Green Triangle Regional Plantation Committee: About Us

History

The Greater Green Triangle Region
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The Green Triangle Regional Plantation Committee (GTRPC) was formed in July 1996 as co-ordinating body of the major interest groups associated with forest growing, farm forestry, processing, education and training and natural resource management in the Green Triangle region of South East South Australia and South West Victoria. Funded by the Federal, South Australian and Victorian Governments, the GTRPC employs a full time executive officer based at 19 Penola Road, Mt Gambier.

The GTRPC has a vision:

A sustainable forestry sector providing long-term economic, environmental and social benefits to the Green Triangle region.

And a mission:

To provide a forum for cooperation between all stakeholders in order to promote and facilitate sustainable development of forestry and its associated industries in the Green Triangle region.

What does the Green Triangle RPC do?

The GTRPC brings together a range of stakeholders and interested parties (growers, processors, State and local government, natural resource managers, farm foresters, consultants, etc.) in the plantation sector from across the region, to work on issues addressing planning, infrastructure, education, training and promotion of forest-based industries and associated enterprises.

There are benefits from the communication and networking between local, State and National Governments, the industry sector and its associations, the farm forestry community and the general community. The GTRPC facilitates communication flows within the sector and with other interested organisations and individuals. The GTRPC also has an active program for promoting the importance and the image of the sector to the wider community. This program includes funding projects with related natural resource management organizations, educational institutions and environmental non-government organisations.

Membership

The GTRPC membership includes Auspine, Australian Forest Growers, Department of Primary Industry (Victoria), ensis, ForestrySA, Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority, Glenelg Shire, Green Triangle Forest Products, Great Southern Plantations, Greening Australia, Green Triangle Plantation Forest Company, Hancock Victorian Plantations, Integrated Tree Cropping, Midway Pty. Ltd., Plantation Timbers Group, Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA) Forestry, Southern Cross University, Timbercorp, MCA Afforestation, private forest growers, farm foresters and community members.

The Future

Radiata Pine was first planted in the Mount Gambier area in the 1870s. Since that time over 173,000 hectares of plantations have been established and the pine industry has a well established presence with infrastructure and processing facilities in place handling approx. 4-4.6 M cubic metres annually. The area of pine is relatively stable with the replanting of harvested areas and some new plantations established annually. Much of the expansion of the pine plantation area occurred in the 1960s and 1970s as the result of Commonwealth and State Government incentives to establish a national self sufficiency in softwoods, and to replace softwood imports.

The hardwood industry is relatively new. The principle species is Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus), a species which was also identified and a commercial fast growing species many years ago, but was not developed as hardwood was available formerly from native forests. While there are a number of private Blue Gum growers, the bulk of the 150,000 hectares have been established by Managed Investment Funds under the National Plantations for Australia: The 2020 Vision released by the Federal and State Governments in 1996.

The Blue Gum plantations have been established on cleared agricultural land, making them eligible for carbon accounting under the Kyoto Protocol to alleviate climate change and global warning.

The Blue Gum will initially be grown for to produce wood chip suitable for processing into pulp and paper. While initially assumed that the annual production 3-4 million tonnes of wood chip would be exported via the Port of Portland, two chemical-thermo-mechanical pulp mills have planning approvals for Heywood (Vic.) and Penola (SA) and would increase economic and social benefits for the Green Triangle region via on-shore value adding.

Strategic Plan

The GTRPC has conducted strategic planning workshops in August 2004 and December 2006 to set the direction of the Committee for coming years. The GTRPC has been progressively implementing these strategies through to the end of the current funding cycle in June 2008 and beyond.

The GTRPC has undertaken a number of studies which include:
an analysis regional wood flow through to 2014 to assist Local, State and Federal Government plan regional economic and social infrastructure to support the increase in wood production from the Blue Gum plantations.

an economic and employment analysis of the region to evaluate the contribution of the forest industry to the Gross Regional Product. Jointly funded by ForestrySA.

publication of a number of case studies highlighting the contribution of the plantation sector to regional biodiversity.

The GTRPC is also co-operating with Greening Australia in assessing the extent and nature of the biological diversity present on the ‘non-plantable’ areas within the plantation estate. These islands and corridors of native vegetation represent an important ecological network which is a hidden community asset.

The GTRPC instigated and helped fund the Co-operative Research Centre for Forestry project “Socio-economic impacts of land use change in the Green Triangle and Central Victoria”. This project, which runs until mid 2008, will analyse the social and economic impacts of a number of land use changes (not just forestry) occurring in recent years in the Green Triangle and Central Victoria. The results of the study will be made accessible to all people with an interest in land use change issues, to help inform decision making and policy development.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address:
Suite 6, 19 Penola Road
(PO Box 1339)
Mount Gambier

Contact Numbers:
Telephone: (08) 8724 8711
Facsimile: (08) 8724 8433
Mobile: 0417 874 552
Email: gtplantations@bigpond.com

Revision Date: 23rd April 2007