Timber company giant rejects modest rewilding trial for endangered rainforest

The timber giant HQPlantations and the Queensland Government are continuing to resist a modest proposal to trial the rewilding of pine plantation over a tiny fraction of the 330,000 hectares that the company has under state forest licence in Queensland. A plan to convert the 21,000-hectare Imbil State Forest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland to rainforest was initially put to the state government in August 2019 (http://sunshinecoastbirds.blogspot.com/2019/08/imbil-state-forest-plan-to-to-save.html). HQPlantations holds licences over 14,600 hectares of the state forest which have been converted to Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) plantation. The area was subtropical lowland rainforest - a habitat listed by the federal government as critically endangered in 2011 - in its natural state.

Once widespread in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW, the habitat has been reduced to small fragments by land-clearing. Rewilding Imbil State Forest would restore an extensive area of subtropical lowland rainforest; experts in various natural history fields agree that if left alone, mature hoop pine plantation will regenerate successfully as rainforest. As a starting point, a trial is proposed to allow 200ha of plantation – 0.06% of the company’s state forest holdings in Queensland - to regenerate. The area would connect an existing reserve in Imbil State Forest (above and below) around Little Yabba Creek with the largest remaining stand of lowland rainforest in Conondale National Park. It is home to numerous rare wildlife species such as the Giant Barred-Frog and Masked Owl.

Australia’s largest natural history organisation, BirdLife Australia, has taken up the cudgel to champion the proposal, with chief executive officer Paul Sullivan urging the company and state government in correspondence last month to reconsider their earlier refusal to agree to the trial. Imbil State Forest is administered by two government departments – the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and Department of Environment and Science (DES). BLA has written to the respective ministers, Mark Furner (DAF) and Meaghan Scanlon (DES), as well as their departments and the HQPlantations stewardship manager, David West.

In an encouraging development, Scanlon’s office described the trial proposal to BLA as a “creative initiative” and said it aligned with work that DES is undertaking elsewhere in the state to secure threatened species and ecosystems. However, the minister added that a trial would require a significant licence acquisition which would need the approval of both DAF and HQPlantations; BLA was encouraged by DES to engage directly with both.

Consequently, BLA told DAF and the company that BLA research with plantation managers and owners elsewhere in Australia clearly demonstrates that bird diversity and abundance is improved by maintaining and connecting remnant habitat within forestry plantations. BLA pointed out that the forthcoming United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and Conference of the Parties in Kunming, China, will highlight the critical importance of mainstreaming biodiversity into business practices. The organisation stressed that reversing biodiversity declines and species loss can only be achieved by working cooperatively with industry, including the forestry sector. BLA said: “Re-wilding some of the hoop pine plantations in the Imbil State Forest would be a huge win for biodiversity, industry sustainability and ecotourism. The proposed trial, supported by research, would provide an innovative pilot to inform future regeneration projects led by community groups, industry and landowners.”

In a co-ordinated response, DAF and HQPlantations dismissed the proposal. DAF said the company would be entitled to seek compensation from the state for compensation for any reduction in the plantations and noted that Aracauria is generally grown for 45 years or longer before harvesting, making it a particularly long-term investment for the company. The department said Araucaria plantations support 600 jobs in processing and harvesting and were worth $115 million a year to the Queensland economy. David West, on behalf of HQ Plantations, told BLA that the company’s position aligns with that of DAF, and the company would continue to focus on sustainably managing carbon sequestering Araucaria plantations to support Queensland’s regionally based timber processing and economies.

The area proposed for the trial was cut several years ago so the trees there are a long way from being of commercial value. Moreover, Imbil State Forest has enormous potential as a recreational and tourism destination for the nearby Sunshine Coast - Australia’s 10th largest city with one of the nation’s fastest growth rates – and more generally for Brisbane and south-east Queensland. The Charlie Moreland camping area in the state forest, for instance, is hugely popular and frequently suffers from severe overcrowding. The economic benefits of a large reserve in the state forest would likely exceed that being derived from plantation harvesting. Looking ahead, BLA’s Paul Sullivan adds: “The forestry industry will lose its social licence to operate if it doesn’t mainstream biodiversity into its business practices.”

Meanwhile, the Queensland University of Technology is using the Imbil State Forest rewilding proposal as a model for students in its School of Architecture and Built Environment to study. Over the past two years, students have been assigned the task of developing plans to value and advance the regeneration plan. Projects include assessments of the economic value of rewilding the state forest to the nearby towns of Kenilworth and Imbil. QUT academics have undertaken GIS mapping to assess the extent of plantation and milling at various stages.

I recently had a pleasurable couple of days in Imbil State Forest undertaking further fauna surveys in mature Hoop Pine plantation and adjoining subtropical rainforest and eucalypt forest fragments. Some of the creatures seen are illustrated in this post, from the first image (Koala) followed by Marbled Frogmouth, Pale-yellow Robin, Paradise Riflebird, Red-necked Pademelon, Orange-eyed Tree-Frog and Eastern Stony Creek Frog. Watercourses such as Yabba Creek were in full flow due to recent rains.

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

Imbil State Forest: A response to critics in pictures

Rainforest stream in Imbil State Forest

Queensland's Liberal National Party opposition is in the forefront of criticism of a plan I proposed recently to protect and propagate subtropical lowland rainforest in the 21,000ha Imbil State Forest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. The state Environment Minister, Leeanne Enoch, has given an undertaking to consider the proposal, which would involve the cancellation of logging and grazing leases to allow hoop pine plantations to regenerate as lowland rainforest. Subtropical lowland rainforest, a critically endangered habitat, occurs naturally in the state forest.

The LNP joined former Queensland Forestry chief executive Gary Bacon – backed by lop-sided reporting in the local Gympie Times newspaper - in attacking the proposal; it was variously described as a “thought bubble” and the work of “green nutters” and “left-wing zealots”. LNP shadow agriculture minister Tony Perrett claimed the proposal, which he had not seen, was based on “deliberate fabrications” and had “manipulated the truth”.

Tony Perrett

Perrett and Bacon did their utmost to undermine the basic premise of the proposal: that left alone, the plantations will revert to subtropical lowland rainforest, the habitat that occurred there originally before it was cleared to make way for plantations. I returned to Imbil State Forest last week to check out how older stands of hoop pine plantation were faring. I've reported separately that more than half the bird species I recorded during the visit were in plantations as well as in remnant rainforest patches.

Mature hoop pine plantation, Imbil State Forest

Images in this post show clearly that hoop pine plantation, when it has not been logged for a considerable time, has an extensive understory of rainforest plants. These plants are seeded from adjoining rainforest remnants. It's no surprise that the older plantations resemble closely adjoining remnant rainforest.

Hoop pine plantation with rainforest understory, Imbil State Forest

The old plantations I saw are well on their way to reverting to subtropical lowland rainforest in accordance with predictions from various experts, including respected landscape ecologist Peter Stanton and botanist Michael Olsen. They are soon to be logged, as they have been periodically over the past century since plantations were established at Imbil.

Hoop pine plantation with rainforest understory, Imbil State Forest

Gary Bacon claims that if left alone, the plantations would spiral into a “weed, pest and fire haven junk heap”. Bacon is a forestry scientist: he is not a zoologist, or a botanist, or an ecologist. Experts in these areas who support the proposal know a great deal more than Bacon about rainforest regeneration.

During my visit to Imbil State Forest, I saw decades-old plantations that were anything but the nightmarish scenario painted by Bacon. Yes, there was a good deal of lantana along the plantation fringes, but that introduced weed occurs throughout the state forest and has been there for a very long time. (Ironically, it provides good cover for the rare Black-breasted Buttonquail, which is restricted to subtropical lowland rainforest; I found numerous buttonquail platelets in the pine plantations.)

Hoop pine plantation and contiguous rainforest, Imbil State Forest

Buttonquail platelets in hoop pine plantation, Imbil State Forest

Older plantations shared a shady canopy with adjoining rainforest, reducing sunlight penetration and therefore the potential for invasive pest vines such as cat's claw to flourish. The proposal envisages nothing more that what is already the situation in many pockets of the state forest, but on a wider scale that would be sustained. It is ludicrous to suggest that mature plantations would become a pest-ridden “junk heap” if left unlogged, as Bacon asserts.

Subtropical lowland rainforest, Imbil State Forest

Indeed, some of the recently logged pine plantations in the state forest are not a pretty sight. Trees are logged deep into gully lines and rainforest streams in places are polluted by soil run-off. Piles of fallen trees that were not the targeted hoop pine were commonplace.

Logging to gully line, Imbil State Forest

 Native non-plantation trees in remnant forest patches, such as bunya pine and silky oak, were marked by loggers. The recreational value of popular places such as Charlie Moreland Park and Stirling's Crossing has been marred in recent months by a steady stream of logging trucks.

Marked Silky Oak and Bunya Pine in rainforest remnant, Imbil State Forest

Stirling's Crossing

In June I found a pair of Masked Owls in an Imbil hoop pine plantation. This is one of several rare and/or cryptic species that appear to be quite at home in plantations. The image below is how the owl site looked last week.

Masked Owl in June in hoop pine plantation, Imbil State Forest

Masked Owl site last week

It was Tony Perrett's LNP that unleashed grazing in state forests during the former Campbell Newman-led government. Numerous cattle were seen in Imbil State Forest last week, many feeding in and around the edges of remnant patches of lowland rainforest. Apart from their direct impact on native vegetation, the cattle would likely be a significant source of invasive weed dispersal.

Cattle, Imbil State Forest

Cattle, Imbil State Forest

Perrett claims that if implemented, the plan would destroy the economic viability of the region's timber industry. Perrett echoed Bacon's assertion that the plantations, if left alone to regenerate, would be “overrun by invasive pests and weeds”. Perrett described the proposal as “outrageous and highly destructive” and said it was based on “deliberate fabrications”; he didn't outline what those fabrications were.

After I pointed out to Perrett that his assertion about deliberate fabrications was defamatory, he publicly withdrew the remark. As for his claims about the timber industry, Perrett knows very well that in his Gympie electorate there is an abundance of hoop and other pine plantations outside Imbil State Forest that would be not affected by this proposal.

Logging in Imbil State Forest

About 40 per cent of the 21,000ha Imbil State Forest is pine plantation. That is about 2.4 per cent of the 330,00ha of pine plantation in Queensland held under lease by timber company HQ Plantations. For its part, the company has an open mind on the proposal. HQP said it is open to discussion and required further information - a far more measured response than Perrett's knee-jerk tirade.

Logging in Imbil State Forest

Perrett's rambling attack says a good deal about the LNP's environmental credentials. The Newman government scrapped Labor's tree-clearing laws and opened up extensive areas of protected state forest to logging and grazing. The LNP has yet to learn it will struggle to regain power while it caters primarily to the development-at-all-costs mentality of Perrett and his fellow rural Nationals.

Bunya pine in remnant rainforest, Imbil State Forest

Giant fig gree in remnant rainforest, Imbil State Forest

I'm aware that a few people are concerned that the Imbil State Forest proposal might detract from the so-called Yabba Links plan to expand Conondale National Park. However, several groups have opted to support both, arguing simply that there is no reason not to. Nobody is expecting or demanding that the timber industry in Imbil State Forest be completely shut down in the forseeable future.

Rather, it's important to get a discussion going about a plan to restore subtropical lowland rainforest on a large and sustainable scale. Private landholders are replanting small patches, and community-minded groups are removing vines and other weeds from remnant rainforest patches. These are worthy activities but they won't bring the rainforest back. Perhaps a good starting point would be a trial in Imbil State Forest; a reasonably sized area of older plantation of about 300-500ha adjoining remnant rainforest could be left unlogged and monitored.

Young hoop pine with native forest in background, Imbil State Forest

Recently logged plantation adjacent to remnant rainforest, Imbil State Forest

 On a lighter note, among the abundant birdlife last week were some nice frogs, like this Cascade Tree-Frog, along streams in mixed hoop pine and rainforest. The endangered Giant Barred-Frog was present in small numbers.

Cascade Tree-Frog, Imbil State Forest

Birds in the pine plantations of Imbil State Forest

Paradise Riflebird, Imbil State Forest

Following the submission of a proposal to the Queensland Government last week to convert Imbil State Forest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland to a conservation park, I spent some time surveying birds in its hoop pine plantations this week. The Queensland Environment Minister, Leanne Enoch, has undertaken to investigate the proposal, which would scrap logging and grazing leases in the 21,000ha state forest to allow plantations to regenerate as subtropical lowland rainforest, a critically endangered habitat.

I spent seven daylight hours and two hours of an evening checking out plantations and contiguous rainforest remnants in the north-eastern sector of the state forest. The area extended along forestry roads from Stirling's Crossing to near Brooloo. Not far south of Stirling's Crossing is a stand of mature hoop pine plantation that has not been logged for many years; I focused a good deal of attention here.

Of 57 species recorded, more than half – 31 species – were seen or heard in hoop pine plantations. Most of the others were in remnant rainforest adjoining pine plantations. Some species, such as Russet-tailed Thrush, appeared to be equally at home in rainforest and in adjoining pine plantation. 

Russet-tailed Thrush, Imbil State Forest

Others, including Noisy Pitta, were primarily in rainforest but calling sometimes in pine plantation. Paradise Riflebird was seen both in rainforest and nearby pine plantation. 

Noisy Pitta, Imbil State Forest

Paradise Riflebird in Imbil State Forest hoop pine

Crested Shrike-tit was in eucalypt forest adjoining a plantation.

Crested Shrike-tit, Imbil State Forest

Five species were noted only in plantations. They included Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo and, among recently planted hoop pine, Variegated Fairywren and Red-browed Finch.

Red-browed Finch, Imbil State Forest

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Imbil State Forest

I found quite a few buttonquail platelets in the plantations that very likely were made by Black-breasted Buttonquail. I saw a female Black-breasted Buttonquail in vine scrub adjoining a pine plantation.

Black-breasted Buttonquail, Imbil State Forest

Red-necked Pademelons were common in both rainforest and pine plantations. 

I found a Marbled Frogmouth in rainforest with hoop pine plantation in close proximity. The rainforest remnants are so small that such species would likely feed in old-growth plantation as well. This site is just 130m above sea level; it is unusual to record Marbled Frogmouth in this region at such low altitudes. I heard a Masked Owl calling in the same area where I recently saw four owls.

Marbled Frogmouth, Imbil State Forest

On the subject of owls, soon after the Masked Owl sightings I went owling around Bli Bli and Ninderry with Chris Corben. We saw four Eastern Grass Owls at three sites as well as an Eastern Barn Owl.

Barn Owl

Eastern Grass Owl

It was clear from this week's foray in Imbil State Forest that mature hoop pine plantations with adjoining rainforest remnants provide excellent habitat for wildlife. See here for elist.

Variegated Fairywren, Imbil State Forest