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PDF file

• Feasibility of timber plantations in the upper Murrumbidgee catchment - a triple bottom line analysis (PDF - 1.92 MB)

PDF appendices

• Feasibility of timber plantations in the upper Murrumbidgee catchment - a triple bottom line analysis - all appendices (PDF - 13.1 MB)
• Appendix 1 - profile of the value of the timber industry in the south west slopes region of New South Wales (PDF - 333 KB)
• Appendix 2 - plantation capability maps for hardwood and softwood plantations from: an assessment of the potential for plantation development in NSW (PDF - 3.20 MB)
• Appendix 3 - pinus radiata plantation sites and silviculture (PDF - 91 KB)
• Appendix 4 - plantation productivity mapping in the upper Murrumbidgee catchment (PDF - 886 KB)
• Appendix 5 - review of hydrology publications relevant to southeastern Australian forestry (PDF - 193 KB)
• Appendix 6 - long term effects of radiata pine plantations on soil properties (PDF - 91 KB)
• Appendix 7 - salinity impacts from plantation expansion in the mid-Murrumbidgee catchment, NSW (PDF - 1.61 MB)
• Appendix 8 - an assessment of the feasibility of plantation development in specific areas in the upper-Murrumbidgee (PDF - 1.99 MB)
• Appendix 9 - IQQM routing of downstream tributary flow and salt load changes due to forestation (PDF - 740 KB)
• Appendix 10 - Pratt Water timber plantation project - social assessment (PDF - 3.89 MB)
• Appendix 11 - Pratt Water timber plantation project - social assessment (PDF - 587 KB)

About this report

Purpose of the project

This study has been undertaken to determine and document the feasibility of new timber plantations in the Murrumbidgee Valley, as part of the Pratt Water Murrumbidgee Project.

Plantation forestry is one of the significant current economic land use activities in the Murrumbidgee Valley. Most of the current commercial timber plantations have been established within the Upper Murrumbidgee River Catchment (and within the enclosed Tumut River Catchment).

Within the context of the Pratt Water Murrumbidgee Project, timber plantations have significant features that warranted their inclusion in the Project. Specifically, timber plantations:

• provide significant economic value, in their own right and in terms of the further investment they enable (economic implications);
• affect the hydrology of the catchments within which they are situated in various ways. These include potential dryland and in-stream salinity reduction, potential catchment water yield impacts, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and soil/landscape stabilisation (ecosystem/hydrological implications), and
• require land that may be subject to competing interests – either for other commercial productive uses (other crops, grazing, etc.) or for amenity or “non-commercial” uses (social implications) and have an impact on the local and regional communities where they, and associated industries, are located.

The potential contribution of plantations as a water-using business enterprise to total human wellbeing in the Murrumbidgee Valley can be assessed and compared with alternative land uses, including water efficiency outcomes.

As well as the above considerations, this investigation is important because of the multiplicity of stakeholders and institutions responsible for plantation forestry decision-making. No single authority or organisation can make the required investment decisions or assess the implications of this potential opportunity.

Further, plantations and water use is sometimes a contentious issue, which affects land use decisions and communities not only in the Murrumbidgee Valley, but also elsewhere in Australia. Models developed and lessons learnt from this exercise can therefore be applied elsewhere – a key desired outcome of the Pratt Water study.

Objectives

The Plantations Feasibility Project’s objectives were:

1. to determine the financial, environmental and social feasibility of establishing new industrial timber plantations on selected land within the Murrumbidgee River Catchment
2. to include, monitor and value significant environmental services and benefits within the desirable outputs of the project,
3. to achieve sustainable timber fibre production from the chosen sites, consistent with improvement in water quality and stabilisation of hydrological profiles in the target catchments, and
4. to measure and document benefits and disbenefits of such an investment activity, in terms of the Pratt Water Murrumbidgee Project’s objectives, and using an integrated assessment approach.

In meeting these objectives, the Plantations Feasibility Project aims to provide a scientific and economically rigorous assessment of the feasibility and impact of plantations. Where necessary, the Plantations Feasibility Project will debunk some of the myths currently associated with plantations and water use. Important background information to help put plantations in perspective is listed below:

• No jurisdiction in Australia currently requires a licence for land use change that would increase use of water.
• Plantations in Australia occupy over 1.6 million hectares which is about 0.2% of Australia’s intensively managed agricultural land.
• Replacing deep-rooting native vegetation with annual crops and pasture has had major hydrological impacts in some parts of Australia and is considered to be the main cause of dryland salinity.
• Forest structure can vary greatly between catchments and regions. Thus, models may not represent actual water impacts accurately.
• Many research results are based on studies in small catchments. Extrapolating results from such small catchments to larger catchments may introduce bias and may overestimate impacts at larger scales.
• Although plantations may reduce streamflow, they also help control erosion, reduce salinity and improve water quality.
• Data from the Green Triangle region indicate that agriculture uses ten times as much land as the forestry and forest products industry but the gross value of production is only 1.3 times as much.
• The quality and quantity of streamflow is a result of a complex interaction between rainfall, climate, soils, geology and land cover and all factors must be considered in order to assess the hydrological effects of plantation development in a particular location.
• Removing vegetation for intensive land use such as cropping or grazing can increase direct evaporation, run-off, nutrient and sediment loads, and soil erosion.
• Plantations generally have lower fertiliser, weedicide and pesticide use than many other agricultural land uses and replacing these land uses with plantations can result in improved water quality, lower stream nutrient loads and reduced algae outbreaks.
• Small streams may become dry for an increased proportion of time where a high proportion of the catchment is converted to plantation however it is likely that these streams only became permanent when the original vegetation was cleared.