Forest Products Industry

Australia’s forests are ecologically and economically significant landscapes. They support biodiversity, store carbon, provide timber, and sustain a wide range of environmental and social values. Source: Timberbiz Developing a consistent understanding of these forests is therefore becoming increasingly important for their effective monitoring, reporting and management. Australia already has a wealth of forest data, but these observations are often collected by different agencies using different methods, technologies and standards. The challenge is not simply a lack of data, but the difficulty of bringing these datasets together consistently across regions and through time. SkyForest, an Australian Forest and Wood Innovations (AFWI) initiative, delivered via AFWI Centre for Climate-Smart Forestry (CCSF), is responding to this challenge by contributing to the framework of a nationally consistent forest inventory framework for Australia. In partnership with the NSW Natural Resources Commission (NRC), Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW), and CSIRO, the project is prototyping a transparent, auditable and open operational data platform, called Monitoring and Observation System for Australian Forest Inventory and Change (MOSAIC), that brings together existing forest observations across spatial and temporal scales. It is at this intersection between detailed field observations, remote sensing and forest change that Aakash Chhabra, based at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE), Western Sydney University, brings his research experience and capability in developing operational monitoring systems to SkyForest. He works with Distinguished Professor Belinda Medlyn, who leads SkyForest at Western Sydney University. Aakash’s research work has centred on using multi-sensor remote sensing to under-stand forests before, during and after disturbance, particularly wildfire impacts and recovery. During his PhD with Professor Marta Yebra, he combined SAR and optical satellite time series to map the severity of the 2019/2020 “Black Summer” wildfires and monitor recovery across the south-eastern coastline. He later extended this work at NASA Ames Research Centre by developing the Opti-SAR framework, that integrates optical, and multi-frequency radar observations to investigate fire severity of the 2025 Southern California wildfires. Within SkyForest, Aakash is applying this multi-sensor perspective to strengthen an approach that moves beyond traditional indicators such as greenness alone and places greater emphasis on forest structure. His vision is to strengthen the integration of complementary observations, including field inventory measurements, airborne and ground-based LiDAR, and optical and radar satellite data, to build a more complete picture of Australian forests. Connecting these datasets across scales can help reveal not only their current condition, but how they have changed through time, how they respond to natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and how those changes unfold afterwards. Through this work, Aakash contributes to SkyForest’s broader ambition of moving forest monitoring beyond a static description of Australia’s forests towards a system capable of capturing structure, condition and change through time. In doing so, the project also contributes to a wider national discussion around what a modern Australian forest monitoring system should look like, and operationally useful and capable of revealing not only where change is occurring, but how and why it is happening.

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Queensland’s future homes, manufacturing capability and regional economies will depend on decisions made today about the state’s future forest resource. A technical report commissioned by the South & Central Queensland Regional Forestry Hub has identified significant opportunities to strengthen future timber supply, support regional investment and improve long-term resource security across Queensland. Source: Timberbiz The study explores plantation expansion, afforestation opportunities, native forest regrowth management, carbon sequestration and forest resource planning. The technical report was commissioned to help address one of the most significant challenges facing the forest and timber sector: ensuring Queensland can meet future demand for timber products while supporting regional jobs, manufacturing growth and environmental outcomes. The work aligns closely with Queensland Future Timber in Focus: Prosper 2050 Delivering Now 2026–2030, the Queensland Government’s first five-year implementation plan under the Queensland Future Timber Plan 2050, which aims to secure and grow sustainable timber resources to support housing, infrastructure, economic development and environmental outcomes. The study findings highlight several significant opportunities and challenges for the sector: Spatial modelling identified significant areas of land suitable for future plantation development and assessed opportunities involving timber production, carbon storage and grazing across the South and Central Queensland region. A study undertaken through the native regrowth carbon sequestration project identified approximately 1.5 million hectares of commercially important regrowth or potential regrowth forest and highlighted opportunities to better recognise the carbon value of managed forests. A technical report examining manufacturing competitiveness identified con-strained timber supply and increasing demand as key challenges for future industry growth Analysis of forest management models found multiple-use forests consistently generated greater long-term benefits than protection-only models, with an assessment estimating approximately $5.4 billion in benefits over a 100-year evaluation period.   Kerry Fullarton, Manager of the South & Central Queensland Regional Forestry Hub, said the study provides practical evidence to support future planning and investment decisions. “Queensland has significant opportunities to strengthen its future forest resource, but realising those opportunities requires informed decision-making and a long-term view of resource security, ” said Ms Fullarton. “This study provides industry, government and investors with practical evidence about where future timber supply opportunities exist and the planning, investment and policy settings that can help support them,” she said. The Queensland Future Timber Plan identifies supply, supply chains and markets, regulatory settings, workforce development, and research and innovation as critical priorities for the sector. The Hub’s study contributes evidence across many of these priority areas, including plantation expansion, afforestation opportunities, carbon outcomes, resource security and future investment confidence. Ms Fullarton said the findings demonstrate the important role evidence-based planning will play in achieving Queensland’s long-term timber supply goals. “The Queensland Future Timber Plan recognises the importance of securing future timber resources to support housing, manufacturing, regional jobs and economic growth. “The study commissioned through the Hub helps identify practical opportunities to expand future timber supply while supporting environmental outcomes and regional development. “Most importantly, it provides a strong evidence base to help inform future industry, investment and policy discussions.” A video on the South & Central Queensland Regional Forestry Hub report is here.  

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