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Ben
Bradshaw
Silviculture Manager, Forestry Division, Timbercorp Ltd
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An insect flight interception trap adjacent to a
E. globulus plantation in the Wattle Range region of South
Australia.
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Nick Collett
collects specimens from flight interception trap collections
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The CRC Biodiversity Project is a valued area of
research that allows Timbercorp to
improve and build on our knowledge base to ensure we meet our
corporate environmental commitments and additional requirements
under certification schemes. But industry’s interest and
involvement is more than just that!
The biodiversity benefits of plantations can
seem clear (at least anecdotally) to the average forester but it
takes some hard numbers to support an argument, with hard numbers
tending to raise as many questions than they answer.
“Why” and “how “
questions come thick and fast and tend to ask what the practical
manager needs to know in order to best manage or improve
biodiversity benefits for the community and the landscape.
Effective pest management is an important
outcome for industry. Biodiversity research also offers plantation
managers other potential benefits, including understanding and
managing pest populations which can impact on plantation health and
vigour.
Current projects underway in the Green Triangle and Western
Australia are making significant progress in improving our
understanding of biodiversity benefits of plantation forests in
traditionally agricultural landscapes.
Chela
Powell’s PhD project examines insect diversity in
plantation forest and remnant vegetation patches of varying
quality. Results of this study are currently being presented at the
International
Congress of Entomology in Durban, South Africa. Leith Davis'
PhD project examines the effect of plantation expansion on the
health and vigour of remnant trees. Tom Wright
studies the impact of plantation development on the abiotic factors
that might influence the physiological condition of remnant
vegetation. A new PhD candidate, Mayumi Knight, intends to study
bird and bat populations of remnant patches embedded in plantation
forests and on agricultural land in the GT.
Robert
Archibald continues some very valuable work in Western
Australia examining the condition of remnant patches and ways to
improve condition and biodiversity value of these areas. There a
clearly a number of important operational outcomes from this
research particularly when considered collectively and among other
biodiversity sub-project activities.
It is reassuring to see that these projects have been designed
to enable comparison of different land-uses and the effects of
land-use change on biodiversity. This is an important aspect that
researchers need to consider carefully when approaching
experimental design.
The forest industry demonstrates considerable leadership in
addressing the environmental concerns and perceptions of the public
and policy makers alike. In many cases the most detailed data or
information available to policy makers is from forestry (as a
result of quality research) while other land uses are poorly
represented. Regional scale biodiversity benefits should not be
considered in isolation or without consideration of land use types
in the region.
Considering all the activities in the Biodiversity Project (4.2)
and the Industry Pest Management Group (4.4), I believe industry
has a formidable and increasingly sound basis to manage and improve
biodiversity benefits for the community as well as managing risk
within the plantation estate.
That only leaves me to say, “keep up the good work and
keep up the communication”!!
