By Hamish Hastie
Timber industry insiders are increasingly concerned an estimated 100,000 tonnes of timber harvested for forest health will be left to rot in huge stockpiles in the state’s South West.
Those concerns have been rejected by Forestry Minister Jackie Jarvis who says every bit of timber in the photos has a home to go to.
One of three ecological thinning stockpiles in WA’s South West.
Drone images of the stockpiled logs have emerged showing the scale of the state government’s “ecological thinning” program – the only form of logging allowed in WA apart from clearing for mining, after the native forest logging ban took effect in January 2024.
The images show swathes of thin karri and marri logs piled atop each other in three major timber businesses in and around the Manjimup area.
Industry insiders say there are more stockpiles in the bush.
Ecological thinning is a method of removing trees in forests to reduce competition for resources and help existing trees grow better. The trees are often much thinner than traditional ‘sawlog’ type timber that was harvested for things like structural wood before the ban took effect.
According to budget papers about $60 million will have been spent on the ecological thinning program by the middle of this year with a further $135 million projected until 2029.
Former Forest Products Commission senior bureaucrat-turned independent forester Gavin Butcher provided the 100,000-tonne estimate and said he was horrified by the potential waste of the timber in those stockpiles.
“Ultimately, it’s a resource, and the government is spending a lot of money getting it there,” he said.
The Forest Management Plan, the document that enforces the native logging ban, says the Forrest Products Commission will make wood harvested by ecological thinning available to the industry.
“Native timber sourced from these activities will continue to be available for products including high-value furniture, joinery and artisanal products,” it said.
One of three ecological thinning stockpiles in WA’s South West.
Butcher has been highly critical of the ecological thinning program, which he says gives no certainty of supply to timber producers so very few of them actually can turn the wood into things like furniture or joinery.
He said the ban decimated the ability of the industry to process and use logs of that type as many businesses left the industry through the government’s $80 million incentive transition program.
“They’re refusing to contemplate [more supply certainty] so I don’t know what’s going to happen over the next four years when they do this sitting back and that stack of wood gets bigger and bigger,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Jarvis said it was normal to stockpile timber in this manner and that it was all contracted out.
“Timber from ecological thinning along with material from approved mine site clearing activities is made available exclusively to WA industries via the Forest Products Commission and the FPC has contracts in place for the supply of this timber,” she said.
“This is in stark contrast to previous arrangements where the vast majority of WA timber was being sent overseas and interstate.
“Holding timber reserves is a normal business activity in forestry and is used to allow green timber to season or smooth supply to customers when conditions such as wet weather temporarily affect supply.”
WAtoday understands much of the wood is being ‘seasoned’ or dried out for firewood, but there is currently an oversupply of firewood.
“State agreements are in place for major buyers such as such as Wespine, Wesbeam, Laminex and Simcoa to purchase forest products,” the spokeswoman said.
One of three ecological thinning stockpiles in WA’s South West.
“Other contracts, for both firewood and high-value log product, are commercial in confidence.”
The spokeswoman said the native logging ban would protect nearly two million hectares of forests.
“It was not environmentally, socially or economically viable to continue the logging of native forests in WA,” she said.
“The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions ecological thinning program is undertaken for forest health outcomes, not timber production.”
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