• Vegetation Management Act 1999 - An Overview. Under the Vegetation Management Act 1999, “clearing” that is “removing or cutting down, ringbarking, pushing over, poisoning or destroying vegetation in any way as a forest practice” does not require development approval under the legislation. Development approval is required should a landholder wish to undertake forestry activities that fall outside of this definition of “forest practice”

• The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 - the main Commonwealth environmental law. State and Territory laws provide most environmental controls in Australia. This Fact Sheet describes in general terms what the Act does and when it applies.

• Australian Tax Office Legal Database - - a collection of legal and policy information. Here you have access to much of the material the ATO uses when making decisions, including: · Legislation and supporting material · Public Rulings, Determinations and Bulletins · ATO Interpretative Decisions · Case Decision Summaries (details of important decisions made by the ATO) · ATO Practice Statements (directions to ATO staff on how to apply the laws administered by the Commissioner) · Taxpayer Alerts · Tax related case law · ATO Policy Papers · Annual Regulatory Plans · Freedom Of Information.

• Queensland Legislation Home Page -

• Easy Taxation Guide to Growing Trees - The State of Queensland, Department of Natural Resources, 1999

Site Preperation

• Planting Preparation - Site preparation has a huge bearing on the success of your planting. There are a number of points you will have considered at the planning stage, such as

• VH – Mulcher - Plantation Preparation. North-West Forestry Ltd.

• Sheet Mulching: Greater Plant and Soil Health for Less Work - Agriculture with mulch in the tropics promotes plant health and vigor. Mulching improves nutrient and water retention in the soil, encourages favorable soil microbial activity and worms, and suppresses weed growth. When properly executed, mulching can significantly improve the well-being of plants and reduce maintenance as compared to bare soil culture. Mulched plants have better vigor and, consequently have improved resistance to pests and diseases.

• Productive reuse of effluent on tree plantations. - This Agriculture Note describes the productive reuse of effluent on tree plantations in Victoria. In parts of southern Australia municipal, agricultural and industrial effluent is considered to be a useful resource for irrigating productive crops. Depending on the degree of processing of the effluent, a range of non-edible and edible industrial and agricultural products can be grown.

Weeds & Pests

• Mulch Film - Environmental Forest Farm Management are establishing a Paulownia plantation at Kiri Park near GinGin using plastic mulch film.

• Establishment of trees on non-arable land to replace weeds - A report for the RIRDC/Land & Water Australia/FWPRDC Joint Venture Agroforestry Program

• Dr Don’s Termite Page - Termites belong to their own insect order (the Isoptera) and have several clear and obvious differences which make it fairly simple to tell them from apart.

• Plague, pestilence and plantations. - Integrated pest management should be used more widely in tropical forestry by Ross Wylie. Queensland Forestry Research Institute.

Maintenance & Silviculture

• Pruning For Timber Production - Pruning Is A General Term For A Variety Of Operations That Involve The Removal Of Selected Shoots And Branches From Trees For A Particular Purpose. Pruning is carried out with the main purpose of producing a higher quality timber. Two types of pruning are practiced, form and clearwood pruning.

• Thinning for Wood Production - Thinning can be defined as the selective removal of the less desirable trees in a forest to encourage better growth and development of the remaining trees. The main concept of thinning is to regulate the growing space within a stand for the advancement of yield of the remaining stems.

• Silviculture, management and infrastructure requirements for hardwood plantations in south east Queensland -

• Thinning and Pruning to Maximise Yields of High Value Timber Products from Tropical and Sub-tropical Hardwood Plantations.- Thinning and pruning are seen as essential management techniques necessary to ensure the economic viability of non-pulpwood, hardwood plantations in tropical and sub-tropical Australia. In this paper, problems associated with low plantation productivity and poor wood quality are discussed and potential solutions identified. The early results from four thinning experiments and one pruning experiment, involving a range of commercial hardwood species grown under various management regimes are also assessed.

• How to determine when your Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pine plantation is ready to thin - Proper timing is the most important management decision landowners can make for their pine plantation. The first thinning sets the stage for the future sawlog production. Timing of the first thinning should be determined by plantation characteristics and the landowner’s objectives.

• Silvopasture: An Agroforestry Practice - The Overstory hosted by agroforester.com

• Silvicultural Management of Blackwood A Blackwood Industry Group (BIG) Workshop - 30 November – 1 December 2000 Smithton, Tasmania. Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Production Forestry and Private Forests Tasmania. Edited for the RIRDC/L&W Australia/FWPRDC Joint Venture Agroforestry Program by Alan Brown December 2001 RIRDC Publication No 01/176 RIRDC Project No CPF-2A. Thirty-two persons attended a two-day workshop, 30 November – 1 December 2000, in north-west Tasmania on ‘Advancing Blackwood Silviculture’. There were three formal sessions on the first day. These covered blackwood in native forest, in industrial plantations and in farm forestry, with a total of 13 presentations. In addition there was an after-dinner speech on blackwood as a worldclass timber. During the last part of the first day, and on the second day, there were field visits to two native forests sites, to two industrial blackwood plantations, to a farm forestry blackwood planting and to Britton Bros Sawmillers Pty Ltd, the largest operation in Australia harvesting, processing and milling blackwood.

• Silvicultural Requirements of the Highly Prized Red Cedar- Australian red cedar (Toona ciliata) is one of the most highly valued rainforest timbers in Australia. Its natural range extends from the south coast of New South Wales to the coastal ranges and lowlands of north Queensland into Papua New Guinea and throughout Southeast Asia. Members of the family Meliaceae occur throughout the tropics and sub tropics. Red cedar is highly prized due to its superior timber qualities including excellent working properties and a deep red colour, and is sought after by cabinetmakers.

Treatment

• Osmose “The world wide leader in wood preservation technology” - Osmose, Inc. has produced wood preservative chemicals in the United States since 1953, and is the industry leader in the field. A structured program of planned expansion by acquisition during the mid-1990s has also made Osmose a major player in the global wood preservation market.

• Osmose Australia -

• Timber Seasoning In Australia - Department of Forestry Australian National University Canberra

• Timber Seasoning In Australia - Department of Forestry Australian National University Canberra

• Extending the service life of timber - Treated Timber Series

• Treatment choices for timber - Treated Timber Series

• Exposing the myths of CCA treatment - Treated Timber Series

• Health and Environmental Guidelines for Selected Timber Treatment - Guidelines & Abbreviations for selected timber treatment chemicals, June 1997

Publications

The Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland Fact Sheets (on line) – Includes all the fact sheets from the former Tree series.

• Vegetation Management -

• Tree Selection -

• Tree Uses -

• Growing Trees -

• Propagating Trees -

• Tree Establishment -

• Tree Information -

• Tree Management -

• Planning for native vegetation -

• Revegetation and regeneration -

• Managing native vegetation -

• Economics and native vegetation -

• The Overstory -

• Easy Taxation Guide to Growing Trees -

• Rents for plantation land leases -

• How to be successful in plantation development -

• Notes to aid decision-making about plantation hardwoods -

• The effect of windbreaks on crop growth on the Atherton Tablelands of north Queensland -

• The Effect of Tree Windbreaks on Agricultural Productivity -

• Windbreaks -

• Trees on Farms and Biodiversity Values -

• The potential role of forest plantations in meeting future demands for industrial wood products -

• Productivity of Animals in Agroforestry Systems -

• USA Agroforestry Notes -

• ICRAF - Genetic Resources of Agroforestry Trees

• Wattle Seed Production in Low Rainfall Areas - A report for the RIRDC/Land & Water Australia/FWPRDC Joint Venture Agroforestry Program by Sarah Simpson and Peter Chudleigh, Agtrans Research June 2001

Species Selection & Notes

• Map of North Queensland with Recommended Species, Estimated Rotation Ages and Species Notes - Species by site and Rotation Lengths are estimated only, further research is needed and consultation recommended

• Species Notes (Scientific Name Listings Only) -

• ICRAF Agroforestree Database - A tree species reference and selection guide

• Queensland Tree Selector - Queensland Government (This is indicative only, please consult local forestry consultant )

• Use of neem as a Biological Pest Control agent - A publication of the Forest, Farm, and Community Tree Network (FACT Net)

• Acacias for the Hot Dry Subtropics - A publication of the Forest, Farm, and Community Tree Network (FACT Net)

• Nitrogen fixing trees for fodder production - Common nitrogen fixing trees for fodder production summarized by mean annual rainfall and mean annual temperature

• Nitrogen Fixing Trees -- A Brief Introduction - The Overstory hosted by agroforester.com

• Statewide Landcover And Trees Study - Queensland is a large State of over 1.7 million square kilometres in area with extensive vegetation resources covering over 72 million hectares of woodland and forest ecosystems. Some 60 million hectares of these could potentially be considered suitable for some limited development for grazing, agricultural or urban uses.

• The Sugar Gum Story: the Marketing Success of a Humble Shelter Tree - Sugar gum, (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) is a medium-tall tree, endemic to South Australia. The best growth and form trees occur in the southern Flinders Ranges towards the top of the Spencer Gulf where it sometimes attains 35m in height with a dbh of 1-1.5m. The mean annual rainfall where it naturally occurs is around 380-650mm with a winter maximum. Sugar gum grows well on a range of soil types from deep sands and ironstone gravels to heavy clays on the basalt plains of western Victoria. However, it can be frost sensitive when young and it does not tolerate waterlogging.

• The Wood Exchange - “The internets primary resource for information on wood”

• Hardwoods Queensland - A commercial approach to plantation hardwoods research, addressing the whole research and development continuum

Advice on Planting Trees

• Native/Exotic Species Mixed Planting For Profit. - This plan is designed to cater for the landowner who needs an income in the relative short term , who wishes to plant trees for profit, yet contribute to the environment at the same time.

• Rest assured with quality assurance - Quality assurance indicator plots are an inexpensive, reliable way of gauging the quality of plantation establishment and management. by Robin Trewin. Plantation Establishment QA Forestry Consultant, NZIF

• Estimating Land Value for Growing Timber on Agricultural Land - This publication presents a method for estimating land value if the land is converted from agricultural to forestry use.

• Replanting Rainforest Species For Future Profit. - Because of the climate in North Queensland, rainforest has persisted in the wetter areas after it has disappeared from areas further inland. Most of the land which was covered with rainforest has been cleared for agricultural or pastoral pursuits which are now proving difficult to sustain, both environmentally and economically. The remaining rainforests which contained many beautiful cabinet timbers have been further decimated by harvesting. Most of these forests are now closed to harvesting under World Heritage legislation and it is now State Government policy not to allow rainforest harvesting on Crown Land.

• “Timbers Aint Timbers, Sol” - When selecting tree species for timber production there is a very large range of markets. This diverse range of markets, from pulp to peeler log, each have there own set of quality control measures, which are often backed by legislation and Australian Standards. The timber industry in Queensland is well established and relies heavily on these minimum standards, which must be met by the end product of Farm Forestry.

Harvesting

• Techniques For Visualizing The Appearance Of Timber Harvest Operations - The appearance of landscapes and individual stands after harvest operations is critical to public acceptance of timber harvest practices. This paper reviews four visualization techniques suitable for visualizing the appearance of timber harvest operations: geometric modeling, video imaging, a hybrid technique combining geometric modeling and video imaging, and image draping.

• Assessing the volume and value of timber on your property - Assessing the timber on your property is not hard, but it follows the golden rule of data collection – the more effort you put into it the more accurate your result will be. Most native forest stands are patchy and uneven in the distribution of the trees ready for harvest and most of the trees will be rotten to some extent in the centre.

• Narapela Wei promotes the use of Portable Sawmills - with native forest conservation, and employment at village level. Ecological Forestry, or EcoForestry, using Narapela Wei's EcoSaw, the Portable Sawmill chainsaw equipment in Papua New Guinea has achieved a sustainable Village income without unsustainable levels of Forest Cutting

• Defining the Product Log Grades Used in Australia - A report for the RIRDC/Land & Water Australia/FWPRDC Joint Venture Agroforestry Program by Dr R. N. James December 2001 RIRDC Publication No 01/161 RIRDC Project No ANU-44A. The main factor determining log specifications is intended use. Logs form a hierarchy of quality classes and values. From best to worst these are: veneer logs (for face veneer or the manufacture of plywood).

• Radial Sawing - - An article by Andrew Knörr Radial Timber Australia Ltd, PO Box 224 Yarram 3971 In Australia average saw log sizes have been steadily decreasing as old growth forests are cut over or locked up for conservation purposes. Economic forces and resource competition force the reduction of rotation cycles in both regrowth and plantation forests. This results in the production of logs that in many cases are not suitable for economic processing by traditional milling systems.

Research

• Eucalyptus Research and Documentary Centre in Europe -

• COFORD, the National Council for Forest Research and Development in Ireland -

• Fundy Model Forests -

• International Centre for Research in Agroforestry -

 

The information contained on this page does not necessarily reflect the views of PFNQ