In 1989, CSIRO published Richard Eckersley’s report, “Regreening
Australia: The environmental, economic and social benefits of reforestation”, a
preliminary investigation into a large national program to “regreen Australia”
through massive reforestation and revegetation over a period of 10-20 years.
(The full report is available on his website www.Richardeckersley.com.au.)
The main justification for the program was to combat land
degradation, regarded as Australia’s most serious environmental problem.
However, the report outlined other potential benefits, including mitigating and
adapting to climate change; protecting biodiversity; increasing the
sustainability and productivity of Australian agriculture; boosting timber
resources; building environmental management expertise and innovation; creating
many useful jobs; and lifting national morale.
The report attracted a great deal of public, political and
professional interest, but was never implemented on the scale envisaged and
necessary to realise the benefits. Over 20 years on, there are grounds for
re-assessing the report’s recommendations, especially that climate change has
become a more widely recognised, serious and urgent problem; the scientific
case for reforestation as a means of countering climate change has become
stronger; and, in the event of deepening global financial crises, job
generation will become an important part of maintaining economic and social
stability.
If you would like to know more about this project or you
would like to contribute in some way, please contact Richard Eckersley at richard@richardeckersley.com.au.
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