BRS SEMINAR SERIES PRESENTS:

Friday 25 August

Commercial Environmental Forestry: Tools for targeting, assessment, monitoring and accounting of the commercial and

environmental benefits of forest plantations Charlie Hawkins — Ensis Brendan Moran — DAFF& Adam Gerrand — BRS

The Ensis and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry have recently completed the three year Commercial Environmental Forestry programme. This project has developed several tools to enable planners at catchment and farm scale to understand and predict outcomes associated with establishment of plantations and other forms of revegetation. Ensis has developed the Scenario Planning and Investment Framework tool which will help to maximise the impact and efficiency of commonwealth investment on the environment by targeting whereto focus investment and measure the expected environmental and economic outcomes. The tool was recently launched by Senator Eric Abetz and has been gaining increasing interest as an accounting tool for environmental and economic flows.

Communicating where to plant trees for salinity benefits using the

"Plantations Information Network"

Science for decision makers

Adam Gerrand

based on work of Stuart Davey, Ian Frakes, Peter Baker and Ian Mullen

www.brs.gov.au

Outline of talk• BRS role in the CEF project• Outline approach taken• Better ways to communicate

complex data• Plantation Information Network

website• Added functions for CEF data

– show some examples• Conclusions

www.brs.gov.au

BRS role in CEF work• BRS was asked to identify regions nationally where

plantations or farm forestry could provide both salinity benefits and commercial forestry outcomes

– Using existing data nationally and regionally where easily accessible

• Key conclusions from BRS work • Need to draw it together (report) and • Important to communicate results and make them

easily accessible – we used the PIN website

www.brs.gov.au

Study approachbased on work by van Dijk et al (2004)

Commercial Environmental Forestry target areas located in:

• low rainfall zones between 500-800mm/year,• high salinity potential, local groundwater flow

systems, avoiding nearby sub catchments yielding relatively fresher water,

• areas previously cleared for agriculture & with forest growth rates greater than 9 m3/ha/yr

• areas with existing plantations and wood using industries.

600 - 700mm700 – 800mm800 – 900mm

Local GFSIntermediate GFS

Rainfall zones

National potential salinity hazard

Rainfall band500 – 800mm/yr

Potential SalinityHazard - MDBC

Plantation CapabilityTAS, NSW &

Partial VIC & QLD (MAI)

CRES sub-catchment

Stream Salinitysub-catchmentDryland Salinity

NationalSalt hazard potential

National Runoff (Zhang equations)

Catchment Management Authority

BoundariesNAP NHT Boundaries

MDBC potentialsalt hazard

Candidate CEF areas Candidate CEF areas

Rule flowchart to identify areas with potential for CEF plantations

www.brs.gov.auMDB detailed potential salinity hazard

National potential salinity hazard

+ forest productivity

MDB CMA catchments

9-10 10-12 12-14

14-24

Tree growth rate m3/ha/yr

localintermediate

MDB groundwater flow system

• Computer (GIS) overlay of spatial data• Eg MDB catchments + groundwater flow type

+ forest growth + salinity hazard

Central NSW composite potential salinity hazard

Existing plantations

Complex overlays of many data sets

Identified CEF potential“Target areas” hatchedCentral NSW

Highlight potential target areas

www.brs.gov.au

•BUT•Static maps – cant be changed•Cant zoom or move•Complex overlays of multiple data sets•Often hides things•Users have no control over what is displayed•Users often want simpler picture first, then build complexity

Typical paper maps produced for hard copy report- Show all info and identify areas with CEF potential

www.brs.gov.au

Solution = web-based mapping can help

Web mapping improvements– Putting mapping power in the hands

(PC) of the end user – easy and fast– reduces BRS map requests– Increases user satisfaction – Many remote users in regional Aust.– Can make basic maps from their

desktop– To include in their own reports

PIN http://www.brs.gov.au/plantations/

PIN home page

What can the PIN do?

• In a few mouse-clicks, users can create their own maps

www.brs.gov.au

Easily choose regions and layers to display

www.brs.gov.au

• Include 4 new data layers for CEF– Stream salinity index– National forest growth

productivity layer (MAI)– Areas with high salinity,

+local/intermed. groundwater flow, +reasonable tree growth

= broad CEF Target areas

Stream Salinity Index – State view

Stream Salinity Index – Regional catchment view

Stream Salinity Index – regional view+ hide existing forest

Coarse national plantation growth potential, regional view

www.brs.gov.au

Finer detail plantation growth potential for Radiata pine

www.brs.gov.au

Display just the target areas with potential for CEF

www.brs.gov.au

Conclusions of BRS Commercial Environmental Forestry study

• Significant potential for CEF projects in Australian regions,• Need for more reliable growth information and regional

plantation capability assessments,• Need to investigate species selection and species growth

rates in dry environments below 650mm/yr.• Need to make information easily accessible to users

– delivery via internet www.brs.gov.au/plantations• Requires detailed analysis tools for local investment decisions,

– CSIRO SPIF (Charlie will present next)

www.brs.gov.au

Conclusions from web delivery• Websites like Plantation Information Network help make complex

information – more accessible – into the hands (or PC’s) of end users– efficient and effective for users and BRS

• Improved level of service – both quantity and timeliness • Lessons learned

– Good product is not enough - promotion / advertising is vital• Future opportunities - include other BRS & CSIRO info

– eg climate / rainfall, socio-economic?– CEF detailed work from SPIF or other products?

Hands up if you have used Google Earth?Future data delivery?

www.brs.gov.au

For further information• National Plantation Inventory

http://www.brs.gov.au/nfi/

• Plantation Information Networkhttp://www.brs.gov.au/plantations

• E-mail nfi.info@brs.gov.au

Commercial Environmental Forestry and

The Scenario Planning and Investment

Framework (SPIF) Tool

THE JOINT FORCES OF CSIRO & SCION

• Help integrate trees into landscapes to achieve multiple environmental and commercial positive outcomes

• Reduce the risks for various investors including NHT, Catchment Management Authorities, Plantation Companies and Landholders.

• Increase the certainty that desired environmental outcomes will be achieved through:– Development of prediction models

and planning tools, that are• Informed by robust

research.

Objectives

The SPIF tool overviewForest types• Commercial plantations• Environmental plantings

Predicts• Growth• Carbon sequestration• Salinity reduction• Water yield impact• Biodiversity• Economics

Applications• Target where to plant• Assess on-ground proposals

Case study• South-west Goulburn Broken

catchment

EnvironmentalCommercial

Services

Products

Scale• Regional• Farm/ paddock

• Geographical Information System. Looks at variation in growth and landuse change impacts across the landscape.

• Summarises complex prediction modelling outputs into planning functions of targeting where to grow what species for what measurable outcome.

• Provides a means of mapping and reporting information to planners and investors in forestry.

The SPIF tool overview

The SPIF tool compares spatial data layers derived from prediction models:

• 3-PG+ (growth carbon sequestration)• BC2C (salinity and water use)• SEDNET (sediment/erosion)• Transport Cost-Distance• Biodiversity connectivity• Conservation buffer

The SPIF tool GIS layers

The SPIF tool ‘drills down’though spatial layers produced from other models.

Growth Prediction of Commercial & Environmental Species

i/ Data collection 300+ sites ii/ Modelling iii/ Prediction iv/ Mapping

Salinity and Water Recharge Impact: BC2C

Biophysical Capacity 2 Change model can identify areas where land use change has the greatest impact on streamsalinity and least impact on water recharge

Economic costings – Transport model

Sediment Slope

Target areas < 15 degrees (t/ha/yr)

Reduction in erosion with new forest establishment

Exclude areas within 20 metres of streams & 500 metres from high conservation remnants (red)

Biodiversity

Generate a Plantation Biodiversity Score based on distance to wooded vegetation and site management techniques.

Economics User can enter their own economic information and compare returns from different scenarios.

Define scenario map display characteristics

Define Area of Interest

Filter search based on growth & environmental variables.

e.g. “Only find areas with high growth and maximum salt impact”

Targeting SetupSelect type of forest and management

Factor in biodiversity?

Regional Targeting – Growth and Filters

Growth C maculata with FiltersGrowth C maculata no Filters

Region Search Report

Summary statistics for region-wide re-afforestation.

Farm-scaletargeting

or assessment

Data at hectare scale shows variation in growth potential. Green areas have deeper soils.

Red areas in shallow granitic porous soils with less available soil moisture for growth.

Plan 1. Assessment

Plan 1. Environmental outcomes

Plan 1. Economic costings

Plan 1. Biodiversity: Landscape Connectivity

Proximity to remnant veg and other plantations provides higher score out of 15.

Plan 1. Plantation Biodiversity Score

• PBS used ONLY for commercial/ harvest plantations.

• Score incorporates landscape (x/15) and local site management (x/75)

• Each polygon or plantation proposal will get a score /100

Plan 2. – Shelter Belt Assessment

Dark Green = Biodiversity BufferLt. Green = Vegetation (connectivity)

1

2

Plan 3. – Alternative AreaHigh Positive Environmental Impact with less growth

Report and Benefits Profile

$2230

25.2

-1.42

-1.40

4.9

11.0

Per ha

63

$119,714

344

-55

6.55

260

623

36

Total

$3,066

9.54

-1.50

0.18

6.7

16.1

Per ha

58

$153,322

477

-75

8.97

333

804

50

Total

62

$78,083

882

-50.0

-49.0

171

384

35

Total

Area Planted

$3,325NPV ($/ha)

BIODIVERSITY (/100)

ECONOMICS

9.54Sediment (t/ha/yr)

-1.52Water (ML/ha/yr)

0.18Salinity (EC x 10-6)

7.2Carbon (t/ha/yr)

17.3Growth (m³/ha/yr)

Per haENVIRONMENTAL

Plan 1. Plan 2. Plan 3.

Environmental Plantings Assessment

Environ 1 12

Environ 2

Next Steps

Research• Improve understanding of water use of different forest types and plantation expansion.

• Climate change impacts on evapotranspiration of native forests

Implementation• Proposals in for CEF projects in WA and Victoria.• Integrate SPIF maps into BRS web-based PIN• Integrate SPIF functions in Vic DPI Catchment Tool and Vic Dept Sustainability and Environements’ “eFarmer”

Extension• Workshops already held in WA and Victoria. More in NSW, QLD and NZ planned.