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Final assessment report
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Recommendations report (December 2009)
Final assessment report—full (December 2009)
River red gums (NSW Government website)
Through terms of reference, the NSW Government asked the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) to assess the river red gum and woodland forests in the Riverina bioregion in NSW. The government intended to make a forest agreement to determine conservation outcomes and a sustainable future for these forests, the forestry industry and local communities in the region.
In September 2009, we completed a preliminary assessment report and called for submissions to inform our assessment.
Consultations with key stakeholders and experts, and holding public forums helped us gain a richer picture of the breadth and depth of values people place on these forests. We also reviewed and considered every submission during the preparation of our reports.
Released in December 2009, the final assessment report presents the best available science and knowledge on the current health and uses of these forests, together with the predicted implications of climate change and the consequent impacts on changes in water availability and flooding regimes. The report found that the river red gum forests, and the industries and social systems they support, are in decline due to river regulation, over-allocation of water, and drought. This decline is predicted to worsen under climate change. Even with ambitious water reforms, there will not be enough water to restore all these forests to health. The future health of these forests will depend on whether the particular forest stands can be artificially flooded and how they are managed, including appropriate thinning. The report proposes goals and principles to guide river red gum floodplain ecosystem management in a water scarce future.
While the final assessment report provides scientific and information base to guide a process of change, the recommendations report proposes how this should begin.
In response to our assessment and recommendations, the NSW Government enacted the National Park Estate (Riverina Red Gum Reservations) Act 2010 that came into effect on 1 July 2011. The Act transferred certain state forest land in the Riverina area to the national parks estate, and made provision with respect to forestry operations in that area. To give effect to the government's decision, an Integrated Forestry Operations Approval for Riverina Red Gum was signed in December 2010.
| Final assessment and recommendations |
Our final assessment report delivered to the NSW Government in December 2009, contained six key findings on future management of the river red gum and woodland forests in the Riverina bioregion. These findings helped inform the recommendations report that made 16 specific recommendations.
Key findings arising from our assessment were:
- Significant water reforms
Significant water reforms and closer collaboration in water and forest management between jurisdictions are needed to respond to the decline in forest ecosystem health.
- Active interventions to manage forests
All river red gum forest ecosystems in the Riverina will need to be intensively and actively managed through the inevitable transitions of a drying climate. Active interventions such as ecological thinning and water-delivery infrastructure will be necessary in all forests, whether managed primarily for conservation or timber production.
- Trans-border national parks with coordinated adaptive management
Managing key environmental assets and corridors as transborder national parks and reserves is a sound conservation planning response to water scarcity and climate change as it should help to align flooding regimes and enhance the status of red gum forests, as key ecological assets under the pending Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
- New funding models for forests
Sound reasons remain to manage some forests for multiple benefits and uses, such as timber production, conservation, tourism, and recreation, but new funding models must be developed to reflect the diversity of ecosystem services, products and values these forests support. Lower growth rates and increasing management costs are undermining the viability of a public trading enterprise managing the red gum forests of the Riverina on a commercial basis.
- Engagement with local communities
Indigenous and other local communities maintain strong cultural links with red gum forests and should be engaged in the management of all forests, regardless of tenure.
- Maintaining human and social capital
The Riverina region is deeply affected by the current drought as irrigated agriculture has reduced. The capacity of the Riverina communities to adapt to the challenges of a water scarce future depends on maintaining economic and social diversity, and investing in human and physical capital.
The final assessment report is available in full or as separate chapters and appendices. The supporting map book provides additional mapping detail, compared to the A4 maps provided within the final assessment report, to help the reader rapidly distinguish features of interest.
- Recommendations report (1.8 MB)
- Final assessment report (full) (1.8 MB)
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Further advice on long term sustainable wood yields
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Our final assessment report presented estimates of long term sustainable yields from the main river red gum forests of the Central Murray Management Area. To help inform its response to our recommendations, the government asked for a more precise estimate of the timber yield for each forest group in the Riverina bioregion.
We consulted with Forests NSW and provided further advice on estimates of long term (100 year) sustainable yields of quota sawlogs, and Forests NSW estimates of standing stock of quota sawlogs.
This advice did not change any of the findings or recommendations contained in our assessment and recommendations reports.
Further advice on long term sustainable wood yields
Letter to the Premier
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Information sessions to explain assessment and recommendations
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In January 2010, we held information sessions in the Riverina (Deniliquin, Barham, Mathoura and Balranald) to explain our assessment and recommendations reports. The information sessions also provided an opportunity to understand the processes and principles that the NRC and its scientific panel followed and applied in the assessment. The NRC Commissioner, and the chair and members of the NRC River Red Gum Scientific Panel attended these sessions.
Consultation meetings were also held in the Riverina in October 2009 to gain insight and input from the local community in the development of the assessment report.
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Consultation and communication
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We undertook a variety of consultations with a diverse range of groups and individuals who have interests in the river red gum forests of the Riverina bioregion.
We met with a cross-section of interested parties, took tours of the region, held public forums and received formal submissions.
The consultation activities helped us see the forest from a diversity of perspectives and values, develop an appreciation of the specific issues of communities and industries, and better understand the local and regional context of the assessment.
After receiving the terms of reference, we circulated a notice of assessment to forestry industry representatives, relevant government agencies and their Ministers, and posted it on this website. The notice of assessment outlined the timeline, scope and process for the assessment, included the terms of reference and invited people to register their interest in our forest assessment. Individuals and organisations who registered were kept informed of the progress of the assessment through regular updates (see below) that were sent electronically and posted on our website.
We invited public submissions—first on the terms of reference in August 2009 and then on the preliminary assessment report in September 2009. We reviewed and considered every submission during the preparation of our reports.
For more details, refer to Appendix 6: Communication and consultation.
Notice of assessment
Information update: 4 September 2009, 18 September 2009, 9 October 2009, 5 November 2009
In September 2009, we completed a preliminary assessment report which has been superceded by the final assessment report.
- Preliminary assessment report (full) (11.9 MB)
We received 5,534 submissions from organisations and individuals, of which 259 were unique and the remainder were form letters or emails. We reviewed and considered every submission during the preparation of our assessment report and the recommendations report.
These submissions were on our preliminary assessment report and the government's terms of reference.