| Glossary |
| A |
| ABARE | ||
| Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics | ||
| ACF | ||
| Australian Conservation Foundation | ||
| Agroforestry | ||
| see Farm Forestry | ||
| ANZECC | ||
| Australia and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council | ||
| B |
| Biodiversity | ||
| The variety of all life forms - it includes 'genetic diversity', which reflects the diversity within each species; 'species diversity', which is the variety of species; and 'ecosystem diversity', which is the diversity of different communities formed by living organisms and the relations between them. It is sometimes considered at the landscape diversity level. | ||
| Buffer zones | ||
| Margin of vegetation around an area with a particular value. Its purpose is to the value from potentially detrimental disturbances in the surrounding forest. Buffer width is usually defined as the horizontal distance from the edge of the value being protected. | ||
| C |
| CALM | ||
| Western Australia Department of Conservation and Land Management | ||
| CAR Reserve System | ||
| Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative Reserve System | ||
| CIFOR | ||
| Centre for International Forest Research | ||
| CITES | ||
| Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna | ||
| Clear-felling | ||
| Method of harvesting a coupe whereby all merchantable trees, apart from those to be retained for seed or wildlife habitat, are removed. |
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| Code of forest practices for timber production |
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| Set of operational prescriptions on harvesting procedures and performance standards. Codes of practice are used to reduce, control and mitigate the impact of activities on the forest environment. |
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| Coupe | ||
| Area of forest of variable size, shape and orientation set aside for commercial forestry activities. | ||
| CRA | ||
| Comprehensive Regional Assessment: A joint assessment of all forest values (environmental, heritage, economic and social) undertaken by the Commonwealth and State - leading to the establishment of a CAR reserve system, agreements on forest management, and the signing of a Regional Forest Agreement. | ||
| CRCs | ||
| The Australian Commonwealth Government Co-operative Research Centres. Collaborative research ventures bringing together researchers from universities, the public sector and business to undertake collaborative research and education programs in the fields of natural sciences and engineering, with a strong focus on commercial and other applications. | ||
| CSD | ||
| United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development | ||
| CSIRO | ||
| Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. An independent statutory authority, founded in 1926 to undertake a broad range of research in areas of economic or social value to the nation and responsible to the Australian public through the Commonwealth Minister for Industry, Science and Tourism. | ||
| D |
| Deferred Forest Agreement/Area (DFA) | ||
| Formal Australian intergovernmental agreement protecting forest areas (Deferred Forest Areas) which may be required for inclusion in Australia's forest reserve system, as a prelude to Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs). These agreements remain in place until Regional Forest Agreements are completed. | ||
| DNR | ||
| Department of Natural Resources (Queensland) | ||
| DNRE | ||
| Department of Natural Resources and Environment (Victoria) | ||
| DPI - SA | ||
| Department of Primary Industries (South Australia) | ||
| DPI - Qld | ||
| Department of Primary Industries (Queensland) | ||
| DPIE | ||
| Commonwealth Department of Primary Industries and Energy | ||
| E |
| Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management (ESFM) | ||
| Defined in Australia as “integrating commercial and non-commercial values of forests so that the welfare of society (both material and non-material) is improved, whilst ensuring that the values of forests, both as a resource for commercial use and for conservation are not lost or degraded for current and future generations”. | ||
| F |
| FAO | ||
| United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation | ||
| Farm forestry (agroforestry) | ||
| System in which both agricultural and forest products are produced concurrently from the same area of land by cropping or grazing below an open canopy. | ||
| Forest | ||
| An area incorporating all living and non-living components that is dominated by trees usually with a single stem and a mature or potentially mature stand height exceeding five metres. The existing or projected foliage cover of overstorey strata should be equal to or greater than 30 per cent. | ||
| Forest estate | ||
| All forests growing on public or private lands. | ||
| Forest Management Plan | ||
| A plan governing management activities within the management plan area, usually including forest geography and history, land use allocation, objectives and prescriptions for management which is approved by the relevant management agency and/or minister at the State government level in Australia. The approval process varies between jurisdictions and usually includes a public consultation period. | ||
| FORPLAN | ||
| A computer program which applies forest values (including financial) to forest stands. It is currently used in conjunction with Geographic Information Systems and models for timber, water and wildlife to estimate the response of these values over time for the whole forest for various management strategies. | ||
| FREE | ||
| United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, Forestry Research, Education and Extension | ||
| FSC | ||
| Forest Stewardship Council | ||
| FWPRDC | ||
| Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation (Australia) | ||
| G |
| GATT | ||
| General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade | ||
| GIS | ||
| Geographic Information System. A system which holds spatially referenced data which can be classified, overlaid, analysed and presented in map, tabular or graphic form. | ||
| H |
| Habitat | ||
| The natural home of a plant or animal. | ||
| Hardwood | ||
| Timber from broad-leaved, flowering trees, irrespective of physical hardness. Includes eucalypts, wattles and most rainforest species. | ||
| I |
| IGEA | ||
| Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment (Australia) | ||
| IISD | ||
| International Institute for Sustainable Development | ||
| Interim Forest Areas | ||
| A term relating specifically to areas in Tasmania and equivalent to DFAs in other States. | ||
| IPF | ||
| Intergovernmental Panel on Forests | ||
| Interim Resource Areas (IRAs) | ||
| Areas in which commercial logging operations, including harvesting and associated roading activities, are permitted during the period of a DFA agreement. | ||
| ISO | ||
| International Standards Organisation | ||
| ITTO | ||
| International Tropical Timber Organisation | ||
| IUCN | ||
| International Union for the Conservation of Nature | ||
| IUFRO | ||
| International Union of Forestry Research Organisations | ||
| J |
| JANIS | ||
| Joint ANZECC/MCFFA National Forest Policy Implementation Agreement Sub Committee | ||
| JANIS Criteria | ||
| National criteria for a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative Reserve System for Australia’s forests, agreed in 1996 by the Joint ANZECC/MCFFA National Forest Policy Implementation Agreement Sub Committee (JANIS). | ||
| K |
| L |
| M |
| MCFFA | ||
| Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Council on Forestry, Fisheries and Aquaculture | ||
| MIG | ||
| Montreal Implementation Group (Australia) | ||
| Montreal Process | ||
| A process initiated in 1993 by the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe at a conference in Montreal to develop criteria and indicators for the conservation and management of temperate and boreal forests. Montreal Process members are twelve countries including Australia that together contain more than 90% of the worlds temperate and boreal forests. | ||
| N |
| NAFI | ||
| National Association of Forest Industries (Australia) | ||
| National Estate | ||
| The National Estate (Australia) is a collection of places - components of the natural or cultural environment of Australia - which have aesthetic, historic, scientific or social significance or other special value for future generations and for the present community. These places are listed on the Register of the National Estate. | ||
| National Forest Inventory (NFI) | ||
| Joint Commonwealth-State program responsible for collating comprehensive information about the location and diversity of Australia's forest estate. | ||
| National Forest Policy Statement (NFPS) | ||
| National Forest Policy Statement (Australia) a joint Commonwealth, State and Territory Government statement which outlines agreed objectives and policies for Australia's public and private forests, announced in 1992. | ||
| Native forest | ||
| Any locally indigenous forest community containing the full complement of native species and habitats normally associated with that community, or having the potential to develop these characteristics. | ||
| NGO | ||
| Non Government Organisation | ||
| National Wilderness Inventory (NWI) | ||
| The NWI is an environmental database and set of modelling procedures which are designed to assist in the planning and management of remote and natural lands in Australia. | ||
| O |
| OECD | ||
| Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development | ||
| Old Growth Forest | ||
| Forest that is ecologically mature and has been subjected to negligible unnatural disturbance such as logging, roading and clearing. The definition focuses on forest in which the upper stratum or overstorey is in the late mature to over mature growth phases. In Australia this definition has been amended to produce an agreed national operational interpretation as follows: "Old-growth forest is ecologically mature forest where the effects of disturbances are now negligible". | ||
| P |
| Plantations | ||
| Intensively managed stands of either native or exotic trees species, created by the regular placement of seedlings or seed. | ||
| Pulp logs | ||
| Logs that are processed for the purposes of producing wood based panels, pulp and paper products. | ||
| Q |
| R |
| Rainforest | ||
| A closed forest in areas of high precipitation with a large diversity of species forming a deep, densely interlacing canopy in which vines and ferns are often present. | ||
| RFA | ||
| Regional Forest Agreement. An agreement about the long-term management and use of forests in a particular region between the Commonwealth and a State Government of Australia | ||
| Regrowth forest | ||
| Native forest containing a substantial proportion of trees that are in the younger growth phase and are actively growing in height and diameter. Regrowth forests may contain scattered individuals or small occurrences of ecologically mature, or old growth, trees. | ||
| Reserves | ||
| Areas such as National Parks and nature reserves which are subject to an established degree of protection from disturbance. | ||
| S |
| Sawlogs | ||
| Logs for processing into sawn timber, veneer, poles and sleepers. | ||
| Sawmill residue | ||
| Material left following the processing of logs into sawn timber. | ||
| Softwood | ||
| Timber of coniferous trees, irrespective of physical hardness. Includes pines and cypresses. | ||
| SFM | ||
| Sustainable Forest Management (see ESFM) | ||
| Sustainable yield | ||
| Maximum level of commercial timber which can be maintained in perpetuity under a given management regime. | ||
| T |
| TWS | ||
| The Wilderness Society | ||
| U |
| UNCED | ||
| United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio in 1992 | ||
| UNEP | ||
| United Nations Environment Program | ||
| V |
| VAFI | ||
| Victorian Association of Forest Industries | ||
| Value adding | ||
| Economic term which describes how a raw product is processed into a product which is of more value than the material in its raw state. In the forest and wood industry context, examples of this include the kiln-drying of sawn timber, and the manufacturing of wood veneers. |
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| W |
| Wilderness | ||
| Land that, together with its plant and animal communities, is in a state that has not been substantially modified by, and is remote from, the influences of European settlement or is capable of being restored to such a state; is of sufficient size to make its maintenance in such a state feasible; and is capable of providing opportunities for solitude and self-reliant recreation. | ||
| Woodchips | ||
| Forest product created by processing timber and residues. Most commonly used in wood panels, pulp and paper making. | ||
| Wood pulp | ||
| Processed wood fibre used for the manufacture of paper and paper products. | ||
| World heritage | ||
| Areas deemed to have universal value for humankind under the international convention to which Australia is a signatory. | ||
| WTO | ||
| World Trade Organisation | ||
| WWF | ||
| Worldwide Fund for Nature | ||
| X |
| Y |
| Z |
| Source: Commonwealth of Australia (1996) Comprehensive Regional Assessment , East Gippsland: Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management, System and Processes; Commonwealth of Australia (1995) Deferred Forest Areas; Commonwealth of Australia (1992) National Forest Policy Statement |
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