forests nsw facts and figures 2011–12

Forests NSW is a public trading enterprise within NSW Department of Primary Industries

Forests NSWFacts and Figures 2011–12

2 Facts and Figures 2011–12

ISSN 1839-8863

© State of New South Wales through Forests NSW 2012. You may copy, distribute and otherwise freely deal with this publication for any purpose, provided that you attribute Forests NSW as the owner.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (November 2012). However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that information upon which they rely is up to date and to check currency of the information with the appropriate officer of Forests NSW or the user’s independent adviser.

www.forests.nsw.gov.au

Cover image: Raw photos: Howard Spencer (main) and Forests NSW Image Library

3Facts and Figures 2011–12

Our organisation 4

Our history 6

Our customers 7

Forests in context 8

Economic benefits 13

Environmental benefits 15

Social benefits 17

Sustainability benefits 19

Contents

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Our visionTo be the best and safest commercial forest manager in Australasia.

Our missionTo provide safe and commercially sustainable forest management services to the Government and people of New South Wales and independent investors while increasing the value of their investment.

Forests NSW is the largest manager of native and plantation forests in New South Wales (NSW). We manage more than two million hectares of native and planted forests across NSW to the internationally recognised Australian Forestry Standard (AS 4708:2007) delivering a range of economic, environmental and social benefits to the people of NSW and future generations.

Forests NSW primary focus is sustainable forest management and ensuring the sustained supply of timber to our customers. As a public trading enterprise, this is undertaken within the context of running a profitable business and returning a dividend to the NSW Government.

Forests NSW employs over 700 people throughout NSW. In addition to this, Forests NSW engages more than 100 contract companies employing about 1400 people, primarily in the harvesting and haulage of timber products.

Our operations are distributed across regional NSW and include planting and regeneration, planning and managing timber harvesting and marketing and delivering timber to a wide range of customers located within NSW, across Australia and overseas.

Forests NSW currently harvests more than 2.5 million m3 of sawlogs and around 2 million tonnes of pulpwood from State forests annually, with sales of these products generating almost $300 million a year. The State’s timber industry contributes nearly $1 billion to the NSW economy each year.

Our organisation

0

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$318 millionREVENUE

2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12

($M)

294 286

329 327 318


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14 ($M)$14 million

OPERATING PROFIT

Key financial dataYear ended 30 June 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12Revenue1 $M 294 286 329 327 318Operating profit1 $M 14 (16) 20 34 14EBIT1,2 $M 26 (4) 32 43 23Dividend payable $M 1 0 10 14 5Borrowings $M 169 165 141 132 133Biological assets $M 625 670 662 751 734

Key ratiosReturn on assets % 0.8 (0.9) 1.1 1.8 0.7EBIT 2 margin1 % 8.7 (1.5) 9.7 13.2 7.3Liquidity ratio times 1.6 1.0 1.4 1.0 1.1Debt ratio % 27.8 30.1 42.9 42.1 45.3Interest cover times 2.3 (0.3) 2.6 4.6 2.5

1 Excludes significant items e.g. revaluation impact, impairments and impact on superannuation funds, before taxes.2 EBIT – Earnings before interest and tax

2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12


A log in time1871 – First NSW forest reserves proclaimed to

preserve the timber resources of the colony

1913 – First State forest dedicated – Acacia Creek and Koreelah State Forest No. 1

1916 – Forestry Commission of NSW established by the Forestry Act 1916

1939 – First eucalypt plantations established

1946 – After World War II, the pine plantation program recommenced at an ever increasing rate

1959 – First use of a computer to undertake timber resource assessments

1979 – Forest protests held against logging in rainforest. The NSW Government later gazetted the remaining rainforest in NSW as national park

1993 – Commission began trading under the name State Forests of NSW

1999 – First NSW Regional Forest Agreement or 20-year plan for the sustainable management and conservation of native forests completed

2004 – Organisation established as a public trading enterprise under the new brand name Forests NSW within NSW Department of Primary Industries

2006 – Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management plans published. Forests NSW achieved certification to the Australian Forestry Standard

2012 – Announced that Forests NSW will become a State-owned corporation.

0500 000

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Our historyForests NSW estate 1913–2012

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Hectares

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Our customersArea Major

speciesCustomer Products/Services

Plywood Softwood/Hardwood

Big River Group Plywood

Major sawmillers

Hardwood Boral Timber, Australian Solar Timbers, Blue Ridge Hardwoods, Coffs Harbour Hardwoods, Grants Holdings, Gunnedah Timbers/Baradine Sawmilling, Hurfords Building Supplies, Koppers, J Notaras & Sons, Thora Sawmilling, Newells Creek Sawmilling and SA Relf & Sons

Structural timber; flooring, furniture and joinery timber; plywood products

Softwood Carter Holt Harvey, Highland Pine Products, Hyne Timber, Tarmac, Dongwha, Allied Timber Products

Structural timber

MDF and particleboard

Softwood Borg Panels, Carter Holt Harvey Panel products

Woodchip and log export

Softwood/Hardwood

Boral Timber Fibre Exports, Pentarch, South East Fibre Exports

International fibre markets

Pulp and paper

Softwood/Hardwood

Norske Skog, Visy Pulp and Paper Newsprint, cardboard

Investors N/A AgriWealth, ST Microelectronics and Snowy Mountains Forests

Plantation investment

Utilities and infrastructure

N/A Origin Energy, Crown Castle, National Broadband Network, Optus, Essential Energy, Telstra, Vertel, Vodafone

Telecommunications and electricity supplier


Description Australia NSW Forests NSWTotal land area (million ha) 770 80 2.2Total population (million) 21 7 n/aForests as a percentage of land area 19% 33% 96%Total forest area (million ha) 149 26.5 2.2Native forest area (million ha)1 147 26.2 1.9Native forest area in formal nature conservation reserves (million ha)

22 5.1 0.02

Area of forest not legally restricted from timber harvesting

113 19.9 1.5

Multiple-use public native forests (million ha) 9.4 2.2Area of native production forest harvested annually2 <1% n/r 1.3%Net plantation forest area (million ha) 2 0.37 0.24Number of people employed in forestry & forest product industries3 65 700 12 744 733

Net amount of carbon sequestered (million tonnes) by managed native forests per annum (e-CO2)

43.5 n/r 13.8

Value of turnover in forest products industries (million)

$22 000 n/r $318

Forests in context

1 Includes native forest remnants within planted forest estate for Forests NSW2 Forest NSW only removes a proportion of the trees over the harvested areas, except in cypress pine forests

(28% of total area reported)3 Based on forestry and primary processing industries selected from the 2006 Census data for the state

figure and ABARES (May 2012) for the national figure.

Sources: ABARES Australian and Wood Products Statistics (May 2012), Forests NSW, DAFF State of the Forests Report 2008 and National Plantation Inventory Update 2009

Description AustraliaTotal exports of wood products $2.5 billionMajor exports to Japan (30%), China (22%) & New Zealand (13%) Total imports of wood products $4.4 billionMajor imports from New Zealand (16%), China (15%) & Indonesia (8%)Forests contribution to GDP 0.6%


Indicative map only – not to scale

Forests NSW estate 2 201 709 ha

Native hardwood forests1 1 707 911 ha

Native cypress forests 161 489 ha

Native river red gum forests 35 308 ha

Softwood plantations2 210 349 ha

Hardwood plantations2 34 175 ha

Remainder of the plantation estate3 52 477 ha

Total estate 2 201 709 ha1 Includes Cumberland State Forest (41 ha) and retained vegetation primarily made up of native forests

managed within the planted forest estate (141 862 ha).2 The net stocked area of plantations.3 Unplanted areas as at 30 June 2012. Includes exclusions, the area of the plantation estate that was

clearfelled and the potential plantable area (e.g. purchased land not yet planted). The retained vegetation component has been included in native forests, refer to footnote 1.

Native Forest Operations 2011–12Area of native forest and hardwood plantation estate (ha) 1 813 465Area available for harvest (%) 69Area of native forest harvested (ha) 22 921Area of hardwood plantation harvested1 (ha) 908Revenue ($M) 112

Volume- Sawlog (‘000m3) 612- Pulp (‘000 tonnes) 503Earnings before interest and tax2 before overheads ($M) (3)Operating profit after overheads before tax2 ($M) (16)

Planted Forest OperationsNative Forest Operations

Central 415 042 ha

Western 483 649 ha

North East 482 016 ha

Corporate OfficeCumberland State Forest 41 ha

Northern 42 569 ha

Macquarie 146 121 ha

Hume 144 600 ha

Monaro 54 912 ha

Corporate Office

Forests NSW Native and Planted Forest Operations

Southern 432 757 ha



Planted Forest Operations 2011–12Area of softwood plantation estate (ha) 388 203Area available for harvest4 (%) 60Area of softwood plantation harvested1 (ha) 14 024Revenue ($M) 198

Volume- Sawlog (‘000m3) 1933- Pulp (‘000 tonnes) 1486Earnings before interest and tax2 before overheads ($M) 49Operating profit after overheads before tax2 ($M) 32

1 Includes clearfall and thinning operations.2 Excludes significant items such as revaluation impact, impairments and impact on superannuation funds, before taxes.4 Includes net stocked plantation area and the area available to be stocked (clearfall, potential plantable and

undefined areas).

Regional timber revenue1 2011–12

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Central Western Nth East South. Hume Macq. Monaro North.

Sawlog Veneer Pulp Other products

1 Includes timber harvesting and haulage.

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Economic benefits

Timber production

2010–11 2011–12

Australia1 New South Wales1 Forests NSW

’000 m3 $Million ’000 m3 $Million ’000 m3

Hardwood native 6372 460 1081 74 1088

Hardwood plantation 5121 401 174 19 46

Softwood2 plantation 15 042 982 4785 280 3710

Total 26 490 1842 6040 373 48441 Source: ABARES. 2 Includes cypress pine.

Forest productivity

Revenue from timber royalties ($’000)

Total volume harvested (‘000 m3)

Forest estate (‘000 ha) Area actually harvested (ha)

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Environmental benefitsArea of State forest harvested (37 853 ha) as a percentage of total estate

Area subject to harvesting operations

1.7% – 37 853 ha

Wildfires and prescribed burns trend as percentage of Forests NSW estate

Wildfire as percentage of total area

Linear – wildfire as percentage

of total area

Prescribed burning as percentage

of total area

Linear – prescribed burning as percentage

of total area

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Safety is our first priority for our people, contractors, visitors and users of State forests. In all our forest management activities, the observance of safe work practices is the guiding principle by which we operate and we work towards achieving a world’s best practice safety record.

Social benefits

Recordable incident rate1

Permits for organised recreation activities1 2011–12

1 The recordable incident rate (aka all frequency rate) is the measure of all recordable incidents, including medical treatment only incidents and lost time incidents. A medical treatment only Incident is any incident that requires medical intervention such as stitches, a prescription or a referral. A lost time incident results in time lost from work of one day/shift or more.

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1 Of the total 406 permits issued, 275 were for fossicking. Fossicking permits have been excluded from the above chart to enable the other categories to be more clearly illustrated.

n 1.496 million hectares of native State forest available for timber harvesting

n 412 500 hectares in State forest reserves

n 206 hectares of new softwood plantation established

n 9355 hectares of plantations re-established

n 12% of softwood plantation requiring re-stocking after one year

n 9 million plantation seedlings planted

n Certification to AFS (AS 4708:2007) and EMS Standard (ISO 14001:2004) maintained

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Sustainability benefitsNative forest sustainability

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Percentage of hardwood allowable cut

Native forest available for

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State forests – here today, here tomorrow

Forests NSW is a public trading enterprise within NSW Department of Primary Industries

Forests NSW forest management is independently certified as meeting the internationally recognised Australian Forestry Standard (AS 4708:2007).

Forest management certification is a market-based, voluntary forest management tool designed to recognise and promote environmentally responsible forestry and sustainability of forest resources.

PO Box 100, Beecroft 2119 121–131 Oratava Ave

West Pennant Hills 2125 Ph: (02) 9872 0111 Fax: (02) 9871 5341

Email: [email protected]

For further information, refer to Forests NSW Annual Report 2011–12 available online at www.forests.nsw.gov.au

http://www.forests.nsw.gov.au

forests nsw facts and figures 2011–12

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