Forico’s win for nature
Forest assets worth billions
THE release of a report from Forico that found the natural assets of Tasmania’s largest plantation forestry manager were worth billions of dollars has been welcomed from all sides of politics.
The Natural Capital Report quantifies the value of natural assets and impacts things such as carbon emissions have on nature.
Forico chief executive officer Bryan Hayes said the aim was to get to a bottom line that was net natural capital positive or “nature positive”.
“Using conservative evaluations on our estate, the natural capital value in our ecosystems is estimated to be $3.4bn.
“$400m is attributed to the company asset value we own and the future revenues we will derive from that, but about $3bn is attributable to society, in terms of water provisioning, habitat, flora and fauna.”
Forico’s plantation estate sequestered more than 126 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents which was estimated to have a value of $8.6bn.
It was a net absorber of carbon dioxide of about 1.2 million tonnes when emissions from their operations were taken into account.
Mr Hayes said effective forest management as well as the sustainable production of forest products could make a positive contribution to the mitigation of climate change.
“We are hoping to inspire others to get on this journey towards true sustainability, not a word that is easy to throw around, but true sustainability where you measure all our interactions with nature.”
Tasmanian Wilderness Society’s Tom Allen said it was world-leading, groundbreaking work.
“We see Forico as a microcosm for the future of forestry not just in Tasmania, but the rest of the country.”
Forico manages 77,552ha of native forest purely for its natural values.
Resources Minister Guy Barnett said the report and broader commitment from our forestry sector to sustainable and responsible management practices showed the state’s forestry and timber sector sets a high benchmark.
Labor’s resources spokesman Shane Broad said it showed how important forestry was to the Tasmanian economy and how it could not only be a source of revenue, but play an important role to help combat climate change.
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said the report demonstrated native forest destruction was not just environmentally reckless but also bad economics, and compromised Tasmania’s clean and green brand.