Spatially assessing timber plantation and silvopastoral system opportunities in North Queensland

North Queensland has been identified in several studies as presenting a positive opportunity for expansion of the commercial plantation estate in Australia including greater adoption of innovative silvopastoral systems. Despite the opportunities, there are well-understood environmental and commercial challenges for plantation expansion, such as seasonal water availability and cyclones, regulatory barriers, limited access to markets, and infrastructure and logistic challenges.

The North Queensland Regional Forestry hub has identified and mapped several opportunities for plantation expansion across the region and has specifically modelled the feasibility of four currently marketed timber species Pinus caribaea (Southern Pines), Eucalyptus pellita (Red Mahogany), Eucalyptus cloeziana (Gympie Messmate) and Corymbia citriodora (Spotted Gum).

Detailed analysis on the financial feasibility of these species also included modelling the potential of adding carbon credit revenue (via ACCUs) and the adoption of silvopastoral regimes, where forestry and livestock grazing are combined on the same unit of land to generate multiple income streams.

The overall results show that silvopastoral regimes can be more productive than forestry or grazing alone in many cases and can provide other additional benefits such as enhanced animal productivity from shade and shelter from the trees.

This presentation will summarise the Hub’s foundational work mapping the current state of the industry, showcase the spatial analysis of the region for plantation development and present the key financial results for farmers and landowners from the work.