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Tomorrow, Tuesday, 20 August marks National Forestry Day, with this year’s theme Celebrating Nature’s Carbon Store. For Forest Industries Federation WA Chief Executive Officer Adele Farina, this year’s National Forestry Day theme could not be more apt. Source: Timberbiz “Choosing timber products helps to fight climate change and that is a rather special position we as an industry find ourselves in,” Ms Farina said. “The trees we plant absorb carbon dioxide and store it as carbon, which is locked up in that timber for its life span. We harvest those trees to supply timber products and then replant more seedlings, so the cycle begins again. “The word sustainable gets thrown around a lot these days, but we can proudly use that term to describe our industry.” As well as essential products and environmental benefits, Ms Farina said WA’s forest industries also provide significant employment, underpinning regional communities and creating renewable and sustainable products. WA’s plantation sector, which consists of hardwood and softwood varieties, contributes more than 1.18 billion dollars of economic activity. Plantation timber is used to make the timber frames for homes, engineered wood products used to build new multi-storey residential and commercial buildings, wood-based panels for kitchens, pallets, and wood fibre used to manufacture paper, packaging and bioproducts, replacing single use plastics. In addition, residues go into making potting mix, mulches, composts and landscaped products for gardens.

WA’s Forest Products Commission (FPC) manages approximately 70,000 hectares of softwood plantations in the South West of Western Australia on behalf of the State Government. The plantation estate supports a particle board plant, sawmill, and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) plant. Source: Timberbiz This year, the FPC has prepared sites to establish more than 3,000 hectares of new plantations as part of the State’s Softwood Plantation Investment Program, as well as to replant existing plantations following harvesting. “The planting season will end in coming weeks, and the FPC’s crews are on track to complete the targeted volume of 5 million seedlings going into the ground,” FPC Director of Operations John Tredinnick said. “Thanks to the efforts of nursery staff, as well as other FPC teams and supporting contractors, these seedlings will grow to be the homes of the future and capture carbon to assist in mitigating climate change”. The new FPC plantations are part of a $350 million investment to ensure a stable supply of timber for the WA’s construction industry and increase carbon sequestration opportunities as part of the State’s response to climate change. The new investment and increasing planting targets have required the FPC Nursery and Seed Centre to scale up the production of seedlings, so they could propagate and dispatch over five million seedlings to 25 FPC plantations across the South West this year. “The centre produces superior seeds and seedlings for the FPC’s plantation estate establishment and refill program, with year-round operations to ensure seedlings are available to meet the annual planting requirement,” FPC Nursery and Seed Centre Coordinator Kristine Mayer said. “The best possible seed stock is available from the FPC’s Pinus radiata breeding program, which builds on over 50 years of scientific research in WA, and through the FPC’s membership of Tree Breeding Australia. “It’s great to be involved with getting all these pine seedlings packed and out to new plantations, especially as I know they’re so important for growing timber for new homes. “They’re so small now, but it’s exciting to think what they will grow into one day in the future.” During peak work periods, casual workers bolster the permanent nursery workforce to undertake sowing or packing activities. The nursery has a fully containerised production system to support the workers in moving and packing the significant number of seedlings prepared for planting. With late rains and reliance on weather conditions for optimal planting, the window for planting this year is tight, requiring maximum efficiency and speed at every stage to ensure the seedlings are in the ground before the weather conditions impact seedling survival rates. Due to increasing land acquisition and planting targets, the nursery team plays a crucial role in ensuring that the required seedlings are ready during the narrow planting season. Over the past two months, the nursery team has loaded 27 semi-trailers with about 3.25 million seedlings bound for the FPC’s plantations.