North Queensland

Our Projects

Completed Projects

Planning and approvals requirements for new plantations in Australia

Current Projects

Silvopastoral trials for commercial pine systems in North Queensland

Foundational GIS spatial analysis

The Hub is developing a foundational GIS platform to consolidate spatial data and learnings over the past two decades and improve the Hub’s ability to identify Forestry Opportunities across Northern Australia. This project will assist the Hub and its stakeholders in assessing and making strategic and well-informed decisions surrounding Forestry investment and industry development across all Hub themes.

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Publicly available spatial datasets being considered by this project include:

• Plantation Suitability (Soft/hard woods)

• Land parcel boundary, land use and tenure (i.e. state forest, crown land, private freehold), and land value – ability to filter by size.

• Traditional Owner groups with associated land-use agreements (ILUA), native title determination status, Corporation Details.

• Soil Type

• Vegetation Type and Crown Cover percentage (Under relevant state vegetation mapping laws)

• Historical Clearing

• Climate: Average Rainfall/Temperatures, Projected Average Rainfall/Temperatures

• Existing Commercial Plantations

• Existing Supply Chain Infrastructure: Roads, Ports, Sawmills, Processing centres

• Land Access – based on contour topography, watercourses, land tenure, road type and distance along supply chain.

 Projects under development

Supply Chains & Infrastructure

Assessment of the current and future potential supply chain infrastructure supporting regional forestry and wood processing activities.

The Hub is looking to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the existing and prospective supply chain infrastructure for forestry across North Queensland. Including:

• The economics of growing wood and the ability for improved self-reliance on domestically grown timber.

• Innovation barriers and opportunities every point along the value chain, from seedling/nursery stock to manufacturing wood products and delivery to market.

• Developing a clearer understanding of:

  • Capacity for existing and potential regional infrastructure (roads, rail, and ports)

  • The main supply chain and infrastructure stakeholders/providers within the region

  • Identified pathways to remove supply chain bottlenecks, limitations

  • Regulatory framework surrounding infrastructure for the region

  • Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats

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See Expression of Interest

Assessment of the Carbon Regulatory Framework for North Queensland’s Plantation and Farm Forestry industry.

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The Hub will be investigating the barriers and opportunities within the ERF regulatory framework for registering plantation and farm forestry projects under the relevant ERF and Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) methodologies, for both existing and future potential plantation forestry investment in the Hub Region.

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This will assist Hub stakeholders in utilising ERF carbon farming opportunities when developing and managing their forestry resources. Project is to consider the options and pathways for both large-scale commercial plantations, as well as smaller private landholders, looking to establish ERF projects for new or established plantation activities. 

In addition to the barriers and opportunities for entry, the project will identify future obligations and timelines pertaining to the management of plantation forestry activities, in line with all regulatory requirements.

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See Expression of Interest

Assessment of the current and future potential volume of underutilized or waste biomass from local forestry and wood processing activities and their potential use and markets.

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The Hub is looking to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the existing and prospective volumes of underutilised or waste biomass generated by forestry and wood processing operations in local government areas (LGAs) covered by the Hub, as well as an assessment of existing or potential markets for commercial utilisation.

Key areas of assessment include:

• Native and plantation forest resources – plantation silviculture (thinning, pruning), maintenance.

• Harvesting residues– inventory and potential uses.

• Wood processing and fabrication residues.

• Mining and agricultural land use activities (i.e. biomass from land-clearing).

• Estimated Biomass residues from past/future cyclone impacts.

• Existing or potential markets for commercial utilisation

Additional assessment of primary processing and value adding sectors’ processing waste (including recycling and municipal waste wood collection services), logs from infrastructure works (including roads, power poles and mining activities), and treated wood waste from construction.

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See Expression of Interest

Northern Australia Forestry Literature Review

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The Hub is looking to investigate forestry related research pertaining to Northern Australia over the past 20 years – covering the following:

• Feasibility and situational analyses for forest industry development

• Forest resources and processing technologies for industry development (e.g. sawmilling, engineered wood products)

• Nursery methodologies and technologies

• Bioregion specific research

  • for plantation management and investment potential

  • species suitability and genetics

• Commerciality of native forest and plantation resources/products

• Timber grading surveys

• Factsheets and other “grey literature” from Forestry Organisations

By compiling this information, the Hub can capitalise on the extensive research to date, identify any gaps in knowledge and focus future projects to avoid duplication.

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See Expression of Interest