The theme for the event was Sustaining Communities – The Good Wood Industry, with a variety of keynote speakers taking to the stage at the Tailrace Centre.

Among them was Tasmanian Liberal senator Richard Colbeck, who said the forum promoted communication between the various industry players.

“It provides a platform for representatives of government to speak with people in the industry and hear their feedback,” he said.

“There is a real desire and willingness from people to engage, which is fantastic.

“I think it’s also just good to have representatives working together to get the messages right about the value of the industry to the broader community and the Australian economy.”

Mr Colbeck used his address to outline parts of the the newly released National Forest Industries Plan.

The plan found future demand requires plantation to expand above the current crop of 2 billion trees with an addition 1 billion trees over the next 10 years, or 400,000 hectares of land.

Mr Colbeck said a mutli-faceted approach was required for the plan to succeed.

“We’ll be working not only with the forest industry, but also the agricultural sector to see how we can put some trees back into the landscape, and how farmers can get a benefit out of that,” he said.

“Obviously, there is going to have to be reform of some of the current settings to do that.

“It’s also about making sure we have the resources required, or will be demanding, from the community throughout the next decade.

“The global demand for forest-based products will quadruple by 2050.”

Mr Colbeck was joined by state Energy Minister Guy Barnett in delivering a keynote speech at the forum. 

The event also included two panel presentations, as well as a table discussion of the TFFPN’s priorities moving forward.

The TFFPN was established in May of this year as an umbrella organisation in the forest and forest product industry.

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