Program Overview

Background and Long-Term Strategy

The Agroforestry and Farm Forestry and Joint Venture Agroforestry Programs were established in 1993 and finished in 2009.

The Joint Venture Agroforestry Program (JVAP), a partnership since 1993, assists the development of profitable agroforestry industries while delivering beneficial natural resource management outcomes. Agroforestry, or farm forestry, is about integrating trees and woody perennials into existing agriculture for multiple benefits, generally as mixed farming enterprises. Catchment managers can also use farm forestry to achieve revegetation targets.

Farm forestry provides six main products and services: wood and fibre, eucalyptus oil and oil products, other extractives, biofuels, carbon sequestration and environmental services, and food and fodder.

Farm forestry includes both planted and native forests, and contributes an estimated $100-362 million gross value of production.  155,290 hectares of farm forests (9% of Australia's plantations), and 400,000-500,000 hectares of woody shrubs have been planted, mostly over the past twelve years, for tree products, fodder and more drought resilient agricultural systems. In addition there are 38 million hectares of private native forests harvested periodically for commercial returns. Native forests represent $649.3 million gross value of production at mill gate, of which private-farm native forestry remains a significant contributor (e.g. 45% in some regions).

R&D can provide benefits through improving genetic material suited to the land resource available, demonstrating commercial farming systems (despite long crop cycles), analysing infrastructure, harvesting and marketing needs, and addressing impediments to landholder adoption and creation of regional scales of resource. The JVAP Research and Development Plan 2004-2009 addresses these challenges via research on products, product-market linkages, and agricultural systems design at the paddock, farm and landscape scale.

Key issues which have emerged are climate change, carbon trading, water reform, long term drought, and increased recognition of the need for forest and land stewardship. These will have an increasing effect on farming, livelihoods and regional natural resource management. A national shortfall in wood products, particularly hardwoods also remains a trade issue. Woody perennials can play a key role in carbon mitigation and adaptation and achieving more carbon-neutral farms and landscapes, while also delivering biodiversity and economic benefits.

JVAP has funded a broad range of research including farm forestry design, species-site evaluation, biodiversity, managing dryland salinity, product testing and market evaluation. Other recent research includes institutional needs for catchment groups to trade in carbon, and screening for new tree-based products such as secondary chemicals from cineole. In 2008-2009, the JVAP program will focus on publication, synthesis and communication of research results from its 15 year history, and undertake a formal review of the program, including to scope R&D needs for emerging carbon and ecosystem service markets.

Key long term strategies

• Improved agroforestry designed to optimise social, economic and environmental factors at the paddock, farm and regional-landscape sale
• New commercial products and value-added existing products, to promote profitable agroforestry industries
• Improved product-market linkages through analysing product suitability, value and regional development options
• Demonstrated mechanisms for valuation and trading of ecosystems services provided by agroforestry
• New policy and institutional arrangements that stimulate agroforestry investment