All too hard? What drivers of success are missing for a hardwood plantation industry in North Queensland?

Transcription

1 All too hard? What drivers of success are missing for a hardwood plantation industry in North Queensland? Alex Lindsay Institute of Foresters of Australia Biennial national conference Cairns, 15 August 2017

2 Outline Regional overview History of hardwood plantation development What we have learned (including cyclones) Is there any need for hardwood plantations in North Queensland? Potential hardwood plantation enterprises What are the drivers to success? What drivers are missing or what are the drivers against success?

3 Rainfall Map shows 50 th percentile annual rainfall, from 1900 to 2005 (Bureau of Meteorology) data/assets/image/0005/12569/g A14206.jpg Wet Tropics Dry Tropics Cape York Peninsula

4 Vegetation

5 Vegetation White areas show cleared land mainly in southern and central Qld, rather than North Qld Clearing for forestry plantation development is not permitted Limited scope for large-scale plantation development in the north

6 History of hardwood plantation development First reafforestation in Qld (Red Cedar at Wongabel) s Qld Forestry Department efforts & research Mainly on state forest land in the Wet Tropics Weipa mine site rehabilitation 1980s Agroforestry Community Rainforest Reforestation Program (CRRP) Private woodlots Industrial plantations

7 Cyclones 2006 Severe TC Larry (Cat 4) 1 in 50 year event Innisfail & Atherton Tablelands 2011 Severe TC Yasi (Cat 5) 1 in 100 year event Tully, Ingham & 1000 km inland 2014 Severe TC Ita (4) Cooktown 2017 Severe TC Debbie (4) Bowen Climate change or active decade?

8 Cyclones Site factors Species differences Age of plantation Silviculture Post-cyclone clean-up Impact on largest trees Psychology Cyclones are capricious Teak at Cooktown after TC Ita, 2014

9 What have we learned Natural Environment Diverse range of species options Limited land base Cyclones, floods, drought Weeds grass and vines Insects & disease Can t set & forget Social & economic factors Community resistance (frontier) Competing land uses Changing government priorities Limited contractor workforce Market? Export vs domestic Long-term lack of income What is the value of the product?

10 What have we learned species with potential Eucalypts: WET COAST Red mahogany (E.pellita) TABLELANDS Rose gum (E.grandis) Tallow wood (E.microcorys) XXX DRY ZONE & CYP Spotted gums (Corymbia) Gympie messmate (E.cloeziana) River red gum (E.camaldulensis) High value Exotic species WET COAST Teak XXX DRY ZONE & CYP African mahogany High value Native species WET COAST & TABLELANDS Qld maple, silver quandong Silky oaks, rose butternut et al Red cedar, black bean et al XXX DRY ZONE & CYP Sandalwood

11 Private hardwood plantations (CRRP)

12 Is there any need for hardwood plantations in NQ? Local economy dominated by Tourism and Service Industries Water quality as no.1 manageable issue for Great Barrier Reef Major agricultural industries: sugar, horticulture & grazing Capacity to diversity to reduce vulnerability to diseases, market forces Increasingly, land is owned by lifestylers & retirees Potential for capital improvement of land, plus generate local employment to overcome decline of rural economy & rural towns Indigenous economic development opportunities Mine site rehabilitation land There are opportunities, but how will existing stakeholders benefit?

13 Model: Most promising opportunities (wet tropics) Short rotation species Eucalyptus pellita 5 year rotation, high density planting Land base: 5000 ha within 50 km of coastal bio-energy plant Pros: Cons: Risks: Mechanisation, growth rate (ROI), genetics Land value, alternative land use, restoration cost Cyclones, wet weather access, regulations Unknowns: Price payable for product, agricultural risks

14 Most promising opportunities (wet tropics) Short rotation species Eucalyptus pellita Crop rotation option for sugar cane (5 yr crop cycle) Bioenergy option during wet season Soil health benefits from fallow Challenges around harvest scheduling, stockpiling and post-harvest restoration

15 Most promising opportunities (dry tropics) Exotic cabinet timber species Khaya senegalensis Model: year rotation, low density planting Land base: ha within 250 km of export port Pros: Cons: Risks: Improved genetics, cyclone & drought tolerance, demand Moisture, distances, fragmentation, land cost, alternatives Security from damage & destruction, regulations Unknowns: Competition

16 Khaya senegalensis woodlots on cattle stations Cattle seek shade in hot weather Economic diversification for cattle properties

17 Khaya senegalensis overcoming the reputation African tulip Spathodea campanulata IS a weed African mahoganies blow over in cyclones (large street trees, as do other species) African mahogany Khaya senegalensis IS NOT African mahogany plantation trees at Bowen withstood Severe TC Debbie (Winds >200 km/hr)

18 Model: Other promising opportunities (wet tropics) Native cabinet timbers Flindersia brayleana year rotation, medium density planting Landbase: ha within 150 km of sawmill / veneer mill Pros: Cons: Risks: Land available, wood value, environmental benefits Land cost & spread (small parcels), unimproved genetics Cyclones, agricultural risks (borers, disease etc) Unknowns: Optimum silviculture, financials, scale, market

19 Native cabinet timbers Flindersia brayleana Land owners not actively using land (hobby farms etc) Options for lease No local processor Those with logs cannot sell them

20 Drivers of success Knowledge and experience Environment (soils, rainfall) Suitable species Individual persistence & collective co-operation Private mahogany grower seeking to use local mill designed for native forest logs

21 Drivers against success Weather events cyclones, drought, floods Diverse range of environments, limited options for large scale Lack of local processing industry, no defined product specification Distance to consumer market Potential benefits to state very minor compared to tourism, mining (Weipa) & extensive forestry areas in south Regulations, security of tenure Politics: enemies of forestry, or those competing for land & $$$

22 Driver of success that is missing A co-ordinated focus at a regional scale over decades Who will make this happen?

23 Geography North East Australia (22 S) Cape York Peninsula (CYP) Great Dividing Range Einasleigh Uplands Burdekin River Gulf Rivers Coastal Range Eastern coastal rivers & plain Great Barrier Reef

24 Soils Tenosols & Rudosols in Einasleigh Uplands Kandosols on CYP & west of GDR Burdekin basin Sodosols & Vertosols East coast Dermosols, Chromosols & Ferrosols