State of the forests report Tasmania 2022 tabled and summary booklet released

The State of the forests Tasmania 2022 data report was tabled in parliament on 30 March 2023.

State of the forests Tasmania 2022 data report (PDF 5.3 MB)

State of the forests Tasmania 2022 summary booklet (PDF 23.2 MB)

What is the report?

• The Forest Practices Authority, Tasmania's independent regulator, to provide a five-yearly overview of Tasmania's forests.
• Covering the period 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2021, the report provides a comprehensive overview of forests, the condition they are in and any changes that have occurred in Tasmanian forests. Information on both production forest and reserved areas are included in the report.
• This report has more case studies than previous reports, providing detailed information on: threatened ecological communities; monitoring King Island threatened birds; fairy lantern de-listing as threatened; erosion following wildfire, exceptional rainfall and water-table lowering; heatwaves and carbon uptake by trees; carbon data and accounts; farm forestry; threatened butterfly management; long-term ecological research.

Why is the report written?

• Provision of the report is legislated in the Forest Practices Act 1985 and is a requirement of the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement. Contents of the report inform Australia's State of the Forest Reports and meet the reporting requirements under the Montreal Process, an initiative of 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development which called for sustainable management of forests.
• The Forest Practices Authority is an independent statutory authority and the report's findings are independent and robust. Providing comprehensive data and information on trends in Tasmania's forests, the report is often cited as a reliable source of information. Previous such reports have been prepared and released in 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 and are available on the Forest Practices Authority's website.

How is the report constructed?

• The report's findings are based on the analyses of seven criteria and 42 sustainability indicators for assessing the sustainability of forest management in Tasmania. These indicators were developed as a requirement of the Regional Forest Agreement and are based on the Montreal Process Criteria.
• The indicators used in the report were agreed to by both the Tasmanian and Australian Governments with stakeholder input. The seven criteria address the following aspects of forest conservation and management:
  • Biological diversity
  • The productive capacity of forest ecosystems
  • Ecosystem health and vitality
  • Soil and water resources
  • Forest contribution to global carbon cycles
  • Long-term multiple socioeconomic benefits
  • Legal, institutional, and economic framework.

Who writes the report?

• The report is provided to Government by the Forest Practices Authority. Various state agencies and entities provide data and information to the Forest Practices Authority to input into the report, including:
  • the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania
  • Sustainable Timber Tasmania
  • the Department of State Growth
  • Private Forests Tasmania
  • the Australian Government Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry.

What were the main findings of the report?

Tasmanian forests are diverse and complex, including production native forest and plantations as well as reserved native forest on both public and private land.

Read the executive summary in the report for statistics about the forest and information on trends observed over the last five years and previous reporting periods.

Download the summary booklet (PDF 23.2 MB) for an illustrated overview of the report.