GOVERNMENT CALLS FOR MORE LANDOWNERS TO INVEST IN HARDWOODS
Published Tuesday, 27 March, 2007 at 11:40 AM
Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries
The Honourable Tim Mulherin
The Queensland Government is calling for more south-east Queensland landowners to invest in hardwood plantations.
Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries Tim Mulherin said Forestry Plantations Queensland had attractive land rental and joint venture schemes available for landowners with land suitable for hardwoods.
Formerly trading as DPI Forestry, FPQ was established in May 2006 to manage Queensland’s 196,000-hectare softwood and hardwood plantation estate.
“By growing hardwoods, landowners can receive regular rental payments, increase their land’s productivity, reforest cleared agricultural land, gain additional grazing capability and contribute to greenhouse gas reduction,” Mr Mulherin said.
“Adoption of this attractive scheme by landowners would compliment the role Queensland already is playing in checking climate change with more than 7 million trees being planted in plantation forests this year.”
FPQ, one of the southern hemisphere’s largest tree planting organisations, is this year planting millions of trees in more than 196,000 hectares of plantation forests.
An individual tree can extract up to 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grows to maturity, storing carbon as timber.
Mr Mulherin said more than 180 south-east Queensland landholders now had land-rental and similar agreements with FPQ to grow hardwood plantations.
“South-east Queensland’s increasing hardwood estate will assist the timber industry’s move to plantation-based hardwoods by 2024, a target set by the South East Queensland Forests Agreement.
“Queensland’s plantation hardwoods are the state’s environmental success story,” he said.
“The SEQFA had an original hardwood target of 5000 hectares, which was met ahead of time. Then a further multi-million tree program was approved to double that figure.
“FPQ now has more than 8500 hectares of hardwoods on state and private land.
“The target in 2006-07 is to plant a further 2500 hectares and FPQ is well on their way to achieving that.”
Mr Mulherin said spotted gum and Gympie messmate, supplemented by Dunn’s white gum and western white gum, were the major hardwood species being planted.
“Last year FPQ introduced a hardier spotted gum hybrid that will grow on a wider variety of soil types and in varying climates, meaning hardwoods that previously had to be overlooked can now be established,” he said.
FPQ’s hardwood plantations are in south-east Queensland, around Kingaroy and Wondai, near Gayndah and Mundubbera, and on the coast between Beerburrum and Gympie.
Mr Mulherin encouraged landowners who wanted to be a part of the Queensland Government’s successful hardwood plantation program to contact FPQ or visit the organisation’s website at www.fpq.qld.gov.au.
Media: 323 96530
Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries Tim Mulherin said Forestry Plantations Queensland had attractive land rental and joint venture schemes available for landowners with land suitable for hardwoods.
Formerly trading as DPI Forestry, FPQ was established in May 2006 to manage Queensland’s 196,000-hectare softwood and hardwood plantation estate.
“By growing hardwoods, landowners can receive regular rental payments, increase their land’s productivity, reforest cleared agricultural land, gain additional grazing capability and contribute to greenhouse gas reduction,” Mr Mulherin said.
“Adoption of this attractive scheme by landowners would compliment the role Queensland already is playing in checking climate change with more than 7 million trees being planted in plantation forests this year.”
FPQ, one of the southern hemisphere’s largest tree planting organisations, is this year planting millions of trees in more than 196,000 hectares of plantation forests.
An individual tree can extract up to 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grows to maturity, storing carbon as timber.
Mr Mulherin said more than 180 south-east Queensland landholders now had land-rental and similar agreements with FPQ to grow hardwood plantations.
“South-east Queensland’s increasing hardwood estate will assist the timber industry’s move to plantation-based hardwoods by 2024, a target set by the South East Queensland Forests Agreement.
“Queensland’s plantation hardwoods are the state’s environmental success story,” he said.
“The SEQFA had an original hardwood target of 5000 hectares, which was met ahead of time. Then a further multi-million tree program was approved to double that figure.
“FPQ now has more than 8500 hectares of hardwoods on state and private land.
“The target in 2006-07 is to plant a further 2500 hectares and FPQ is well on their way to achieving that.”
Mr Mulherin said spotted gum and Gympie messmate, supplemented by Dunn’s white gum and western white gum, were the major hardwood species being planted.
“Last year FPQ introduced a hardier spotted gum hybrid that will grow on a wider variety of soil types and in varying climates, meaning hardwoods that previously had to be overlooked can now be established,” he said.
FPQ’s hardwood plantations are in south-east Queensland, around Kingaroy and Wondai, near Gayndah and Mundubbera, and on the coast between Beerburrum and Gympie.
Mr Mulherin encouraged landowners who wanted to be a part of the Queensland Government’s successful hardwood plantation program to contact FPQ or visit the organisation’s website at www.fpq.qld.gov.au.
Media: 323 96530