Australian plantation statistics 2016

Overview
Australian plantation statistics is published every five years based on spatial data. It supports strategic forest industry planning and decision-making by presenting information on total plantation area, new planting and ownership. The spatial updates complement two other NPI information products published by ABARES: the annual tabular plantations update and the five-yearly comprehensive log supply forecast report.

In this report, plantation areas are presented for softwood and hardwood plantation types, species by NPI regions, and by state and territory.

Key Issues
• Australia's total commercial plantation area declined by 26 260 hectares from 2013-14, to 1 973 400 hectares in 2014-15. The total softwood plantation area increased by around 11 200 hectares to 1 035 400 hectares and the hardwood plantation area declined by 34 800 hectares to 928 300 hectares in 2014-15. Although the decline has been attributed to a one-year change, the decline has happened over the past five years and is captured in this five-yearly spatial update. The changes are the result of plantation managers revising their area figures, unproductive plantation land being returned to agriculture or to the lessors on the expiration of hardwood plantation lease arrangements. • The total plantation area decreased in all states and territories except New South Wales and the Northern Territory, for which it increased by 0.8 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively, mainly because of improved mapping of plantations. The area of new plantations established in 2014-15 was around 600 hectares, with most planted in the Northern Territory and Queensland. Around 500 hectares of new hardwood plantations and around 100 hectares of softwood plantations were established in 2014-15. • In 2014-15 Institutional investors owned 50 per cent of the total commercial plantation area. Governments owned 21 per cent, as did Farm forestry and other private growers. The proportion of plantations owned by managed investment schemes (MIS) continued to decline and was around 5 per cent in 2014-15. This was a result of plantations that were previously managed by MIS being sold to institutional and private investors.