Timber Done Right: Cutting Carbon, Building Regional Futures
Timber Done Right: Cutting Carbon, Building Regional Futures
I still remember having arguments with mates working for the CFMEU (Forestry Division) in the 2000s about how logging was good for the climate! I was pretty cynical, but now I know things differently. Today's National Forestry Day puts a spotlight on something we don’t talk about enough: the role of forestry in reducing Australia’s carbon emissions and supporting regional communities.
Done right, forestry isn’t just about harvesting timber. It’s a climate solution and a regional workforce engine (or it can be).
The Climate Case for Forestry
Here’s the science in plain terms:
Growing forests absorb carbon.
Harvested timber stores that carbon for decades in long-life products like houses and furniture.
Timber replaces high-emission materials such as steel and concrete in construction.
That’s a double impact: storage plus substitution.
The numbers stack up:
Australia’s forestry sector contributes around $24 billion annually to the economy.
It supports more than 180,000 direct and indirect jobs, mostly in regional communities.
Timber products currently store about 56 million tonnes of CO₂ each year.
This is not marginal. Forestry, if managed well, is a serious carbon sink and one of the few sectors that can both absorb emissions and substitute for more polluting alternatives (you will have seen the number of buildings which now have wood veneers, for example).
The People Story Behind Carbon Reduction
Carbon reduction isn’t just about science or technology — it’s about people.
Forestry jobs require skills in land management, logistics and heavy machinery. These are the same skills that clean energy industries need: solar farms, wind projects, battery manufacturing and hydrogen hubs.
Put simply: the forestry workforce is already part of Australia’s clean energy workforce — we just need to connect the dots.
Where ARA Fits In
At the @Australian Renewables Academy (ARA), we’re focused on building the clean energy workforce of the future — starting in regional communities.
We don’t see forestry, farming, and renewables as separate industries. We see overlapping ecosystems, with transferable skills and shared opportunities.
National Forestry Day is a timely reminder that the transition to net zero isn’t abstract. It’s:
Timber in our buildings.
Jobs in our towns.
Skills for the next generation of regional Australians.
That’s what climate action “done right” looks like.
David Moody is Head of Strategic Relationships Australian Renewables Academy
#CleanEnergy #RegionalAustralia #CarbonReduction #Forestry #FutureWorkforce
