Imbil State Forest rainforest plan update – the Government response

Charlie Moreland Park, Imbil State Forest

The Queensland Government has left open the possibility of embracing a plan to stop the logging of hoop pine plantations in the 21,000-hectare Imbil State Forest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Under the proposal subtropical lowland rainforest, a critically endangered habitat, would be allowed to regrow in plantations presently being harvested for softwood timber.

The area where plantations occur was formerly rainforest and hoop pine is a native rainforest tree. The plan would lead eventually to an extensive area of hoop pine plantation being replaced by subtropical lowland rainforest. I submitted the proposal to the government last August.

Imbil State Forest falls under the control of two Queensland Government departments. The Department of Agriculture oversees logging licences held by HQPlantations over 14,600 hectares – mostly hoop pine plantation - of the state forest. The remaining 5,900 hectares of state forest is native forest managed for a range of purposes by the Department of Environment and Science.

In a letter to me, Queensland Agriculture Minister Mark Furner makes it clear he opposes the plan. Furner argues that the loss of Imbil State Forest to the timber industry would deprive HQPlantations of about a third of its hoop pine plantations in Queensland. The minister says that would amount to the loss of 200 jobs in production and processing, and about $40 million annually in direct value to the Queensland economy. As well, HQPlantations would be entitled to seek “substantial” compensation from the government for the loss of plantations.

In my reply to Furner, I point out that the Imbil plantations constitute a very small proportion of the 330,000 hectares of pine plantation (most of which is not hoop pine) under licence to HQPlantations. This is not a high price to pay for the restoration of a critically endangered habitat, especially given the area's potential economic value as an ecotourism destination. Charlie Moreland Park, in the south of the state forest, is already the most popular camping ground in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Mature hoop pine plantation adjoins subtropical rainforest, Imbil State Forest

Imbil State Forest contains some of the largest surviving remnant patches of subtropical lowland rainforest, which was once widespread in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW. Hoop pine plantations in the state forest are interspersed with remnant rainforest patches, a source of seeding for regenerating rainforest in plantations. Queensland's Liberal National Party opposition was quick to condemn the proposal, without even having read it. However, the plan is backed by ecologists, botanists and zoologists.

The Queensland Government recently oversaw a state forest conservation plan that is not dissimilar to the Imbil proposal. Logging was stopped in the Yuroi and Ringtail state forests near Noosa and 2,400 hectares were acquired as a reserve. HQPlantations was compensated with a $3.5 million payment provided mostly by the Noosa Shire Council and the Noosa Parks Association.

The Queensland Environment Minister, Leeanne Enoch, strikes a more conciliatory note than Furner, her ministerial colleague, about the Imbil plan. Enoch's office tells me the project has been assessed but the department would be pursuing “higher priority” projects. However, the department will maintain a record of the proposal in its Acquisition Enquiries Register. Should future budgetary or policy priorities change, the minister says, it may be considered against other state conservation proposals. A glimmer of hope.

Native forest and recently planted hoop pine near Charlie Moreland Park

I pointed out in letters to Furner and Enoch that nobody is suggesting an immediate shutdown of logging across all of Imbil State Forest. As a starting point, a small area of plantation could be allowed to regenerate while it was monitored. An ideal site for such a trial would be an estimated 250 hectares of plantation south of Sunday Creek Road between Charlie Moreland Park and Conondale National Park – two existing rainforest reserves.

The hillside slopes of Conondale National Park that abut the plantations in this area include one of the most extensive tracts of subtropical lowland rainforest remaining in Queensland. The remnant rainforest around Charlie Moreland Park is renowned as habitat for many rare and elusive wildlife species. These areas could be joined by a trial area of regenerating rainforest. The boundaries in the following maps for a proposed trial area are approximate.

Proposed trial area

There are already in Imbil State Forest, including around Charlie Moreland Park, and in Conondale National Park, several small stands of hoop pine plantation that have not been logged for several decades; they closely resemble rainforest and harbour many rainforest plants and animals. This plan can work if governments are prepared to think outside the box.

Subtropical lowland rainforest, Imbil State Forest