia's State of the Forests Report 2008, Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry