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INTRODUCTION General overview and background on the topic. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness that we are part of a global ecosystem. This may indicate a real concern for the increasing effect of human impact on the environment and recognition of the importance of a sustainable forest resource base; where the exploitation, preservation and development of our forests are not compromised for future generations. Forests are much more than a collection of trees. They are dynamic systems containing incredible biodiversity and natural beauty. They also support a substantial industry, provide a home for our native fauna and flora and bring in millions of tourist dollars. Above all, they possess a major carbon storage function. Use of our forests has always been controversial, with disagreements over distribution and degree of environmental degradation. Although there may be no consensus, it is suggested that the impact of forest degradation in Australia has been extensive since European occupation. Ultimately, the greatest pressure is the logging of our forests for a variety of wood products. Consequently, the current state of our forests is not good and it is suggested that it may be unsustainable. The Commonwealth Government needs to meet their global obligation and implement comprehensive and practical regulation. In doing so, be guided by a precautionary approach adopting sustainable development as the framework for their decision making processes. Purpose of this essay This essay uses the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework to identify the pressures on our native forest environment, with consideration to its current state and the responses to those human pressures. For the most part, it describes and evaluates these responses in an Australian context, focusing on environmental regulation of the Commonwealth government. BODY About the P-S-R model. The PSR framework was developed by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and has been widely used to analyse environmental systems in government reports. The PSR framework is based on the concept of causality: the fact that human activities inevitably exert pressures on our environment changing its state or condition. Consequently, we respond to this changed state of our environment, influencing those activities that exert pressures on it. The pressures on our native forests Australia’s forest resources are influenced by a variety of pressures, which can be defined by the identification of human activities that directly affect the natural environment. These pressures are often defined, in terms of land-use, including forests as sources of timber and for agriculture, tourism, conservation and water catchments (Resource Assessment Commission, 1992). Other uses of our native forests include scientific study, recreation and the production of woodchips (Conacher, 2000). There are also more general pressures including population increase, changing land use practices (farming, mining and urbanisation), natural disasters, such as fire and disease and loss of global biodiversity. The state of our forests The pressures described above cause observable changes in our environment. These environmental indicators characterise the current condition of our forest environment. It has been predicted that only 18% of Australia’s eucalypt forests and 38% of rainforests are now unlogged (Resource Assessment Commission, 1992). Furthermore, some 140 Australian tree species are on the WWF/WCU endangered list, (Mercer, 2000). To some degree, all land uses cause some form of land degradation. However, commercial logging most greatly contributes to reduction in forest cover. To a lesser extent, most other environmental effects of land use caused by mining, agriculture, tourism and farming are similar to that caused by commercial forestry. That is they cause significant changes in forest density by clearing. Commercial forestry is a crucial management practice (and controversial) affecting land cover. It is well established that human use of forests affects the habitats and population sizes of some forest dependent species and increases the risk of invasion by exotic species (Commonwealth of Australia 1996).
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