How Plantation Forestry Guarantees High Quality While Helping the Environment

As timber suppliers, we long ago made a commitment to providing Australia with an ethical operation on all ends of the supply chain. From the forest or plantation where the trees are harvested, all the way to when the timber ends up at your door, every step is performed with environmental responsibility in mind.

The end result is that we only accept timber from ethical, sustainable sources. In Australia, the most ethical and sustainable sources are timber plantations. We would like to tell you about timber plantations and why they are so important to our environment.

Timber Plantations: Saving the Earth One Tree at a Time

By design, plantations are where trees are grown and managed for long-term sustainability. Plantations are usually planted in rows and trees in any given part of the plantation are even-aged. The average plantation has between one and three varieties of trees and is large enough to provide a profit for the owner.

There are a lot of ways to run a plantation, but the best way is when every tree is harvested at maturity and a new tree is planted to replace it. This keeps the plantation at full environmental benefit level at any given time.

Farm Forestry

Another variation of a timber plantation is called farm forestry. Trees are planted alongside agricultural crops, turning trees into another profit centre alongside their main crops. This can be a boon for farmers who have some land that is marginal for standard crops but just fine for some species of trees.

Farm forestry can perform many different functions besides just providing another revenue source. The trees can serve as a windbreak, help fight soil erosion, provide shelter and shade for livestock, protect the soil by improving its nutrients, help prevent flooding and help promote biodiversity.

Why Timber Plantations are Sustainable and Help the Environment

Environmental damage and contribution to climate change is now measured in the “carbon footprint” of a person or a process. This is simply a measurement or estimate of how much carbon a process or person exhausts into the environment.

When mammals, including humans, breathe, we use the oxygen in the air and breathe out CO2. Trees do the exact opposite. They breathe air, keep the carbon, turn it into timber fibres and exhaust oxygen back into the environment.

To maintain our environmental oxygen balance, we need a decent ratio of trees to mammals. Sadly, human population growth and industrialisation have destroyed hectares and hectares of forests and rainforests. When timber is harvested irresponsibly, a tree that was storing carbon and helping to balance the oxygen and CO2 in our atmosphere is gone.

On plantations, timber is harvested at an age where it is no longer in its peak growth period. It is not turning as much carbon into timber anymore. The mature timber is replaced by timber that is new and growing at a fast rate. When a tree grows, every fibre of timber is carbon that is being taken from the environment and stored in the tree.

This does a world of good for our environment. Every tree is replaced by a new one. It is a totally sustainable model for years to come. It also keeps disruption of wildlife to a minimum. Deforestation has caused numerous species of animals and plants to become extinct or near extinct. Plantation forestry ensures that deforestation will not occur.

The result is that we have more species of plants, more species of animals and a slower rate of climate change. All because of responsible forestry practices.

Call the Most Ethical Timber Suppliers in Brisbane and Sydney

At Narangba Timbers, we know where every piece of timber we get is sourced. We don’t do business with unethical timber suppliers. However, we still find a way to give you the best prices in Australia and the best customer service in the industry.

Whatever your next timber project, whether it is timber fencing, timber decking, timber flooring or construction, call Narangba Timbers today. Our customer service professionals will make sure you have all of the information you need to make your project a success. Call us today on 1300 477 024.