Indigenous Forestry Strategy Of 2005: Indigenous Land Management In Australia

In Australia, since European settlement in 1829 the South West forest region, which has been identified as one of thirty four global biodiversity hotspots, has been subject to logging and now less than one percent of the original forest remains. Studies found that the logging of these karri and jarrah forests was ecological unsustainable, and the Dutch government announced a decision in 1995 to no longer purchase karri timber, setting a precedent for European countries and other parts of the world (8).

All this research supports the concept of sustainable forestry, which is best defined through indigenous land management, such as in the Forests Act as “The management of an area of indigenous forest land in a way that maintains the ability

It was built upon a series of events in indigenous action, such as the Mirring Women’s Group, who approached Forest NSW about managing an indigenous site within a state forest. They were able to develop a plan for appropriate management prioritizing bush tucker and bush medicines in the area. The National Indigenous Forestry Strategy now prioritizes having forestry workers understand the indigenous caretaking believes and site heritage, and also consult with tribes before any project development.

For example, trees have a complex symbiotic relationship with soil borne fungi through their roots which connects them to other trees in a forest, even competing species. They can actively choose to share nutrients to other trees, specifically direct family members, synchronizing their performance so that they are equally successful. There’s more connecting trees to each other than just fungal root systems, trees have also been proven to have a sense of taste. Compared to the slow transmission of signals inside a tree, trees can send airborne chemical alarm calls to the surrounding forest. For example, upon an insect infestation this allows trees to send a warning for other trees to fill their leaves and barks with a bitter compound that deters insects before the insects can ever arrive. Dying or dead trees still have connections to the fungal network connecting it to nearby trees, with nutrients being passed on. It’s a form of consciousness, and the science of it gives key insight into how forests actually grow best.