Pine (Softwood) Plantations

Pine trees are not native to Australia. This is something they have in common with most suburban trees, clover, cattle, sheep, domestic pets and 98 percent of the population.

For this reason, pine plantations do not attract the same range of native plants and animals as native forests do. Yet there is still more wildlife in pine plantations than on the cleared farmland where they are normally established. Animals such as emus and lyrebirds adapt well to pine plantations. An independent study in 1976 (Suckling et el. 1976) compared the number of animals in pine plantations with the number in nearby eucalypt forests in north-eastern Victoria. The study found 14 native species in the eucalypt forests and 11 in the pine plantations.

Pine plantations do not cause excessive damage to the soil. Studies show that native forests and pasture can grow well on land that has grown pine trees. Because pine plantations usually only use herbicides and fertilizers during initial establishment they use less chemicals than most other types of farming, and are less likely to pollute the air, soil or water.

Australia's first commercial pine plantations were established about 1880. The rate of planting increased rapidly during the 1960's and the total area of softwood plantation (predominantly pine plantations) is 948,255 hectares. Radiata pine is the dominant species planted in southern Australia and slash and caribean pine are the dominant species planted in Queensland.