Project Overview

North Queensland has been identified in several studies as presenting a positive opportunity for expansion of the commercial plantation estate in Australia including greater adoption of innovative silvopastoral systems. Despite the opportunities, there are well-understood environmental and commercial challenges for plantation expansion, such as seasonal water availability and cyclones, regulatory barriers, limited access to markets, and infrastructure and logistic challenges.

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The North Queensland Regional Forestry hub has identified and mapped several opportunities for plantation expansion across the region and has specifically modelled the feasibility of four currently marketed timber species Pinus caribaea (Southern Pines), Eucalyptus pellita (Red Mahogany), Eucalyptus cloeziana (Gympie Messmate) and Corymbia citriodora (Spotted Gum).

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Detailed analysis on the financial feasibility of these species also included modelling the potential of adding carbon credit revenue (via ACCUs) and the adoption of silvopastoral regimes, where forestry and livestock grazing are combined on the same unit of land to generate multiple income streams.

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The overall results show that silvopastoral regimes can be more productive than forestry or grazing alone in many cases and can provide other additional benefits such as enhanced animal productivity from shade and shelter from the trees.

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Species Selection
 

Pinus caribaea (Southern Pines)

• Demonstrated performance in the region. ​

• Existing markets and plantation scale. ​

• Potential for hybrids with better wind firmness in relation to cyclones. ​
   

Eucalyptus pellita (Red Mahogany)

• Increasingly used as a tropical hardwood replacement. ​

• Well established in Southeast Asia. ​

• Potential for pulp, solid wood, and engineered products. ​
   

Eucalyptus cloeziana (Gympie Messmate)

• Strong plantation performer in Queensland. ​

• High durability and suitable for poles. ​

• Bred for myrtle rust resistance. ​

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Corymbia citriodora (Spotted Gum)

• Relatively good plantation performer in Queensland. ​

• High durability and suitable for commercial markets, including poles
   

Key Findings

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• Large areas in North Queensland are suited to growing financially viable plantations when combined with carbon and/or grazing. ​ The project found that a combined land use approach incorporating grazing under full tree stocking or in alternative silvopastoral regimes performs better than using the same land only for grazing.

• Long Rotation Pine (Pinus caribaea):

  • This scenario performs the best across the board, especially when combined with carbon and grazing. ​Its financial viability is, however, dependent on timber price. ​

• Eucalyptus pellita:

  • Demonstrates a large area of financial suitability but competes with higher IRR for grazing only due to the relatively large proportion of higher quality land. ​

• Thinned Gympie Messmate (Eucalyptus cloeziana) and Spotted Gum (Corymbia citriodora):

  • Both species show similar financial performance, with greater areas of potentially suitable land at lower IRR thresholds in the alternative silvopastoral regime.