Publication date: 18 December 2020
The ABARES report Regional forest agreements: compilation of reservation and resource availability outcomes presents a compilation of data on changes in reserves areas and forest resource availability in RFA regions, both at their signing and in the most recent data.
Australia's ten Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) are long-term agreements for the sustainable management and conservation of Australia's forests. There are 10 RFAs across New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, signed between 1997 and 2001 as 20-year agreements between Australian and state governments. The RFAs in New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia have since been extended as 20-year rolling agreements, and the Victorian RFAs have been extended until 2030.
The RFAs resulted in substantial areas of forest being reserved through establishment of a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative (CAR) reserve system, as well as substantial reduction in the access to forest resources by forest industries, and agreement to sustainable yields of forest resources.
Download the report
Regional forest agreements: compilation of reservation and resource availability outcomes
- Full report – PDF [2.8 MB]
- Full report – Accessible DOCX [3.9 MB]
- Infographic – PDF [0.4 MB]
- Infographic – PNG [0.8 MB]
Download the data tables and figures
- Figures summarising the outcomes of the RFAs are available in the drop-down headings below. These figures along with the data underlying each figure are available to download in MS Excel workbook format [131 KB]
- Detailed data tables of all reservation and resource availability outcomes from the RFAs are available to download in MS Excel workbook format [148 KB].
This information is also available via the RFA data page.
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Map of regional forest agreement and related regions in Australia
Total area of terrestrial native ecosystems in RFA regions and the area in reserves or the CAR reserve system at different periods before and after signing of RFAs, by state
This figure summarises the total area of terrestrial ecosystems in RFA regions by state, and the area in reserves or the CAR reserve system at different periods before and after signing of the RFAs.
Total area of old-growth forest ecosystems in RFA regions and the area in reserves or the CAR reserve system at different periods before and after signing of RFAs, by state
This figure summarises the total area of old-growth forest ecosystems in RFA regions by state, and the area in reserves and the CAR reserve system at different periods before and after signing of the RFAs.
Total area of wilderness in RFA regions and the area in reserves or the CAR reserve system at different periods before and after signing of RFAs, by state
This figure summarises the total area of wilderness in RFA regions by state, and the area in reserves and the CAR reserve system at different periods before and after signing of the RFAs.
Total area of forest ecosystems on public land, and the net harvestable area, in RFA regions at different time periods before and after signing of RFAs, by state
This figure summarises the total area of forest ecosystems on public land and the NHA in RFA regions by state at different periods before and after signing of the RFAs.
Average annual harvest and sustainable yield for multiple-use public forest in RFA regions, by state and five-yearly reporting periods
This figure summarises the sustainable yield and actual yield for multiple-use public forests in RFA regions of each RFA state, across five consecutive 5-year reporting periods.
