For more information on state forests and plantations in Victoria, check out the 2017 VAFI Annual Industry Review.
Plantation Area
In 2015-16 Victoria continued to have the largest total area of plantations of Australian states and territories with 423,000 hectares of commercial hardwood and softwood plantations25, which is stable from the previous year. Hardwood plantations (mostly bluegum) continue to cover roughly 47% of the plantation estate, while softwood plantations (mainly radiata pine) covered 52%.
Native Forest Estate
Victoria has about 7.9 million hectares of forest across both Crown and private land. In total, approximately 450,000 hectares or 5.7% of the state’s total native forest estate is available and suitable to be harvested by VicForests. In 2016-17 VicForests harvested 2,965 hectares or 0.038% of total native forest area in Victoria.