Lessons from small-scale forestry initiatives in Australia: the effective integration of environmental and commercial values

Due to growing environmental awareness and increasingly difficult economic conditions, much small-scale forestry policy is characterised by the often competing objectives of generating adequate commercial returns on the one h and, and on the other, achieving of environmental benefits (e.g. reforestat ion of degraded farm land). Within the current paper we outline the small-s cale forestry initiatives that have been launched in Australia at the natio nal, state and regional levels to develop a viable forestry sector that suc cessfully balances commercial and environmental considerations. The initiat ives include national reforestation schemes. joint ventures, sharefarming s chemes, trust arrangements and regional programs supported by federal, stat e and local governments, From this review, it is evident that all of the in itiatives - encompassing schemes with solely conservation objectives to tho se marketed from a purely commercial perspective - result in some environme ntal benefits (e.g. restoration of degraded land, provision of wildlife hab itats). However, at this stage a particular program has not emerged from th e confusing tapestry of often overlapping forestry initiatives in Australia as the most viable approach to the development and maintenance of multi-us e forestry, private sector forestry. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.