Abstract In Queensland, private forestry has developed in a policy and regulatory free zone up until the introduction of the Vegetation Management Act of 1999. Compared to the management systems developed within our state native forests, the private system generally was ad-hoc based on opportunistic harvesting and not good forest management. Silvicultural management was limited to state land and information on silvicultural techniques developed for state lands generally did not cross over into the private resource.
However within the private resource there are a scattering of exceptional forest managers who have developed their own systems, achieving much higher productivity within their forests than adjacent State owned forests. These managers have also positively influenced State forest management on specific issues such as fire management. This paper discusses the history of PNF management and compares the positive government policy initiatives for the future of the industry with the actual on ground constraints and impediments of legislation and lack of action on government initiatives. It isolates the champions and demonstrates their system’s sustainability and productivity outcomes and outlines their involvement in furthering research and education for the industry.Click here for the full presentation
