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As of January 1, 2023, the practice of commercial logging in native forests has ceased in Victoria and Western Australia. This marks a pivotal shift in Australia’s forest management landscape.
With the cessation of logging, a new dialogue has emerged regarding the future stewardship of these forests. There has been extensive discussion on the dangers of forest thinning, the implications of fire management practices, and the complexities surrounding Indigenous-led forest stewardship.
While these topics are critical, it’s essential to differentiate them from the harmful commercial logging methods utilized previously. This situation presents a unique opportunity to consider a vital question: how much management should we implement in our forests? With logging practices now a thing of the past, should the focus shift towards creating ‘wilderness’—land untouched by human influence—or towards actively managing Country, as has been the tradition of Australia’s Indigenous peoples for thousands of years?
Significant Changes to Forest Country
Before European settlement, Australia’s Traditional Custodians skillfully managed their lands, employing fire strategically and observing which flora and fauna thrived in their environment. This knowledge was developed over millennia.
Regrettably, the last 250 years of colonization have drastically altered Australia’s forested landscapes, which were previously nurtured by Indigenous practices. The onset of these changes coincided with the displacement of Traditional Custodians and the replacement of their fire management systems. Take Tasmania as an example: the Palawa people employed fire to maintain open woodlands, but post-colonization, this method was discontinued, resulting in a shift back to rainforest ecosystems.
In more recent times, extensive logging, land clearing, bushfires, and flooding have caused considerable damage across vast tracts of forests, leading to environments that would be completely alien to earlier generations of Traditional Custodians.
In light of the evolving landscape, several Traditional Custodian groups in Victoria have begun to revive cultural land management practices and collaborate with Western scientists to restore their Country.
This collaborative effort encompasses various initiatives, from reintroducing cultural burning to thinning dense regrowth in post-logging areas, ultimately aiming for biodiversity restoration and cultural benefits, such as the return of large, mature trees crucial for numerous species.
If successful, these methods could boost biodiversity, enhance forest resilience, and support Traditional Custodians’ roles in managing cultural landscapes.
Defining Responsible Forest Care
It is important to recognize that each forest is unique; there is no singular approach to managing all forest types.
Forests vary in their resilience to fire, with some species thriving post-disturbance while others struggle to recover. In the mixed-species forests of Victoria and New South Wales, trees often regenerate rapidly after fire events. Conversely, recovery in the tall mountain ash forests of Victoria and Tasmania could take decades.
The structure of a forest also plays a significant role in its health. Mature tree-dominated forests recover better and quicker from bushfires compared to those comprised of tightly packed young trees.
To ensure the sustainability of Forest Country, it is essential to understand the specific needs of each forest and how best to safeguard its future.
Is Tree Removal Beneficial for Forest Health?
At a glance, a densely populated forest may appear to be a sign of growth; however, excessive density can be counterproductive.
Dense forests typically arise after severe disturbances like logging or fire, resulting in thousands of seedlings competing for limited resources like water and sunlight. This competition can hinder growth and decline the overall health of the forest, delaying the emergence of vital large trees that support diverse wildlife.
Furthermore, slow-growing young trees remain vulnerable to bushfires for extended periods—especially significant as climate change leads to increasingly frequent large-scale fires.
Forest thinning involves strategically removing certain trees, allowing remaining ones to grow larger and healthier, akin to the practice of thinning vegetables in a garden.
Globally, thinning has been traditionally employed by foresters to enhance the growth of economically valuable timber. However, results suggest thinning may confer additional ecological advantages.
Studies conducted in North America and Europe indicate that thinned forests often exhibit greater resilience to warmer, arid conditions and yield ecological benefits. In Australia, research has demonstrated that thinning can boost water availability in drought-affected areas, enhance carbon sequestration, and improve wildlife habitat. Furthermore, thinning initiatives in some Victorian forests have led to accelerated tree growth and greater species diversity within the understorey.
It’s important to note that while thinning is promising, it is not a universal remedy. Ecological outcomes can vary dramatically across different forest types.
For example, research has indicated that thinning does not significantly alter the rate of crown fire consumption in either young or mature mountain ash forests. Meanwhile, it has shown to decrease fire intensity in younger dry forests, but not in older ones.
This raises pressing questions: Would ecological objectives have yielded different results compared to commercial thinning practices? Are there variations in efficacy among different forest types?
Currently, the lack of extensive research on ecological thinning in Australia leaves many of these inquiries unresolved, yet global evidence suggests positive outcomes in various forest ecosystems.
Toward a Collaborative Future
Australia’s Traditional Custodians are celebrated for their deep understanding of these lands, having developed their knowledge through millennia of living in harmony with the environment.
As Australia embraces this historic transition in forest management, there lies an opportunity for Western scientists to collaborate with Traditional Owners to innovate in land stewardship, experiment with new methodologies, and collectively determine the most effective strategies to restore and maintain Forest Country.
Source
phys.org