Forest Communities
Native forests cover 47% of Tasmania with about two-thirds of that estimated to have been present at the commencement of European settlement in 1803. There has been a relatively low rate of clearing for agriculture compared with other Australian states.
Implementation of the comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) reservation framework agreed under the RFA, has resulted in an extended system of public and private terrestrial CAR reserves. Within this framework 1,465,000 hectares of forested land or 47% of Tasmania’s native forests, are now protected compared with the 1996 reserved extent of 977,900 hectares or 30.5%. This is an increase of reservation of 47,100 hectares or 48.8% since 1996.
51 forest communities were defined within this area and 16 of these were identified as threatened. Under the RFA, all of these threatened communities are protected on public land where practical and feasible. Most of their remaining occurrences are on private land.
Many forest communities occur principally on private land and some are threatened, as private land has been more subject to clearing. With assistance from the Commonwealth Government, Tasmania is establishing a reservation system on private land unique in Australia. Areas of private forest are being secured for conservation through a mixture of voluntary agreements to stewardship covenants with landowners or through outright purchase.
On public land the JANIS reserve criteria for forests have been fully met for 45 of the forest communities, with over 97% of the area targets met.