http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201108/s3301339.htm

 

The Federal Government's commodity adviser says jobs in commercial forestry regions could be lost due to a changing climate.

 

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics has released a report on the potential effects of climate change on forestry in six Australian regions.

Tree species, such as the blue gum and radiata pine, are projected to become less productive under conditions of reduced rainfall and increased temperatures.

Log availability from softwood plantations is expected to be more affected than hardwood plantations, while the impact on native forests is expected to be small. The effects vary between tree species as well as region.

The report says the changes may result in reduced investment in harvesting, haulage and log processing capacity, which could lead to reductions in production value and jobs.

ABARES graphs show that in the worst case scenario, with increasing global temperatues of on average 1.5 per cent, there'd be an average 18 per cent reduction in log availiability by 2050.

Graph projections show that that there would be an average drop in production of 21 per cent, with employment down 19 per cent.

Some of the most vulnerable communities, as outlined in the report, include Wattle Range in South Australia, Eidsvold in south-eastern Queensland, the Tablelands in northern Australia, Bombala in south-eastern NSW, Nannup in south-western Western Australia, and Dorset in Tasmania.

The projections do not take into account any adaptation measures.

The full report is available on the ABARES website.