Plantation Management – Regulation and Planning
South Australia
Legislation
Summary – South Australian legislation
South Australia has a well defined legislative framework applying to plantation forestry, encompassing rights to plant, harvest and trade plantations and their products.
The major issue for future plantation development is water use by all rural land uses, and the role plantations play in the State’s water balance equation.
To date, foreshadowed proposals for future licensing requirements for all new plantation developments has affected investment in plantations in SA, with many plantation proponents focussing on the Victorian side of the border within the Green Triangle region.
In addition, roading and associated infrastructure is an ongoing issue, assuming urgency as bluegum harvesting approaches. The sharing of costs for infrastructure is currently managed at a local and regional level, however similar to NSW and Victoria, the forest industry often bears a substantial proportion of infrastructure costs, whereas a number of alternative rural agricultural production systems do not.
The forestry industry is a substantial contributor to the regional economic growth of the Green Triangle region, and SA as a whole. Policies that encourage, future plantation development are desirable to deliver triple bottom line outcomes for the State.
